Elias Koenig – Page 5 – Postgraduate Digital Prospectus

Durham University Gospel Choir – Coming alive through music

Elias Koenig on May 3, 2024

Tell us about the Gospel Choir

We began life in 2008 as a small group of singers busking on the streets of Durham. We’ve since grown to a choir of 30 students who love nothing more than to sing together, bringing joy to our audiences. This year, our aims have been to increase the confidence of our choir as individual musicians, to teach our audiences about the faith-based and anthropological heritage of the Gospel genre, and to build long-lasting relationships with other student-led Durham University music groups. The choir was founded to bring a different flavour to Durham, which we are told we have certainly done! We perform a diverse range of Christian worship songs, ancient African spirituals, more modern pop, and occasionally invite audiences to sing with us during performances. Gospel Choir is truly a family who want to see each other come alive through music.

What has been the Gospel Choir’s greatest achievement?

One of our proudest achievements was very recent – in April this year we were invited to perform in Durham Cathedral as an opening act for pop icon Heather Small. A technical delay at the last minute meant we didn’t get to open the show in the end, but we took the opportunity to take our energy and smiles, and perform outside the Cathedral to the crowds as they waited to go in.

We are also proud that we got through to the finals of University Gospel Choir of the Year 2024 in Croydon. This is always a huge highlight of our choir calendar, as we spend time with and draw inspiration from other choirs around the UK who have a wide variety of values, visions, and sounds.
We received a lovely review following our performance: “Durham Gospel Choir gave a stunning close to the show, with beautiful tonal harmonies and arrangements, including some impressive a cappella work that set them apart from the rest of the choirs.”

Photo credit for Never Give Up – Jan Panke

Performing isn’t everything we do

While performing is undoubtedly important to us, it doesn’t represent everything about us. We’ve participated in a range of different events this year, including several gospel-style workshops with Hild Bede Chapel Choir before singing together for their Sunday services. This has entailed teaching lyrics and melodies to the Chapel Choir without sheet music, as well as belting workshops that train choir members to produce that signature powerful and soulful gospel sound.

We also like to help raise money for good causes, and this year our charity is Durham’s leading youth homelessness charity, Moving On. During a ‘Busk and Bake’ event in November in collaboration with St Mary’s Bake Society, we raised more than £200 for Moving On, while the proceeds of all programmes sold for our Michaelmas Showcase were also donated.

Tell us about the diversity that makes up the Choir?

Many Gospel Choir members are involved in jazz bands, pop bands, and often sing or play individually at events and open mic nights. There is also a significant number of choir members who are involved in church worship here in Durham and around the world. Some have experience in musical theatre, others have been more classically trained, and others still have grown up singing in church choirs. We are brought together by the sheer joy we have when we sing together; for some this is an act of worship, and for many others in our multi-worldview choir, the choir remains a relaxed and welcoming space.

Because Gospel music was born in African American communities, we as a choir are intentional about the ethnically diverse student community that we represent. Gospel Choir is an increasingly diverse and welcoming student community, with space for those of non-white heritage and backgrounds to flourish.

When can we next hear you perform?

We’re very active on Facebook and Instagram, where we advertise all events open to the public, circulate ticket links, and give our followers a glimpse into our rehearsals and behind-the-scenes.

We’re next performing in ‘Fairytales’ the annual Durham Student Music Cathedral Concert on Friday 31 May. Get your tickets for here

We’re also performing at Ecofest in Neville’s Cross on Sunday 16 June.

There will be further choir showcases coming up later this year. Keep an eye out for more information!

Discover more

Radio interview between Gilly Hope (BBC Radio Newcastle), Georgie and Yikima ahead of the University Gospel Choir of the Year competition (which took place on Saturday 16 March). Listen here

Rehearsing ‘You’ve Got the Love’ – Florence and the Machine

What’s it like studying Physics

Elias Koenig on May 3, 2024

Why Physics?

When applying to unis, I was always pretty certain that I wanted to study physics. After reading a great book about it a few years ago, I found understanding why things worked at a fundamental level really cool, and the idea of studying crazy phenomena like black holes and quantum theory seemed awesome to me!

A typical day

A typical day in my life sees me waking up half an hour before lectures, quickly having breakfast and taking the 5-minute walk down to the science site (a definite upside of being at Trevelyan college!). Contact hours are all an hour long and there are generally 3-4 of them every morning, ranging from tutorials to lectures to workshops, after which I head back up the hill to Trevs for a catered lunch. My afternoon is then generally spent in the library, most likely doing assignments, going over lecture notes or preparing for tutorials.

My top tips

Being a first-year student, I was glad there wasn’t much module choice in terms of physics, because I would have had no idea what I wanted to specialise in! However, roughly half of our modules are maths modules, and I picked the ones focussed more on teaching the maths needed for physics, instead of the ones giving a more rigorous, abstract approach. These modules were my favourites in first term, and I found it really cool how they took the maths I’d learnt at school a step further and showed us where it all came from.

My favourite part of second term has been the physics side of the course though! While in the first term I didn’t really interact much with physics outside of lectures and assignments, in the new year I started going over my lecture notes and using the textbook to make sure I really understood what was going on. Doing this has made me enjoy the course much more! It’s more work, but I’d say my main learning from first year is that you get as much out of the course as you invest in it.

Once a week we also have a three-hour lab session, and just like the theoretical part of the course, I’ve enjoyed it much more in second term! My favourite experiment so far has been measuring the speed of light, which we did by bouncing the light off a mirror and measuring the time delay between when it was emitted and when it came back. Apart from the fact that we got a really accurate result, I really enjoyed it because it branched the theory we’d been doing with real life.

Friends and free time

Before coming to uni I was worried that my degree might mean I was working all the time, but, in first year at least, I’ve found that balancing friends/societies and my workload has definitely been doable. I spend most of my free time with my friends and often in the evenings we do something together like baking or playing a game. I also always look forward to my Wednesday evenings, where I play DnD with a group I met through the Durham Games society!

Frisbee, frisbee, frisbee!

I’m also on the Ultimate Frisbee team for both Trevs and Durham! Before coming to uni I’d never played, but now I have training three to four times a week and generally a match over the weekend. I’ve also been around the UK a bit for matches or tournaments with the Durham team, which is always great fun! Sport has always been a great way to destress for me, and Ultimate Frisbee has been a great new discovery!

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Geography field trip to Chicago

Elias Koenig on May 3, 2024

If you are seeking a field trip that offers real-time examples of geographical concepts, the chance to experience a variety of rich cultures all within just one city, plus some fun on the side then I would highly recommend choosing the module ‘Chicago: Sites of Global Change’. It’s not just about the field trip; the lectures and seminars over the whole year cover fascinating themes and scholarly insights which will enrich your overall learning experience.

Why choose a module that has a field trip?

Geography stands out as a subject because it provides field trips where you can witness first-hand the concepts you’ve been studying all year. These trips also offer opportunities to conduct research on topics that truly interest you, thereby enhancing both your knowledge and research abilities. Yet, perhaps the most significant aspect is the chance to meet fellow students from your course whom you may not have crossed paths with otherwise. Sharing ideas and exploring a new city or location together fosters quick and meaningful connections—I’ve certainly formed lifelong friendships during my trip to Chicago!

My fieldtrip diary

Tuesday

We got to Heathrow for our 11am flight just in time and checked in with our student registers, before making our way to Wetherspoons for our last English breakfast. The flight went very smoothly (the film selection was amazing) and we touched down in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport at around 4pm! We went directly to our hotel in the city centre passing American flags, McDonalds, and Targets on our way in. For our first night we had Chicago deep dish for the first time which had mixed reviews, but everyone managed to finish their huge portions of garlic bread, pasta and meatballs and thin crust pizza! After eating ourselves into a food coma we settled in our 4 bed dorm rooms (chosen by us) to try and sleep the jet lag off.

Chicago famous deep dish pizza and spaghetti and meatballs from Pizzeria Due

Then it was time for our first full day in Chicago! For our weeklong trip we had 3 days of activities that had been planned by our professors and teaching staff and then 4 days for our own individual research activities.

Wednesday

We started this day by getting on the ‘L’ which is Chicago’s public transit system, famous for being above the streets around the Loop (the centre of Chicago), eventually making it to Pilsen, a neighbourhood in the Lower West Side of Chicago. We had researched this area extensively in the module beforehand due to its unique rich Latino culture and beautiful murals, so being able to see it in real life was incredible. We got a guided tour of the National Museum of Mexican art before enjoying some authentic Mexican tacos and walking around the Pilsen neighbourhood which is becoming more and more gentrified. We even managed to stumble across the TV show ‘The Bear’ being filmed which was a highlight! We ended the day in Logan Square Library where we split into our groups, decided based on our research topics, to plan our own research days and get in touch with anyone in the city that we thought may be useful to speak to.

An art piece on Mexican immigration from the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen

Thursday

On Thursday, despite the rain and snow, we braved an open top boat tour which took us up and down the Chicago River with a tour guide who gave insights on the architecture and history of the most famous buildings in the city. We then got a tour (on foot), when it had stopped raining from Rachel Weber, a professor at University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) and author of the book “From Boom to Bubble: How Finance built the New Chicago”. A book which we had studied in the ‘Urban Governance and Neoliberal Chicago’ block of the module. Rachel gave us an updated version of her book with information on how the city’s downtown buildings were being utilized post-Covid. We ended the day with dinner at the famous Time Out market in Fulton Market where we got to speak to some UIC students about their own research.

A view of the Chicago skyline from our boat tour

Friday

On the final day of our scheduled activities, we embarked on a tour of Chinatown, situated on Chicago’s south side. Our itinerary included a visit to the Chinese American Museum, which offered insights into Chinese American identity and the historical significance of Chinatown within the broader context of the city. We paused for lunch at an authentic Chinese restaurant, followed by some bubble tea, a first for some of us! We ended our day, by venturing to the magnificent Chicago Cultural Centre in the heart of the city, renowned for its striking architecture and hosting various art exhibitions and cultural events. In the evening, a handful of us fulfilled a long-standing dream by attending a Chicago Bulls basketball game – an unforgettable experience complete with energetic cheerleaders, spirited mascots, and t-shirt cannons!

A Chicago Bulls vs New York Knicks match at the United Centre

Saturday, Sunday, Monday

Over the weekend and into Monday, we carried out our own research, making each individual day unique! My group and I got involved with a litter picking initiative in Pilsen and got to speak to members of the city council and locals. These conversations led to an invitation to visit the City Council building where we conducted an interview with the Director of Housing and Real Estate, directly contributing to our research objectives. We also explored Chicago’s prominent green spaces, observed the final stages of construction of the Obama Presidential Centre and received a tour of the University of Chicago from students themselves. Each evening, we congregated at a restaurant to discuss our research findings and seek guidance from the teaching staff. Throughout our days, we diligently recorded our observations in field notebooks, providing valuable material for further reflection in following days.

Remarkably, our visit coincided with the eclipse on Monday, April 8th, allowing us to witness the remarkable celestial event with special glasses, as the moon obscured 93.9% of the sun.

Looking up at the Solar eclipse (with special glasses) in Milennium Park

Tuesday

On our last day we had sunshine so before our 7-hour flight we decided to hit the beach and have a game of volleyball, tiring ourselves out before we started the long journey home.

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