Editor’s note: As the Juno Awards 2013 prepare to celebrate the best of Canadian music this weekend, Western Journalism students help us celebrate the best in Western Music. Read the full Music Issue.
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For many people eight hours is a full work day, but it’s just the beginning to Erika Schroeder.
Schroeder spends eight hours of every day practicing her percussion instruments. As a master’s student in Percussion Performance at Western, Schroeder’s dedication to her craft rivals that of a star athlete. Though eight hours may seem like a long time, for Schroeder it’s time well spent doing what she loves.
“I’m very passionate about what I do,” she said. “I feel I express myself best through my music.”
Schroeder uses that time learning every instrument under her care. From timpani to xylophone to triangle, she masters them all. She says most people associate percussion with drums, but at any one time she can be in charge of 20-30 instruments. “It’s more than just banging on a drum.”
Her favourite instrument is the marimba, a piano-like instrument from Africa. She has not quite mastered drums yet. “I know it might seem backwards, but it’s a skill I’m working on,” Schroeder said.
Schroeder’s day begins at 6:45 a.m. and ends at 10 p.m. Early mornings are a habit she learned on her family’s farm near Kalamazoo, a city of about 75,000 people in southern Michigan. Schroeder recalls waking in the middle of the night to care for ailing sheep. But, it was always music that called to her. Both of Schroeder’s parents were band directors while still working on the farm. There was always music in the house, she said.
Now she’s left the sheep behind and calls herself a ‘city girl,’ but the long days remain. In her 15-hour days, she teaches two sections of a class, attends rehearsal for Western’s symphony orchestra and somehow makes time to mark.
“I had no idea she practiced that much, it’s crazy. But she is really good at what she does, so it pays off,” said Brian Donohue, a symphony mate of Schroeder’s.
Schroeder plans to move back to The States after graduating from her two-year program this spring. She hopes to one day open a private studio to teach percussion. She wishes to have more time to focus on the music she loves most, like the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, one of her favourite composers.
Bach’s works tend to have interesting and challenging percussion parts, she said. Though she likes Bach, there is one composer that is even closer to her heart: Justin Rito.
At only 26, Rito is a contemporary composer, meaning “he composes in the here and now,” said Schroeder. She has played many of his works.
Oh, and he happens to be her husband.
Rito is working on his masters at Western. Schroeder says he always wants to compose music for her.
Making his music come to life is something that comes naturally, she said. “I feel I connect without even trying. I can feel it, and I am really happy when I play his music.”
For Schroeder playing is the way that she speaks out and connects. “People would describe me as quiet, but percussion is anything but quiet. It’s a chance to be loud, and to be heard.”