“Let All the World in Every Corner Sing”
This was the theme of the ACSI Honors Choir and Strings festival in Budapest, Hungary.
Hungarian Goulash
The three of us from BFA stayed with a family from the school. They had actually been at BFA several years ago, so we had some fun conversations. They lived right across the street from the Communist Statue Park. After the fall of Communism in Hungary, they took these statues down from their locations all over Budapest and put them in this park.
A Cubist rendition of Marx and Engels
Hungary+Russia=Friendship
Though it was exciting to experience Hungarian food, history and culture, that was not the purpose of our trip. We were there doing a music festival. There was a choir of 70 students and an orchestra of 8. The orchestra portion of the festival is relatively new, and without BFA students there (they were on high school retreat), the numbers were rather limited. Only 4 of these 8 were actually students; the rest were teachers (Peggy, Katie, me, and Hannah Wood from ICSB).
From Thursday through Saturday, we had lots of rehearsal time interspersed with master classes, meals, and sight-seeing. Most of our pieces were just for orchestra, although we did 2 combined numbers with choir.
On Sunday we had two performances. The first took place in a church with very resonant acoustics.
The orchestra performing at the church in Budapest
As you can see, I was playing cello. I only played violin for one piece. My left pinky was really sore by the end of this weekend, but now it feels tough and strong! I had never played that much cello in my life! We had an interesting time figuring out where to set up in the somewhat confined space of the church. We had to arrange ourselves so we wouldn’t stab choir members with our bows. I also had to figure out where to put my violin so it wouldn’t get crushed by my cello or the choir members traipsing across the front of the sanctuary. We moved from concrete floor to carpet, so we had to remove the duct tape rock stops from the floor. I couldn’t throw away the duct tape at that point in time, so I stuck it on the stand and attached my rosin to it. I’m amazed we kept track of the music and instruments without breaking or losing anything!
We hauled everything back to the school (which made an interesting ride with 2 cellos sitting on top of 6 people in a van full of keyboards and music stands) and got ready to play the last concert at ICSB in the gym. That went really well – we had enough time to play an extra piece that had been cut from the previous performance. The choir sang a good variety of challenging pieces.
The orchestra kids really bonded together this week. They had lots of time together. We tried to keep the atmosphere relaxed – we let the kids call us by our first names (although the kids enjoyed calling me Miss Musick most of the time), and we wore jeans. I broke up the many hours of rehearsal with some fun stretches (inspired by Dr. Joiner, Feldenkreis, and Dad’s back exercises). The kids loved the chance to lie on the floor and relax their muscles.
The orchestra kids relaxed before the concert at the school. No stressing out here!
You may wonder if it was worth it for us to do a festival with only 4 students. Yet this festival was incredibly valuable for these kids because it was their only chance during the entire year to play in an ensemble! Most small international schools have very small music programs. They are fortunate if they have a choir. It is rare for these schools to have any kind of an instrumental program.
The first violinist was from Budapest; she takes lessons in Hungarian, but does not have an orchestra. The 2nd violinist and flautist were from Madrid. They ARE the music program there! The cellist had taken lessons in his country, but had almost no orchestral playing experience. This lack of experience caused some difficulties with sight-reading, but these kids all improved greatly in ensemble playing ability.
The best part was seeing their excitement in playing with a group. They didn’t even realize what they were missing out on! The cellist soaked up every little bit of advice I gave him (on sight-reading, staggered bowing, fingerings, modes, composition, etc.), and the violinist from Spain is already getting excited about next year’s festival!
The festival was as beneficial to me as it was to the students. It gave me a chance to get a feel for music programs in other ACSI schools. In international education, music programs have a very difficult time growing because of the transient nature of both staff and students. There are also circumstances unique to each country (for some, it takes months to order music). Many of the schools have limited space for rehearsing ensembles. There is also the issue of navigating rental contracts in another language. The barriers seem much larger for instrumental programs than choir; this is compounded when a new teacher would have to take over every couple years and navigate the cultural, linguistic, and practical issues all over again. There are also the financial issues – how many of these parents can actually afford to rent or buy instruments? How can they commit to something that demands lots of time if the family may have to uproot in a few years? I had not realized how few opportunities the students have to play in ensembles, but in seeing the obstacles, I understand better why it is that there are so few. BFA is a unique school in Europe. Coming from public schools in the States, BFA is small school; compared to the other private international schools in Europe, BFA has a really big music program. It seems hard to believe that 15 string students is large, but it is the largest in the group of schools present at the conference.
On my flight back home to Germany (it really does feel like home – German doees not seem at all foreign compared to Hungarian!), God gave me a reminder that His timing is perfect, and He is guiding every one of my steps in life.
A Hungarian girl seemed a little nervous and unsettled as she found her seat, which turned out to be next to me. I struck up a conversation with her, and it turns out that she was on her way to America to be a nanny for a year through Au Pair. She had never been to America before, so she was somewhat distraught about leaving her family behind and going to a new place where she had no friends. As the plane left the ground, I saw her look out the window at her home country as it began to disappear beneath us. She grasped her tissues, and I remembered the emotions that had been sweeping through my own mind last July as I, too, watched the Chicago skyline grow smaller as I left my family behind to start a new life in a new country where I knew nobody.
I encouraged this girl with my own story of my journey to Germany. As we cruised above the wispy clouds, she showed me pictures of her family. She also showed me a picture of the school where she had taught for 2 years; it just “happened” to be a part of an Evangelical church. Throughout our conversation we shared that we are both believers – and we both stressed that true faith is more than just following tradition or going to church. What an encouragement to find another believer! At one point, she said, “You are like an angel! God put you here on this plane.” She expressed her faith that she is not making this move alone; God is with her. My presence on that flight was an extra reassurance to her that God is indeed taking care of her; He even gave her an encourager on the plane to make it through the first leg of her journey to America!
As we arrived in our layover airport in Munich, we prayed for each other and exchanged emails; I’m praying that she has met the people with Au Pair and that God will provide her regular spiritual encouragement and strength, especially as she will be living with a Catholic family. She came armed with several Bibles in Hungarian and English, so I know she will rely on God to get her through the times of loneliness, doubt, fear, and longing for home.
What are the odds that this intersection between us would take place? One Christian teacher recently left family and friends in America to start a job in Europe; the other Christian teacher just left family and friends in Europe to start a job in America. I fully believe that God put me on that plane “for such a time as this.” He orchestrated that meeting. What a beautiful reminder of how God cares for us!
“Hadd énekeljen az egész világ” – “Let All the World in Every Corner Sing” – it is a privilege to be a part of God’s ensemble of believers, the Body of Christ. We not only exalt His name by make literal music together; we also sing God’s praise together in our interactions and relationships. Through God’s contrapuntal genius, this Hungarian girl and I met on the unison moment of a voice crossing. For one hour today, I sang in unison with someone from another corner of the world.
More pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045247&id=187701865&l=aeeed69701
