otra familia

Now in its second residency in Quito, Ecuador, the orchestra is playing Mahler's 4th symphony and two pieces by Phillip Glass, our composer-in-residence. The orchestra is...exhausted, sick, and continually pushed. I am feeling fine, with the exception of a painful cough. We are still getting used to the altitude in Quito and some people are experiencing headaches.
On top of this, two members of the orchestra have lost grandmothers in the last few days. It is so hard for them to be away from their families and far away from home. We help each other by offering stashed food, vitamin C tablets, covering each others' parts in rehearsals, and with lots of hugs.
Quito is a beautiful city surrounded by mountains. We haven't seen too much of it because we've been shuttled between the hotel and the concert hall, which is quite far away and up a steep hill. The clouds here are beautiful - there are lots of eucalyptus trees and other flowers. One of my favorite parts is that all the buses have names painted across their front windows - "Trans-Zeta," "El Rey de la Via," etc. Fun...we even had a bus that had a furry covering for the outside of the rear view mirror.

Need...oxygen

At 5 pm today the flutist who plays principal on the Brahms symphony called me and asked me to play for her - she has a fever. So with only one 20 minute soundcheck as my rehearsal, I played the whole symphony and it was...pretty good.
I'm going to back up.
We woke up this morning at 4 am to get to the airport to fly to Quito, Ecuador. We spent all day going through our bags, doing customs on one end and immigration on the other, etc. Last night I got to bed at 1 am and that was after I tried and said no to a lot of people about going out. Anyway, we arrived in Quito around 12. We slept until 4 pm. And the altitude! Oh, my god. We are at 10,000 feet here. They actually gave us oxygen backstage. I was shaking the whole time because I don't really know the symphony and it's such an important part. I made a couple of big mistakes, but overall it was a passionate, memorable performance.

We are going to be in Quito for the next week - tomorrow we start rehearsals for the Mahler and the two Glass pieces. At some point they are going to take us to the park with the equator so we can stand on it and take pictures!

Bogota - Quito

At some point yesterday in Bogota I looked down at the pen in my hand and it said "Oberlin Alumni Association." And it was weird.
I have had a couple of challenging days on the tour. We left Cali at 3:45 am on...was it Thursday? or Wednesday? I have no idea.

I will give you a summary of life here in Bogota:

* leave Cali at 3:45 am two days ago; arrive at 7 am in Bogota
* sleep until 12:30 pm
* attempt to wash everything in my suitcase at Pablo's apartment - this took ALL DAY because we kept leaving to do stuff and then we had to come back to switch the loads.
* I've been allergic to EVERYTHING and have been feeling really poorly, even with my medication
* while my laundry languished wet in a hamper waiting transfer to the dryer, we went to the Candelaria section of Bogota, which is the oldest section - saw the presidential house, the congress, and the supreme court. It was beautiful! And we saw some filming of a telenova in the streets.

The hardest part of this day was that I couldn't just go back to the hotel and sleep some more. I was tethered to a bunch of crazy latinos. At 11 pm, with my laundry still not in the dryer, we went back to the hotel to get Pablo's bag. Everyone got out of the car and they were just hanging out. It drove me crazy, and I just started to cry because I was so tired. Immediately I was told to go to bed - and these amazing people finished my clothes and folded them for me. They are amazing. People really try to take care of each other in this group, and they will drop everything to take care of someone who is feeling bad.

Okay, now a summary of today:

* wake up at 8:30
* play a CONCERT at 11 am
* lunch was confusing because it was in employee cafeteria of a supermarket and there were only two people serving food to about 150 people. Waited for food for about 40 minutes.
* play ANOTHER concert at 5 pm. yes. another concert. 3 hours.
* 8 pm: go back to the hotel. Have a cocktail party for all the donors. Lots of speeches. LOTS of speeches. Pablo's band played. And then finally, at 10 pm, dinner.
* Okay, and here's the best part! We wake up at 4 tomorrow to go to Quito - and we play ANOTHER concert tomorrow night!!!

The most difficult part of this day has been the altitude. 8600 feet is really high. And several people (including my Chilean roommate had to sit out the concert because of altitude sickness. And she plays viola! Xiomara, my oboist friend, didn't play the morning concert, either, but managed the evening concert. Olga almost passed out in the middle of her flute solo in Shostakovich. It's really bad -- and Quito is even higher. So we are trying to take care of ourselves, but it's been very difficult under the circumstances. I don't know when we're going to get a day off again. The schedule in Quito is very compact because we have to learn Mahler and all of the Philip Glass pieces for recording.

Somehow, through all of this, we are having an amazing time! I love my friends, I love this orchestra, and I love Colombia. On to Ecuador...

Cartegena y Barranquilla

After a couple days of 95 degree heat, a pearly green ocean, and the constant threat of massive sunburn -- oh, and two concerts -- we are waiting in the airport for our flight to Cali from Cartegena.

I'm a little tired and distracted in the airport, but some of the things we saw:

1. The old city of Cartegena, complete with old Spanish colonial architecture, climbing vines and flowers, and LOTS of flags for Colombian independence day.
2. The old wall that surrounded the city, dating back to the early 1500s.
3. A beach with water so warm it was almost like soup.

Cali is the purported capital of salsa music of the entire world. Looking forward to some dancing and good music, and maybe even a decent orchestra concert.

Medellin y Cartagena

Medellin is a city of about 3 million people in the heart of Colombia, and it's probably my favorite so far. We left the hot springs to drive about six hours here along more mountain roads. Honestly, I'm surprised no one threw up. Our bus drivers take the curves pretty fast.
We arrived and immediately plans were in the works for going out - we took a short taxi ride to a salsa bar and everyone started dancing. Our group split off and we went to a smaller place with loud music and more dancing. We piled into a cab at about 2:30 to go back to the hotel.
Unfortunately, the weather started to turn bad for our outdoor concert. Our soundcheck was delayed and then canceled and then there was talk of the whole concert being canceled because of rain. We went on anyway, although I question whether it was a good idea. The audience wasn't covered, but we were. They huddled under umbrellas and under the eaves of a building across from us. I think the orchestra's playing is suffering because of lack of sleep, among other things.
Yesterday we had to get up at 5 to go the airport for a flight to Cartagena, which is a huge city on the very top of the continent. The orchestra took up the whole tiny plane -- apparently we took too long to get on the plane, so we missed our take-off time. We were supposed to make a connection in Bogota, but we couldn't leave for Bogota now because there was some kind of big air show going on there. What kind of capital city closes down the entire major airport for an air show? So we got off the plane. Hung out for a while in the airport. Our tour managers did some negotiating and they were able to get us back on the plane for a flight straight to Cartagena, so we actually got there early.
Last night I didn't do anything but catch up on sleep. Today is the big concert with Joshua Bell on the eve of Colombia's 200th anniversary of independence from Spain. We are playing the national anthem at midnight in the old stone section of the city. Should be amazing!

Armenia and Manizales

Wow, what a crazy few days...I'm sitting here just trying to remember everything that we've been doing.
After Ibagué, we drove to Armenia on a crazy mountain road that twisted and turned and went up and down for hours. The scenery was really beautiful, but I think all of us just wanted to sleep instead. The schedule has been punishing - a concert every day in a different city. I think the hardest part is actually not being able to sleep well on the bus because the roads are so curvy.
My oboist friend Pablo has family in Armenia and invited us to his house for lunch. His mom and grandmother made an amazing meal - beans that they had shelled and made that same day, a hunk of well-seasoned beef, some kind of raw cabbage ensalada, rice, plantains, and I don't remember what else. It was so good! And it was interesting to go to a real Colombian house. They are all so different and seem hobbled together with all kinds of materials. Everything was so comfortable. We got to look at Pablo's baby photos. I couldn't understand his mom or his grandmother at all because they have very thick accents. I think they were really happy to meet all these people that Pablo had told them about for so many years.
The next day, we drove to Manizales, which is where I am right now. We are staying at this beautiful convention center that has natural hot springs! Thankfully, we got a full day of rest here. Yesterday we didn't have a concert - we didn't have to do anything, in fact. So of course we did everything. After staying up late soaking in hot volcanic water, we slept in. Then we piled into a taxi to take us into Manizales to have some food. I have been eating so much meat here that I was hoping for something a little different (usually meals are served with some beef, a little chicken, some chorizo, and then some pork skins, which I don't really like) so I ordered fish. I got the ENTIRE fish! It was looking at me. It was delicious, but the attached fins were kind of gross.
After breakfast/lunch we met our friend Ricardo, who plays flute with the Filarmonica Joven de Colombia, the other orchestra we've been traveling with. Manizales is his hometown, and he had his car, so he picked us up. We drove about 30 kilometers through mountains to another little town where Guillermo lives. He's one of the clarinetists in our orchestra. We wandered around the town for a while looking for his street. Ricardo kept pulling to the side of the road asking people where the street was, since there are no signs. Finally we found the street but were unsure about the house. He asked a guy if he knew Guillermo - and once he described him as playing clarinet and that he had long hair, the guy was like "oh, yeah, his house is over there." We knew we were at the right place because there was this amazing Colombian music coming out the windows from Guillermo's band. His house was already full of people from the orchestra dancing and drinking beer and eating food - it was only 1:30 in the afternoon.
Eventually we got back into Ricardo's car and headed into Manizales again, where we wandered around. Ricardo took us to his father's jewelery store and introduced us. We rode a gondola that is strung along the city. Manizales has streets that are even steeper than San Francisco. Finally, Ricardo took us to his house for dinner! Another amazing family and amazing meal. The hospitality just blows my mind. We listened to Colombian music on the radio and danced in the living room.
Today we are driving to Medellín and we'll play a concert there tomorrow night.

Ibagué

We played the first official concert of the tour last night in Villavicencio - an open-air concert in the big plaza in the middle of the town. There were so many people there! A huge stage had been set up with lights and two big screens that projected video of the orchestra playing close-up. We arrived early for a soundcheck and then it rained. A lot. Like, rivers of rain running in the streets. We were all huddled in tents while it passed over us. The concert was a big success - we played all three encores and then we played another encore twice. They didn't want us to leave! Finally, we went back to our hotel and had dinner by 11:30 pm.

We had to wake up at 5 am to be on the bus by 5:30. We drove all day to another city, Ibagué, which is where we are now. We stopped at another hotel for lunch and to watch the World Cup final game - there was also a pool to swim in and even a bowling alley in the basement. After Spain won the game, we hung out for a little longer, had a snack, and got back on the bus. Now we're all pretty tired. Our concert is tomorrow night and it will also be outdoors. The weather is a little humid - it rains every day at some point. But it's not too hot, I think partly because we are at a higher altitude.

Measures of growth

The orchestra is ready to start giving concerts. We have had a great residency, full of chamber music concerts and dancing and rehearsals. The food is good, but I have never eaten so much meat at once in my life. Not sure how I feel about it.
I asked Alex Klein, the oboe coach (and former principal oboe of the Chicago Symphony) to give me a lesson. I was nervous about asking him, but he was like "let's go now." So we did. We talked a little about being a musician and being selfish. His opinion is that artists are selfish, and that it's a good thing. It's a necessary thing. You have to have an opinion about everything - both on music and in the world. And it must be an educated opinion and one that you can express with conviction. I feel that my playing has been very subservient and apologetic recently. So I got out of my little box. I played a movement of the Bach partita for him. I haven't felt this creatively challenged in at least a year, maybe more. I felt open enough to have crazy ideas, and then he helped me organize those crazy ideas into something that had flow, logic, and narrative. What a great teacher.
Tonight we will have an open dress rehearsal for donors and special guests here at the hotel. Then tomorrow we will play a concert in Villavicencio and then the next day on to Ibague.

Symphonia India

It's been raining a lot here, and in addition to that there has been a lot of rehearsals that don't involve all of us. The result: some boredom and stir-crazy feelings. Tomorrow we will start to rehearse Mahler, which means that more of us will be distracted. When you don't have enough to do, it's easier to become homesick. The enormity of the tour hits you in the face and you just want to go home and pet the dog.
We are on a huge plain that meets the mountains. There are a lot of farms and ranches around us, and it's flat, flat, flat in one direction as far as we can see. Sometimes we see lightening far in the distance. You can watch storms approaching and see it raining miles away. Last night we got a great thunderstorm with a lot of rain. Everything is so green here.
I got asked for the second time yesterday if I was Italian. Apparently I pronounce things in Spanish like an Italian. It's still wrong, but at least it's not with an American accent.
We are mostly playing established works by European composers like Shostakovich and Brahms. We are playing one piece by a Mexican composer named Carlos Chavez. We performed his Huapango at Carnegie Hall in February, and now we are playing his Symphonia India, also known as his second symphony. All of the themes are based on music from the indigenous people of the Sonora desert. The percussionists are also using instruments from that culture. It's a pretty intense piece.
I am glad to be here among friends. I love all the people here. But I need to get busy or get homesick.

bambuco, la piscina, y muchos ensayos

We are still at the residency and rehearsing about 5-6 hours per day. It's pretty tiring, but we are having fun, too. The flutes from Orquestra Jovem de Colombia and YOA have combined to make a chamber music group. We are playing an arrangement of a bambuco song called Il Papi. Bambuco is Colombian music, very rhythmic, very difficult. It's hard to get the right style. Luckily, we have two Colombianos to show us the way, but I don't know if we will ever get it right.
This orchestra, in addition to working hard, also knows how to relax. There is a party every night at the pool that goes late into the night. Sometimes someone brings a guitar. The sky here is so dark that you can see the Milky Way and way more stars than in Chicago.
One challenging aspect here is laundry. There are laundry services, but they are very expensive. So everyone is handwashing their clothes and hanging them on the balconies. But it's been windy, so the whole resort is littered with underwear right now.
Our favorite conductor, Carlos Miguel Prieto, arrived yesterday and began working with us on Shostakovich, among other things. We will have a big rehearsal tonight for the music from West Side Story. He's a good conductor and a good human being.
Our lives are little boring right now. We will begin the actual tour in earnest in four days. Then it will be non-stop - we will drive to a few cities in Colombia and then take something like four flights within the country. Then we fly to Quito. Then we fly to Peru. Then to Sao Paulo. I think after that we are on a bus until we go home. But this tour isn't light on the fossil fuels.

Dispatch from the equator

So, the antibiotics are kicking in and I'm feeling much more human. The residency is in full swing now, and everyone is getting to know each other better. I have several friends who are taking it upon themselves to teach me more Spanish, and they give me quizzes at dinner to see how much I remember. The punishment for getting more than 2 words wrong: being thrown into the pool. They haven't had to do that yet.

Part of this residency is launching the new Filarmoníca Joven de Colombia, so there are actually two orchestras rehearsing in different rooms at the same time here. The FJC will accompany us throughout our tour of Colombia to raise awareness (and funds, I presume) of the new organization and classical music in general. We will also combine orchestras to play a couple of things, including Bernstein's suite from West Side Story. We had our first mega-rehearsal this morning and, well...it was loud. Lots of people. Every part doubled. There is tremendous talent here. They are just trying to organize it and to channel it into something manageable. It's a little strange to play with the combined orchestra, because you have great rhythm and sound, notes are learned, but it's difficult for everyone to follow the conductor. Our flute section is pictured above: Olga from Uruguay is principal, followed by Roberto of the FJC; then Kaili, a Canadian, and then Carolina of the FJC. I'm playing piccolo on the Bernstein and feel lucky that no one is doubling with me. That would be painful.

On a separate note, the town closest to us, Villavicencio, is having a yearly outdoor festival that apparently culminated last night with an outdoor concert with Marc Anthony last night. For those who don't know who that is, he's a big star in Latin American music. He's also married to Jennifer Lopez. And apparently they were both staying at our hotel last night and left early this morning. This could just be a rumor.

Antibióticos son buenos

So, I am most definitely still sick and getting worse here. I still have whatever it is I got in Oregon, which doesn't seem to respond to vitamin C, allergy medicine, sleep, or ibuprofen. The nurse for the orchestra gave me some antibiotics today. Maybe that will work? Oh, and the whole orchestra got inoculated for yellow fever today, too. Everyone is walking around with sore arms. The vaccine is required for entering Brazil. Speaking of Brazil, there are a lot of long faces today because of their defeat at the World Cup. A therapeutic soccer game is underway now in front of the hotel.
Rehearsals started today. Since we need four flutes for the Mahler, all of us get time off occasionally because they will rehearse a piece we're not playing in. I'm not playing in the Brahms symphony, which is a little disappointing, but I guess that's what happens when you play your audition tired, sick, and relatively unprepared.
Really, I'm kind of relieved that I don't have anything seriously important to do. I would be really stressed out right now. Instead, I can just sit back and enjoy playing and traveling. We also rehearsed Shostakovich 9 and Chavez's 2nd Symphony today.