As the semester begins to ramp up, it’s more important than ever to make sure students continue to find balance. A popular source of balance at the College of William and Mary is joining one of its impressive number of diverse musical ensembles, including Melodia, the College’s Eastern European Music Ensemble.
“It’s a club and also a one credit class that’s focused on the production and performance of music throughout Eastern Europe,” Treasurer Dunn Johnson ’28 said.
By enrolling in Melodia for two semesters, students can earn their Creative and Performing Arts Proficiency. Even if students join for that purpose alone, the ensemble quickly steals the hearts of new members.
“There was someone in my hall that was in Melodia,” Music Librarian Evan Biller ’28 said. “She convinced a few other people in my hall, including me, to join Melodia for that semester, and it’s a decision I will never regret.”
Melodia blends vocals, instrumentation and choreography, catering to students of all different academic, cultural and musical backgrounds.
“I don’t have any formal music background, which is pretty funny,” President Darya Streke ’28 said. “However, Melodia is not the most intense. If you’re a vocalist, you don’t have to have a background in singing. We just have to try our best, and usually it works out.”
The ensemble allows all its members to vote on music for the next concert cycle, which Biller and Instrument Director Leo Ivanova ’28 then use to create arrangements.
“I have some arranging experience,” Biller said. “I’ve taken up arranging as a hobby within the past year or two, so this is a chance for me to test my abilities in this position and make sure that I make the best music that’s best for the ensemble as a whole.”
Ivanova, who picked up the accordion during his time in the ensemble, has made sure that the arranging team is prepared going into this semester.
“We actually started over winter break, because we wanted to have enough music for people to play in the first couple weeks,” Ivanova said.
During the weekly two-hour rehearsal, the ensemble uses their time efficiently to ensure they have the opportunity to learn music and hear the progress they make.
“The vocalists are in one room, the instrument players are in another. And then we meet in the last 30 to 40 minutes,” Streke said.
Melodia’s executive board works hard to make rehearsal flow smoothly.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s nice work,” Ivanova said. “We get to play music at the end of the day.”
The ensemble also offers the opportunity for learning new, Eastern European folk music-specific instruments. Students can borrow these instruments through the Russian department. Johnson was particularly excited about this opportunity when he joined.
“I’m part of the Russian department and [Melodia] was recommended to me, and I said I wanted to learn how to play an instrument as well,” Johnson said. “So I saw it as just a good combination of all of my interests.”
Through his time in the ensemble, Johnson has learned how to play the balalaika.
“The best comparison would be a Russian ukulele of sorts,” Johnson said. “It has three strings, with two strings of the same note. So it’s E-E-A. And it’s played via just strumming it very quickly.”
While offering an exciting space for ensemble members to learn new skills, Melodia is also full of musicians who have found a place to expand on and combine their existing skills into Eastern European music.
Biller has brought his trumpet skills from experience with five other music ensembles to Melodia, where he has enjoyed learning a different style of music.
“I wasn’t too educated in terms of folk music in general,” Biller said. “Before joining this ensemble, I had never listened to a lot of Eastern European music. Joining this ensemble has really widened my worldview.”
Biller’s favorite song from previous semesters in Melodia offered a unique opportunity to blend his jazz experience with folk music.
“It had this trumpet feature in the beginning where the trumpet would play this kind of opening thing, and then it had this whole section in the middle where it was basically improvisation,” Biller said.
If playing music or singing doesn’t sound exciting, Melodia’s newest offering might. Streke has worked over the last year to start a dance section. Streke’s previous experience in figure skating informs her choreography.
“I am a choreographer on the ice,” Streke said. “I choreographed Christmas shows, and it just felt like second nature because the Russian style of dances have a lot of commonalities, with the fists on the hips and posture and such.”
The choreography process moves quickly, especially given the limited rehearsal time in the ensemble.
“I choreograph the entire thing in my head and I video it in my room, and then I teach it for an hour on a random Sunday,” Streke said. “We have three to four practices, so it only takes three to four hours to learn a dance and to make it look presentable.”
Ivanova encourages anyone who’s interested to try Melodia out.
“There’s just really nothing to lose here, and we as an ensemble try to support people as much as possible if they want to continue,” Ivanova said.
Melodia’s spring semester performance is scheduled for April 26 at 3 p.m., so make sure to stop by if you’re interested in hearing and seeing what they are working on.
