Mel Sundquist’s portfolio

From the other side of graduation

Originally published in the UVU Review on Aug. 24, 2008.

UVU alum Jeanne Madsen just got back from her graduation trip in Europe. She did what most college students would do on a graduation trip; sight-seeing, art-mongering, starving, and philosophizing. But she also sang in five Italian cities and recorded with the London Philharmonic.

After graduating with an Associates degree in General Academics from UVU, Madsen began to pursue her dream of recording an album. Her style is best described (in her own words) as “avant-garde,” this particular album is a mix of opera, contemporary, and jazz pieces.

Madsen is still recording her album Pagliaccio, (which is Italian for “clown”), which will drop sometime next year. She plans on recording the classical tracks with the Berlin Philharmonic, and the jazz songs with legendary trumpet player Jack Sheldon at Capitol Records Studios in Hollywood. According to Madsen, “[Sheldon] is an absolute legend in the jazz world, so I’m just like, over the moon.”

The album has not been picked up by a record label yet, but Madsen is hoping for one of the “big ten”- the largest labels in the UK and America. “I personally want it to be the Capital group, the BMG music group because then I can … live in London. … Signing with Capital and the BMG group will allow that.”

Madsen intends to use her degree at UVU to help get her into Oxford, to earn a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations. If anyone mentions UVU around Madsen, she basically gushes with praise. “I love UVU with all my heart. Be proud to go there because it’s an amazing … place.” In our first interview, she disclosed that upon coming home and seeing the new sign saying “Utah Valley University” on the West side of the McKay, she was moved to tears.

Madsen credits much of her success to our university. “I had the hardest professors on the planet that stretched me and made me grow and made me work so hard. To the point where I didnt’ know if I was going to make it…. And so, because of being pushed to my limits like that, it made me know that I can accomplish very hard things.”

This lesson was essential to her career in the music business, which is infamous for its constant rejection of newcomers. “So, that was the biggest thing because a singing career is just really hard. And you have to put up with so much and you have to keep getting back up when you get knocked down…. And it taught me that, that I can get back up.”

In 2002, before coming to UVU, Madsen was a member of the opera company at the Venetian Hotel. With practices and performances adding up to seven hours of singing every day, after about a year she noticed that all was not well with her throat. She found that she had a tear in her right vocal chord.

Doctors told her to go on voice rest for a few months. “Now, voice rest means that not only can you not talk, but you can’t sigh, you can’t make any type of tonation or any type of sound from your vocal chords because it re-opens the wound. But, I didn’t get better. And I went to many … doctors, and no one could ever figure out what was wrong.” Finally a specialist told her that she had a viral infection that entered her body through the tear, and that was why she wasn’t healing. After three years of recuperating and on-and-off vocal rest, she was finally able to start singing again.

“So, I am a living testament that even when the doctors say you’re never going to talk again, you can overcome it.”

After her album is picked up by a label, Jeanne intends to do a tour with a stop at her alma mater. “When [One Republic] were there, I was just … like, ‘This is going to be me. In like a year and a half or maybe two years.’ So absolutely, I want to come to the McKay.”

As a final few words of counsel for students pursuing a career in the arts, Madsen said, “My advice is keep going no matter what…. If you know that it is your gift and it is what you’re supposed to do, you just have to keep going no matter what happens. Like, if there is a … brick wall in front of you, you have to go through it. And if there is no way, you make a way.”

For more information and links to her myspace page and blog, visit www.JeanneMadsen.com

Originally published in the UVU Review on Aug. 24, 2008.

Switching your focus from work, friends, and entertainment to school can be a difficult thing to do, but over 24,000 of us will have to attempt it at the end of this month. There is no right way to do this, but in the end, it is a pass/fail course. Here are a few pointers:

1. Practice. Rehearse flipping the school switch on and off. Today, instead of watching television or hiking, pick up your textbooks and pay your fees. Then flip the switch back off, and enjoy the rest of your day. The more you try this, the easier it will become to make the big switch.

2. Sublimate. It can be daunting to change your carefree lifestyle of three months back to a structured and stressful school-week. Take that anxiety (or fear or anger) and bury it under a mountain of busywork. Clean your apartment, bake lasagna, write for a newspaper, do whatever it takes to get your mind off of your impending homework.

3. Smile. Find the good things about a new school year. You’ll meet new and interesting people in your classes, you’ll learn new things, and you’re sure to fit some fun in there somewhere. If necessary, enroll in an elective class that you know you’ll enjoy, making your schedule seem less terrifying.

4. Fill your backpack with kitschy school supplies like it’s the first day of kindergarten, because it’s just more pleasant to write notes on paper with a watermark of Michael Phelps or David Bowie.

5. Keep track of time. Once school starts, put a calendar on your wall, marking days that will act as the light at the end of the tunnel. Then, as school days go by, mark them off with a big satisfying red “X.” As is mentioned in this week’s article “A Nonrenewable Resource,” keeping track of the passage of time can make any stressful experience seem like it will, in fact, have an end.

6. Think of yourself as lucky. Unless you’re going into teaching, these will be some of the last summers you have. After graduation, your work schedule most likely won’t blink an eye when May turns to June. Be glad you still had these last three months to yourself.

7. Overcompensate. If you are reading this paper hot off the presses, you still have two days of summer. In these next 48 hours, stock up on things to regret later. Stay up late, get into trouble, or spend hours just eating or talking. Act out while you still can.

8. Plan ways to make your soon-to-be routine more bearable. Add “in bed” to the end of every sentence a boring professor utters. Make grades a competition with your peers (but only if you’re favored to win). If you prepare for these things now, they will be easier to incorporate into the grind.

9. Better yourself. I know it’s a pain, but if all else fails, you can use this semester to make yourself more like who you want to be. A motivation like this can make the next few months go by more quickly. And you might actually get better grades.

But it won’t empty your gas tank

Originally published in the UVU Review on August 11, 2008.

Media Credit: Courtesy of the SCERA Shell

The Utah Symphony has performed several times outdoors this summer. So far, all of the the performances have been at Deer Valley Resort in Park City — a good 45 minutes away from campus.

On Aug. 18, the symphony will descend into Utah Valley and perform at the SCERA Shell.

“Utah is privileged to have such an acclaimed symphony, and in the summer there’s nothing quite like the Utah Symphony’s instrumental genius under the backdrop of the Wasatch Mountains,” said SCERA President and CEO Adam J. Robertson.

Tickets for students are $8, compared to the $12 required to see the same performance at Deer Valley. As usual at the Shell, audience members are encouraged to bring blankets or can rent chairs for $1 apiece.

According to the symphony’s press release, the performance will include Americana fanfares, marches, and big band music. Composers range from Aaron Copeland to George Gershwin.

The decorated conductor David In-Jae Cho will conduct. Cho is in his second year as assistant conductor with the symphony. Before relocating to Utah, he worked for the San Antonio symphony for three years.

The symphony was started in 1940, and since has become an important American orchestra. They have performed internationally and have an extensive recording history. According to the symphony’s press release, “For more than three decades, from 1947 to 1979, maestro Maurice Abravanel guided the symphony to its international reputation and is the artist after whom the Utah Symphony’s performance hall is named.” For more information on this and other performances, go to www.utahsymphony.org

Idle hands make for good conversation

Originally published in the UVU Review on August 11, 2008.

Everyone splits the population of the world into groups of their own choice. These groups vary based on the choosing individual’s experience and point of view; men and women, Republicans and Democrats, the employed and the unemployed, etc.

For me, the groups are those who knit, and those who don’t.

In this case, “knitting” is a euphemism for having a time-consuming hobby. You might think that everyone has a hobby or two, but the majority of these don’t really qualify as hobbies. A real, honest-to-goodness hobby is more than just a pastime or leisure pursuit. For an activity to qualify as a hobby, the partaker must be partly obsessed.

The hobbyist should own collections or stashes of materials needed to pursue this hobby, and a regular amount of each paycheck should be allotted to feed these collections. The hobbyist should frequent Web sites and forums committed to their hobby of choice, and own several books that explore the philosophy and technique of the hobby. A true hobbyist attends local meetings with like-minded colleagues at least once a month and attends a festival or convention related to their hobby once a year, at minimum. Further stripes are earned if they wear hobby-related costumes to these events.

Having a hobby combats boredom, which is one of the leading causes of acting like an idiot. If I had a grandma, she would say, “I’m glad you knit — it keeps you out of the gutter.”

I often find myself with a friend or two heading to the movies, only to find that our chosen film doesn’t start for an hour or so. If I were alone sitting in the foyer, waiting wouldn’t be torture — there is always more knitting to do. However, that’s not an option for my hobbyless friends, so we wind up setting things on fire lakeside or getting useless piercings just to pass the time.

On the other hand, a hobby can be detrimental to a social life. Unless it’s something done with a group of people, like a team sport, hobbies can take the place of socializing. Why go to that party when there are model boats to build or fan-fiction chapters to read?

If you’re really into it, a hobby can be a route to serenity. In a recent health article from CNN (“How one busy mom found inner peace,” August 1), the listed mediums to find enlightenment were Tai Chi, walks in the woods, and knitting. A hobby is something that you are or will become adept at, something that you can wrap around your head completely. This brings self-confidence, and gives you one area of life over which you are in complete control.

So really, it doesn’t matter that I sometimes forget how to make small talk or that I’m never in class on time: I’m about to finish an immaculately constructed wool sweater, and that’s enough of an accomplishment to get me through the end of the week.

Showtime Utah gets comfortable in Pleasant Grove

Originally published in the UVU Review on August 11, 2008.

Media Credit: Trent Bates

This summer, The Grove Theater resurfaced as Showtime Utah. Attempts at success in the venue, which is in historic downtown Pleasant Grove, have been abysmal for as long as most UVU students have been alive. Because of this, many locals shrugged off the Grove Theater’s latest owner, Joan Peterson, as a force that would eventually phase out just like her predecessors.

However, it’s three months in and the theater is doing better than anyone expected.

The Grove Theater was originally a silent movie house. It then transitioned into talkies, and ever since, has been used for live theater. “Because it used to be just a screen up there, there are no side wings for the theater. There’s no backstage! So people tried to do the theater thing … but there really is no way to work it,” Joan said.

But now it seems that the perfect person has come to the perfect venue with the perfect idea. Joan is one of those high-on-life types, and it’s obvious that her energy and penchant for fun spill over onto the stage.

Showtime Utah has three types of shows. On Thursday and Friday nights, a Western band plays while the audience is served a homegrown American dinner from the kitchen behind the stage. Currently, these shows rotate between three different performers or bands. Mama’s Boys is a father and sons group which mixes classic country with re-mixed surprises, like a Doobie Brothers cover. Boots Robinson plays classic country aimed at the Baby Boomer generation with some cowboy poetry tossed in for good measure. Their newest act, Sizzling Strings, is a family of musicians, the youngest of which is three years old.

Each of these shows is centered on a western theme, which matches the decor. And be warned: There are also typical western characters such as the drunken prospector and Black Bart running about in the audience.

While many other theaters have an almost stuffy atmosphere, “You can’t be [uptight] here. We don’t give you that option. You got a crazy sheriff running around. You got a saloon madam running around. … They’re coming to your table, hiding from each other — they’re shooting each other. … You can’t help but lighten up.”

At 10 o’clock when these acts have ended, the theater fuses karaoke with comedy. The audience is invited to sing on stage, while interacting with house comedians. This will go on until everyone has left, usually winding down after midnight. While they try to keep this show rated G, it is not recommended to bring children under the age of six to the late-night performances.

On Monday nights, Showtime Utah presents a genuine variety show. Anyone in the community is welcome to audition for this, and they have booked an impressive array of performers. The acts range from hula hooping to saw playing.

The theater is also available for events. “I really wanted this to be a community theater where the community could use it for what they needed, so we’re pretty adaptable,” Joan said. They’ve already hosted a birthday party, and if you’re into the country-western vibe, it would be perfect for a family reunion or wedding.

It seems that the ultimate motivation behind Showtime Utah is one beneficial to the community: to generate fun. “That’s what the word is. This is about having fun.”

Tickets for the Late Night and Monday Night shows are $5, and tickets to the dinner shows are $20 for adults, $10 for children. For more information, go to showtimeutah.com