By LAURA HUMBLE – STAFF WRITER
Centre’s campus offers a variety of organizations that students can get involved in.
For artists, there is the Art Society. For students interested in politics, Centre Democrats and Centre Republicans are available. And for musicians, there is Centre Encore. “Centre Encore is a music society for music enthusiasts,” sophomore and president Sue Choi said.
“Our ultimate mission is to unite the Centre campus and even the Danville community with the commonality of music,” Choi said.
Music Director Jaemi Loeb also touts the club’s basis in community. “What I find most exciting about Centre Encore is the way it connects students who love music, whether they participate formally or not,” Loeb said.
Centre Encore gives members service opportunities, where they help out at various music program events. They host campus-wide events and generally promote involvement and appreciation of all kinds of music around campus. “I think this is especially important because music is not only fun, but also a powerful mode of self-expression,” Loeb said.
Centre Encore is planning many activities to get the Centre community involved with music this semester. “We’re hoping to host regular weekly jam sessions and karaoke, and we’re always hoping to hear from the community,” Choi said. “We [want to help] any churches or organizations looking for musicians.”
Choi is most excited to bring back an old Centre tradition that fell out of practice about ten years ago: Battle of the Bands. “Battle of the Bands is happening on Nov. 15, and we encourage everyone to try to get a band together [to compete],” Choi said.
Centre Encore recently hosted the convocation “George Wakim: Music and Poetry of the Middle East.” The convocation was organized by Vice President of Centre Encore and junior Nick Teale. “He worked with Centre Encore to introduce his interest in the Middle East and Middle Eastern culture,” Choi said. “[This] represents our willingness and enthusiasm to work with [other] organization[s]. We are always open to any ideas or events [such as this one],” Choi said.
“I met George Wakim when I first started out studying Arabic,” president of Arabic@Centre Nick Teale said. “I was enthralled by his loud playing and the way it reflected Middle Eastern musical culture. Since music has a broad, universal appeal (and since I am also a music major), I figured this would be a good way to generate interest in the group as a whole. ” Centre Encore and its diverse members hope to open up new cultural avenues to Centre’s campus through music.
The organization also keeps a list, which they call a registry, of students who play an instrument at Centre. “It’s completely voluntary, but we encourage anyone who feels proficient at an instrument to put themselves on it,” Choi said. Proficiency, as defined by Choi, is up to your own discretion; if you feel comfortable enough to claim to have any ability at an instrument, you may put yourself on the registry. No auditions are required. The link to the registry can be found at tinyurl.com/centreencore. This list is available to the Danville community as well for any time an organization is seeking musicians.
For those students seeking an open and culturally diverse musical community, Centre Encore may be for you.