The UTM Music Club is a community on campus that offers students various musical opportunities. However, there is a noticeable absence of musical opportunities on campus. Asheesh Moosapeta, a fourth-year CCIT and DEM student, as well as a co-president of the club, spoke to The Medium to discuss the nature of UTM’s musical community.
Moosapeta got involved with the music club when he went to one of the jam sessions in his second year. He decided that he wanted to change the way they were run.
“A bunch of people would come to those sessions but only a few people would play, and everyone else would just sit around,” he said.
He and his friends decided to join the club and take it in a different direction. “We also wanted to buy some instruments for the club,” Moosapeta said.
UMC rents the conference room once a week for their jam sessions. Moosapeta stated that currently, UMC owns one acoustic guitar, one bass guitar, two amplifiers, a keyboard, and a mini synthesizer. They are looking into getting more instruments as well. For jam sessions, most people bring in their own personal instruments.
One way the music club plans to get more people involved is to expand their social media outreach. Their biggest events are usually the weekly jam sessions, but they are also looking into karaoke nights and open mic nights.
Moosapeta stated that there are other student clubs that they can work with, mostly the Christian choir group.
Moosapeta remarked that there is a significant difference between music involvement at UTM compared to the downtown campus. “They have a funded music program, which we are lacking here,” he said.
He also highlighted that because St. George has a music faculty, it is easier for students to get involved because of their opportunity to speak to music professionals. Since UTM does not have a music program, it can be challenging for people to find out about music opportunities on campus.
As Moosapeta explained, “There are a lot of talented musicians here, but they are all scattered.”
