The UBC Music Initiative (UMI) is ringing in the holiday season on Friday, November 18 with its Holiday Mashup, a musical event aimed to connect and engage the community of musicians at UBC.
Hoping to draw a wide audience of students, faculty and staff alike to the event, the UMI is collaborating with Heart of the City Piano Program and Shine On Music — two fellow student-run volunteer organizations at UBC — to organize an evening tailored for the university's music lovers.
The Ubyssey sat down with Samson Song, president of the UBC Music Initiative and a fourth-year student in the faculty of arts, to hear more about how the Holiday Mashup is hoping to keep music alive for university students.
What is the UBC Music Initiative’s main goal as a student organization?
To rekindle the passion of music for university students. A lot of people in high school and junior high are really involved, and as they hit university, it’s harder to keep up hobbies like music, so it’s just a great way to incentivize people to stay involved with music. Even if they’re not necessarily playing, we help the musically inclined go to monthly socials, meet other musicians, watch performances and keep music alive.
How did your collaboration with Heart of the City Piano Program and Shine On Music come about?
Those two clubs actually provide free music lessons — for piano and violin respectively — across the Lower Mainland and one of the UMI’s goals is giving back to the community through music. Their projects really align with what we do and how we try to promote music in our community.
What can students expect when they come to the Holiday Mashup?
We’ve got UBC A Cappella performing, Julian Pang, Aldina and Eliza — two amazing singers — and a few others. We’ll have games and socializing, and after that, we’ll have an open mic and jam session, which is a really good opportunity to go up and have fun and perform. You can meet other musicians and potentially start your own band or ensemble. It’s about a community of musicians coming together.
It’ll also be a fun night because there’s good food.
What do you hope to achieve with the Holiday Mashup?
We are a community of musicians. As much as we love to perform, it’s about the student body and the community that we foster here. We want to give a lot of people, especially international students who are maybe far away from home, that sense of community and holiday spirit. It’s meant to be an inclusive way to bring all sorts of music lovers together.
Tickets for the Holiday Mashup are on sale at the door of the event and will cost members $4 and non-members $8 (food and camaraderie included).
-This interview was edited for length and clarity