By Athanasios Fkiaras

Midnight rolls by, and a cloud of doom settles over many University student souls who are frantically trying to finish work due that same morning. One stroll by the University of Oregon School of Music however, and students realize that there is in fact another such storm hovering directly over this part of the University as well. A cacophony of different notes, scales, and pieces streams out the windows of the upper floor of the brick building as if to say, "If you think there's a storm brewing over your head, welcome to the hurricane."

The school is a second home to many music majors in terms of time spent in the building practicing and studying music. Some finish their bachelor's degree in four years, while others have been attending for closer to seven without graduating. In most cases, a study-intensive environment and a packed schedule does little to discourage these students.

Nicole McMahon is a music education major. Music is important to her because it allows her to express herself and to share her love for it with other people. She says that practicing for hours on end is worth it because the result is an ability to bring joy to others by both performing and teaching. She points to a strong sense of motivation when thinking of the student body at the School of Music. Strong in fact, are the time-management skills and self-discipline that students must have, she says. A day spent with McMahon reveals a schedule that is consumed by classes and studying from the time she gets up to the time she finds herself back in bed. It begins with an early 6:30 rise and breakfast, followed by:

Emma Tepfer plays J. S. Bach's Cello Suite No. 3 in C major

· 9:00-aural skills and warming up. For this class, McMahon learns how to listen to music, and then write it down in proper notation.

· 10:00-theory analysis. This involves studying different forms of music, such as a sonata, or a minuet.

· 11:00-lunch. It has been four hours since Nicole has gotten up. She rewards herself with yogurt, fruit and a Diet Pepsi

· 12:00-choral conducting. McMahon has to learn a song on her own and then conduct the class, which sings it. She then gets feedback from her instructor.

· 1:00-teaching lab. This ranges from listening to guest speakers to teaching and leading other choirs; the objective is to learn how to teach others about music.

· 2:00-voice practice. Sometimes she'll study or practice piano instead during this time.

· 3:00-Concert Choir. She meets with about 100 other students in room 198, and they practice various songs.

· 4:00-dinner and time to unwind. For McMahon this might even mean just making her bed or cleaning her room--as long as it's not school-related, she says.

· 6:00-more practice. This can range from practicing piano to conducting in front of a mirror. It depends on which classes she has the following day.

· 12:00-Sleep. Though she has been practicing since 6 p.m., she has been taking various breaks to counter the monotony. Sometimes her practicing will last until 9:30, but other times it can last until she is ready for bed.

Emma Tepfer, a 20-year-old strings major, says four to six hours a day spent in a practice room by herself, with her viola, and in some cases, a window, can be a lonely existence. One look out the practice-room window, and Tepfer realizes how much she really misses being outside. Just the same, however, Tepfer continues to work hard. Music, she says, makes her think in a completely different way. Unlike other school subjects, she reasons, music always has something new to offer her.

Tepfer practices in order to prove herself twice a year. She performs in front of a "jury" in the fall and spring. This entails a solo performance of two to four pieces in front of the string department heads. While the fall performance is largely preparatory in nature, the spring jury is what determines whether Tepfer will be ready to move up to the next level. If her judges decide she is not well prepared, then Tepfer has to wait until the next jury to try again. This is why some undergraduate students take longer than the four years to graduate.

There are numerous four-year degree options offered at the School of Music. Those who want to focus on liberal arts or sciences while majoring in music can pursue a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science. For students who want to commit to music only, majoring in performance or composition are possibilities. In most cases, the majority of classes taken are music-oriented, and each term comprises a 17 to 18-credit minimum.

Siqin Taoli plays Caprice Espagnole by Moritz Moszkowski

Piano performance majors also perform in front of a jury. Additionally, they have to give junior and senior recitals--usually a 45- to 60-minute session that will determine whether they are eligible to enter the university's graduate program. Among other classes and studies, the average piano performance major will typically practice by himself or herself for two to four hours a day, and then meet once a week in what is called a "master class." This is where students of the same level gather and watch their professor critique whichever student chooses to play in front of the class that week.

"You watch MTV, don't you?" Claire Wachter asked her performance master class one day. Most shook their heads. "Well, she continued," think of your performance up here as a little music video." She continued to describe how the student at the piano, who had just performed a portion of Samuel Barber's "Excursions," had to have more of a presence. Sitting at a second piano adjacent to the one the student was playing, Wachter played the same piece flawlessly to demonstrate what she was seeking.

Students usually come into the program having played since the age of 7 or 8, and are often very talented, Wachter says. The drive to become an "artist" however, brings out a distinct quality in most of her students: artists are always on a "search for perfection that is out of reach." It is frustrating, she admits, but such an ambitious mentality also perpetuates a strong drive for success.

Indeed, in the case of piano performance major Siqin Taoli, an ambitious mentality has been the driving force in her studies. Taoli entered the Shanghai Conservatory of music in China at age 11 to study piano and has since been continuing non-stop work on a bachelor's, master's, and now a doctoral degree at the University of Oregon. She is now 33. Though she has spent most of her life practicing and studying, she has enjoyed various jobs as an accompanist and performer at hotels and restaurants. "It's because I love music," she says. "For people who do this, it is pure love."