Arts & Entertainments Board
Having committed yourself to 3 or 4 years at a college offering only engineering, science, medicine and management degrees, you may be forgiven for considering not bringing that cello or electric guitar/putting away your paints/leaving your collection of Shakespeare on your shelf at home (delete as appropriate). If you did however, you’ll probably be kicking yourself as you will undoubtedly find a club to suit your creative or performing needs here at Imperial College Union.
Music
For those with a penchant for classical musical, your choices range from the renowned Symphony Orchestra to the newly established String Ensemble; to one of the largest UK student choirs. Further blessing comes from the fact that the Royal College of Music is right next to Imperial, who occasionally provide soloists for the many and various classical concerts over the year.
The Blyth Music Centre, situated on level five of the Sherfield Building, provides 9 practice rooms, all engineered by acousticians, Sandy Brown Associates, to ensure sound proofing from adjacent rooms as well as good acoustic performance. Four of these are ensemble rooms and the other five are for solo practise with either a grand or upright piano (or indeed a harpsichord!) in all but one.
For different tastes, there is also the national award winning Jazz Big Band, filling a room with their trademark swing pieces or the explorations of Contemporary Music or Jazz and Rock jam nights. Again there is a soundproofed rehearsal room available for bands, this time in the Union building, complete with amps, PA and drum kit.
Theatre
For those theatre junkies amongst you, whether it be just simply watching, or participating as cast/crew/band, or even producing or directing, the drama and musical theatre societies offer the chance for you to indulge. They perform a wide range of shows, from those just coming off the West End to small, arty plays to maybe even one that’s someone’s written themselves!
Most often the shows are performed in the Union Concert Hall, a 240-seater room with a stage complete with flybars and trapdoor, but occasionally, for those plays geared towards a small audience, they may take place in a lecture theatre, even one that you may have been sitting in not two hours ago!
Arts
If, on the other hand, you’re looking to be the next Leonardo Da Vinci, mating science with art, then you’re still provided for. The surprisingly named Leonardo Soc, provides not only tutorship from the Royal College of Art and the materials needed, but also a studio to hide in, away from the distractions of quantum mechanics or concrete.
Cinema
Finally, often twice a week, the concert hall becomes a cinema with one of the largest screens in the West End of London. This student society looks after everything from the choc-ices to the newly acquired top of the range projector. And if you’re mad enough, you can take the challenge of doing one of their all nighters…
The AEB Chair is Andy Mason.
Please visit the Arts and Ents Website for more information.
