WEBVTT

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One, two, one, two, three, four 

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My name is Kit Mills I'm a second year graduate student in the music department majoring in the master's in music program in music.

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With a speciality in contemporary music with my focus in composition.

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There's several reasons I decided to come to Western Oregon University to pursue my Master's degree in music.

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Probably the first and strongest reason was Dr. Kevin Walczyk who is my adviser here.

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And head of the composition department and also the head of the graduate department.

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I was really struck when I talked with him with his empathy. We're both father's we're both 

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people who have worked as composers for quite some time.

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I'm kind of a non traditional student. I've been out in the work force working as a professional musician for about 15 years.

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I was also incredibly impressed with the level of work not only he's doing

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but also the other faculty here full time.

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I liked the idea of being in a small program where I wouldn't be lost amidst the hordes of other students.

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One of the real strengths of this program is it's so customizable.

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And there are eight or nine of us graduate students right now and we vary incredibly in terms of our interests and our specialities.

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And the great thing is this program can accommodate all of us. 

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Me, I kind of have two different careers. One as a composer and the more classical side of things.

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But I also have been a professional drummer and session player for quite some time so those don't always meet up.

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And the great thing is, here at Western I have multiple ways to indulge both of those and to continue my studies.

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Right now I'm taking only one true class it's a musicology class with Dr. Keller Coker.

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And that is covering a variety of musical settings.

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For the circumstances that created some of the different musical genres and musical movements that we're familiar with through history.

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As part of my graduate assistantship my duties include 

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being the assistant director of the Western Oregon pep band.

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So we have played at football games, the home basketball games.

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You know just bringing a lot of excitement and energy to those games.

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So great ways to keep going with my percussions.

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Master's should mean something. It should mean that you're having an opportunity to study with someone who is a true master at what they're doing.

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Each of the professor's here you'll find has not just one special area but often two or even more areas where they're just great.

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Western's graduate music program may be just what you need to take your career to another level.

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Music.