CEDRIC BOULINEAU, MCTA 17A Président de l'Orchestre Symphonique Étudiant de Toulouse

My name is Cédric Boulineau and I am a student in MCTA 17A. I was accepted into the Orchester Symphonique de Toulouse as a Student in the flute pulpit, after i auditioned in September 2016. This unique association oversees about 130 musicians in its ranks each year and produces about twenty concerts.

Unique in its diversity, the Orchestra brings together musicians from all areas of Toulouse. Being a musician at OSET affords me the incredible opportunity to meet various musician. This association allowed me to form unique friendships with Toulouse students that I probably would not have met elsewhere.

Unique in its ambition, the Orchestra seeks to bring together musicians to allow them to continue at a higher-level amateur musical practice, by building increasingly demanding symphonic programs. Works already produced include-- Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, Mozart's Requiem, and Dvorak's Eighth Symphony. The OSET performs in prestigious venues such as the Auditorium Saint-Pierre des Cuisines and Halle aux Grains it has acquired over its seven years of existence, a solid reputation on the music scene in Toulouse. It also exports beyond des Toulouse pink walls: Exchanges with other university orchestra’s has led it to Lille to meet its counterpart. This year OSET will be present in Strasbourg from the 6th to the 10th of June to represent Toulouse and France at the European Student Orchestra Festival, which brings together ten orchestras of six different nationalities. Unique in its kind, the Orchestra is finally very students oriented, as much in its recruitment as in its public. It frequently performs in various universities and makes it a point of duty to offer free concerts, or perform even when its not very profitable for the student public. Its goal is to bring classical music out of its conventional boundaries, showing that you can be a student, be young, dynamic and still love classical music.

Thrilled by this wonderful project steered by the Board of Directors, I ,in my first year devoted some of my free time to the achievement of the tasks essential to the life of the Orchestra : logistics, partnerships, organization of concerts and rehearsals , recruitment . In October 2017, I had the great honor of becoming the President.

One of the greatest pride of my mandate is to be able to defend the colours (pink) of the Orchestra with Mr. Le Ligné, cabinet director of ENAC who has agreed to establish a financial partnership between OSET and ENAC. This signing means a lot to me because it represents the interest shown by the ENAC in our cultural engagement to Toulouse students - musicians and public - and this makes me all even prouder that it is the school in which I am studying.

To manage two passions alongside each other i.e air traffic control studies and being the president of the Orchestra requires a lot of dedication. It takes, on the average, two to three hours of daily work for the association, including reading and writing mails and organizing rehearsals, concerts or trips. Added to this is two rehearsals a week on the average. On Tuesday in small groups and on Wednesday tutti (full orchestra workforce), then one or two meetings per month with the Board of Directors on budgeting, programs and to organize the life of the OSET. It is therefore necessary to manage schedules devoted to school work and other associated tasks. It is a long-term job, but it is quite achievable, thanks to a well-balanced division of roles within the Board, which allows for very effective teamwork. Air traffic navigation and orchestral practice overlaps in many ways: Both require communication, anticipation and teamwork. It is very interesting to see that these three elements are articulated according to the same mechanism in both environments and that in fact the two experiences are mutually enriching.

I had the chance, during my schooling and and my involvement in the association, to meet beautiful personalities, who helped me become mature and open-minded. There is nothing like chilling, drinking a glass with some friends after after two hours of intense rehearsal

The Student Symphony Orchestra of Toulouse is the most extraordinary musical and human adventure I have experienced and I can only encourage current or future Toulouse students to join us - especially students of the ENAC whose ranks must be enlarged !