I figured it's time for a change. Inspired by a great post on historyjournal.org, I decided to spend Sunday evening working on a new entry. To get the ball rolling, I started playing around with new templates. I'm not sure if this one will last...I will probably end up changing it sooner or later. In any case, it's not about the design anyway.
I don't even know where I should start - Puerto Madryn seems like it was ages ago. To be honest, I tried writing several entries while in Argentina and Chile but never ended up posting anything. I was actually just looking through my last entry when I realized just how many spelling mistakes I made! My apologies to my readers. I blame the touch screen on my phone. All excuses aside, I am about to spend a portion of this Sunday's evening to share my experiences of World Symposium on Choral Music (WSCM9) in Puerto Madryn.
Overall, I found WSCM9 very enjoyable. I mean sure, the volcano ash and the 24-hour bus rides there and back didn't really 'enhance' my experience, but those things did not overshadow my overall experience in Puerto Madryn either. Seeing jumping whales and flocks of flamingos made up for the endless commute. The only other disappointing thing was the venues in which the choirs sang. The gymnasium that hosted all of the evening concerts just wasn't the right pick for any sort of music performance, never mind choral chamber groups. The gymnasium wasn't close to any of the main hotels either, which made it difficult to get to. All in all though, the extraordinary musicianship of the ensembles that performed there helped all of us attendees forget about the discomforts of the venue, if only for a song or two.
I am not going to attempt to recount every single day of the symposium - no one would probably read it if I did. Instead, I going to share some highlights - my Top 3 memories.
#3) Hearing the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Choir
While there were many exceptional choirs at the conference, the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Choir was my favourite by far. Their set consisted of 5 pieces (unfortunately, no programs were given out at the concert and I do not know the names of the works) that contained texts on the subject of Freedom. The ensemble featured many exceptionally talented soloists, including a gifted narrator who connected each piece of music with a short speech on the value of free speech and racial equality. The choir's dress, choreography, tuning and overall performance was stunning. Once they were on stage, for lack of an original expression - time stopped. The stage was theirs and theirs alone. No one in the audience dared to look away, sneeze, or check their cell phone. Even the crying baby stopped its tears at the sound of the choirs opening chord. Or maybe I just tuned the baby out at that point, who knows. The point is, the NM Metropolitan University Choir was a show stopper. I had the same feeling of awe and excitement watching them as I did watching Cantoria Alberto Grau at ACDA National Conference in 2009. Just as I got my initial drive to travel to South America at ACDA, I got the sudden urge to pack my bags and travel to South Africa at WSCM9. How else could I possibly learn how these singers learn to perform this way? Thankfully, I remembered the pain in my feet from four weeks of travelling across this continent, and decided to shelf my curiosity aside for now. One trip at a time, I reminded myself.
#2) Masterclasses with Josep Vila and Simon Carrington.
My experiences in these two masterclasses were very different from one another. The first, with Josep Vila was very intense, challenging and energy-consuming. I had a rare opportunity to work on a very difficult piece by a modern Catalan composer with a choir from Argentina. Maestro Vila was very clear about his expectations and it was apparent from the start the masterclass was a serious affair. I barely saw any of the interest sessions those few days because I spent most of my time learning music in my hotel room. All for a good cause, of course. I don't think that I would ever have the opportunity to conduct that piece in my career, never mind in Argentina at the World Symposium on Choral Music! Maestro Vila also taught me a great lesson in the importance of professionalism in rehearsal. I made too many jokes and being as nervous as I was, tried to win the choir over with my charm. Maestro Vila suggested a different approach, and I am glad to say that it worked.
Participating in Simon Carrington's masterclass was a very different experience. Simon did not do a selection process for his pupils. Instead, he asked all 11 participants to choose a piece from the repertoire that he selected and come up one at a time to conduct it. He divided his time between the students based on each one's skills level and expertise - the more experienced conductors received more time on the podium to work with Simon and the choir. I was really glad that Simon did not do a selection process. With such an array of skills and musical backgrounds, I got to witness a great teacher get down to the nitty-gritty and do some great teaching. I had the chance to see how conducting is taught at different levels all in one room. When else would I get to witness such an event? Watching Simon work is really inspiring. His capacity for interpretation is boundless, and he always shares his ideas. I felt sad saying goodbye to him at the very end, actually. I will apply to the Norfolk Conducting Course this summer in hope of working with him again. Wish me luck!
#1) Making New Friends from Argentina
Countless hours of preparing for both masterclass helped me become close friends with the other conducting participants. Some of them were undergraduate conducting students from Mendoza and Santa Fe. One evening, I was invited for a study session. There were 9 of us there - Guadalupe, Jeronimo, Pedro, Agustina, Manuel, Rodrigo, Mariano, and Guillermo. We spent the first part of the evening reading through Simon's repertoire. It was quite fun, actually. We didn't have recordings to lean on, as I often did in grad school. We just had our tuning forks and our sight reading skills. Let me tell you - learning Gesualdo a-capella was a lot harder than I expected! Once we had enough Gesualdo, we opened some wine and Guillermo made a traditional Argentinian dish (the name of which I cannot recall, unfortunately!). The meal was incredible. A real luxury for the girl who has been on the road eating crackers and chocolate for 4 weeks in a row. After we finished eating, my friends wanted to tell me about Argentinian folklore. Only, they didn't just tell me about it - the eight of them sang (in harmony!) the different styles of Argentinian folklore music that they know. It was adorable. Each one would start a song, while some others would try their best English to explain the different features of each style. In the end, they would all join in and improvise harmonization of the tune, solo, and add table-top-percussion... all on the spot! I was so touched. Their performance was intended for me. They wanted me to learn about their culture and take it back to Canada with me. I have a video with some of these songs but I don't want to post it until I get their approval. That evening was definitely one of the most memorable moments of my life. Words in this blog post cannot do justice to the beauty of fine company and spontaneous song. Still, I must make it known and so I place that evening on my #1 spot of best WSCM9 memories.
I could write a lot more but I am going to search through my External USB Drive and find those videos!
Until next time...or rather, Hasta Luego!
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