jill.musick

Backpacking in the Alps for 3 days was an amazing experience. I went to an area past Lucerne with Candy (former BFA RA), Emily (BFA teacher), and Kyle (Emily’s rock-climber friend). Though we dealt with rain, sunburn, stinging nettle, and animals dung, it was refreshing to be outside and moving all day long! I especially enjoyed the animals. Here’s a little run-down of the trip.

scouting out our route

Day 1:
Kandern to Basel (by bus)
Basel to Erstfeld (by train)
Erstfeld to Brüsti (hiking uphill)

The little path on the left was our way up the hill.

The area is known for its black salamanders. We found this cute little creature about halfway up the mountain, right on the path!

It was great to hike with such a wonderful view once we got high enough up the mountain!

Our guest house in Brüsti: Z'Graggen

Day 2:
Brüsti to Surenenpass (hiking uphill)

Our view from the guest house the next morning. The blue skies were reassuring after the previous day's rain.

Some of the paths look rather precarious. I felt like a mountain goat when I came down that little hill!

Again, the views were stunning as we climbed higher.

Candy and Emily arriving at the top of the Pass!

Can you spot the 3 Ibex on the rocky ridge up above the pass?

These small deep blue flowers decorated the rocks and tussocks scattered around the pass.

Surenenpass to Stäfeli (hiking downhill)

It was an easier walk downhill, so we took our time to stop and greet the cows.

If you’re my friend on facebook, you can watch this video of a cow trying to follow us!

We arrived in Stäfeli in the early afternoon. There were some cows and goats around to entertain us as we rested.

We had originally planned on hiking up to the Spannort Hut that night, but Emily wasn't feeling well, so we stayed in this guest house for the night.

The view from our guest house: Spannort peak at sunset

Day 3:
Stäfeli to Spanneortehütte and back (climbing uphill then down)

This day was the most adventurous. We knew we had a steep uphill climb to make when we left the guest house at 8am, but that was with the understanding that we would be on a path. Well, we couldn’t find the path, so we decided to create our own – up a large slippery hill!

Candy climbing the hill on all fours. Check out the little river way down at the bottom! And we were not even halfway up at this point!

It was encouraging to see the sheep up there because we knew they had found paths up the same hill. Unfortunately, they also left stinky evidence that they had been there. In reaching for hand-holds in the slippery grass, Candy and I both put our hands in sheep poo!

Sheep way up on the hill

Finally after making our way over loose rocks, and checking out the awesome view….

God's creation is beautiful!

…we discovered our path. Kyle decided to go up the path to the peak of the mountain,

The mighty peak

but we girls headed back down the mountain.

We stopped at the hut on the way down. The hut was invisible from below, and up here we could see why. It blended in well with those rock walls.

Some curious sheep decided to follow us partway down the mountain

When we got to the bottom, we saw where we had missed the path going up. We also met some friendly cows. One of them decided my sweaty arm was like a salt block, so she gave my arm a wet sandpaper massage. Another cow appeared shortly afterward and I offered her my other arm. She obligingly smeared some green cud-slime onto my skin. Yum.

Stäfeli to Engelberg (gentle hike downhill)

The town of Engelberg was visible from a long way off

Engelberg to Basel (by train)

7:30pm train from Luzern to Basel

Basel to Kandern (by car)

We had some well-deserved ice cream together back in Kandern. The 3rd day's sunshine took a toll on our skin!

You can find more photos from the trip here.

This trip with Kristin was my first time to Paris without students!

It started with a bit of a bump. Kristin and I missed our train by about 2 minutes because of a faulty GPS and construction at the train station. Even the extra time we had allowed to get to the train station was not enough. So we had a couple hours in Mulhouse to wander around before our train came.

Mulhouse

Atmosphere: Accordion in Paris

After a conversation with a few Mormons, we made it onto the train.

Train ride

Finally, we got to Paris, only 4 hours later than we had planned. We toured the Louvre…

Venus of Milo

Mona Lisa Smile

An orchestra in a painting

The Egyptian section was fascinating

Outside the Louvre, in front of the glass pyramids

Statue outside the Louvre

Louvre in the evening

Sunset at the pyramids

then wandered around the night-time streets of Paris.

Eiffel Tower from a distance

Notre Dame

Gargoyles at Notre Dame

Saturday we went to Disney Land Paris. It was my first time ever to go to Disney, and Kristin is a Disney expert. She was able to give background on lots of the rides. It was a fun adventure, and I loved seeing all the little girls dressed up as princesses!

Disney!

The famous castle

Snow White dark ride

Pirate ship

Storybook ride

Beauty and the Beast

Space Mountain roller coaster

Jack's bean stalk

Main Street USA looks just like Main Street in West Chicago!

Disney offered me a taste of America and a reminder of home.

Sunday morning, Kristin left on a plane for Chicago and I returned to Mulhouse by train and got a ride back to Kandern.

Monday: had music department breakfast at Fünfschilling restaurant, returned rental instruments to Christian Ganter, taught a violin lesson, and went to HBR for my last Monday night subbing session.

Pole soccer at HBR

Tuesday: went for a run, proctored Algebra / Statistics exam, went to farewell tea for the middle school principal, picked up Kristin Knosp from the train station!!!

Wednesday: did locker check-out with Kristin, had a meeting about the Rome field trip next year, gave Kristin a German Currywurst experience, did dorm cleaning at HBR, and played Speed Scrabble at home.

Kristin reads while watching kids clean their lockers

Kristin hands out the green check-out form

Curry Wurst and veggies for lunch

Speed Scrabble/Take Two

Kristin was stuck with the Q

Thursday: went for a run with Kristin, helped set up the gym for graduation reception, ate lunch, showed Kristin the nearest castle ruin, ate at the EisCafe, attended the High School Awards ceremony.

Kristin was really excited to find a cereal that said 'Knusper' - very similar to Knosp!

Unrolling the carpet to transform the gym into a reception hall

Kristin enjoyed the gnomes and roses all around the town of Kandern. Almost like a fairy tale....

Sausenburg - the castle ruin with a view of 3 countries!

Friday: To Paris with Kristin. See next blog post for a more detailed description of our trip.

Sunday, May 29 was the Spring Concert, the last big event of the semester for the music department. It was a good way to round off the musical year.

I always forget to take pictures of my orchestras, so during our warmup time I gathered each orchestra together for a group picture! I also handed out awards to each student (like the “Best Bow Hold Award” “Mystery Man Award” and “Story-Teller Award”).

High school orchestra (with one player missing)

Intermediate Orchestra being serious - a rare shot!

Their normal faces

Also normal - laughing!

Beginning Orchestra - don't worry, the guy in blue changed into black before the concert!

Then it was time for the concert!

B.K. and S.S. played duets as a prelude outside the auditorium

I was really proud of my beginning orchestra. They played pieces called “Frolic” and “Entry of the Nobles” – both at a grade level of 1.5, which are normally played by groups in their 2nd year. They were extremely motivated to be playing “real” music – 2 pieces of sheet music in addition to a piece in their book! They worked hard and did well.

Beginning orchestra book

The Intermediate group played a lively arrangement of Vivaldi’s “Spring,” a slower piece called “Sweet Moment,” and ballet music from Schubert’s “Rosamunde.” Overall, they did a great job! They especially enjoyed playing Spring.

The High School orchestra did Bartok’s first Rumanian Folk Dance, Bach’s Air, and a suite of Renaissance dances by Peter Warlock. An audience member noted that the playing level improved with each group, and it was fun to see the growth and learning all around. I was not completely satisfied with the high school orchestra’s performance; they can play better, but with our extremely limited rehearsals, we did the best we could. Next year, there should be enough to have the high school as a class during the day again. With 6 or 7 practicing every day, we will be able to accomplish great things!

The high school choir was small this semester, but they put on a quality performance.

High School Quintet

We are looking forward to growth in the high school ensembles next year!

In college, I volunteered with the STARS Disability Ministry at College church. I helped Kristin Knosp, a fellow music ed major, with the music sessions for people with special needs. For the past 2 weeks, Kristin and the STARS were in France on a missions trip, spreading awareness of educational and musical programs for people with developmental disabilities. They performed concerts and led workshops, providing encouragement for those who have family members with disabilities, and giving churches ideas of how they can incorporate disability ministries into their programs.

College Church in Wheaton has this unique program

On Saturday, May 28th they were in Strasbourg, France, which isn’t too far from Kandern. I took a train from Schliengen up to Strasbourg and explored the city while I waited for them to arrive.

Roses in Schliengen

Roses up close - brilliant color on a beautiful day!

Waiting at the Schliengen train station

In Strasbourg

Famous theologian Albert Schweitzer

Martin Luther Street

The buildings in Strasbourg were beautiful

The water created some wonderful reflections of the Alsacian architecture.

Finally, the STARS came!

Cheryl is so sweet!

David tried to hide his face behind his hands, but I got him!

It was good to see them again. Seeing the STARS reminded me of the unconditional love and honest display of emotion shown by many people with disabilities. Our cultures teach us to refrain from displaying excitement at the top of our voices, but individuals with Downs Syndrome and Autism often ignore,  forget, or do not recognize conventional patterns of acceptable behavior. I’m sure there was never a dull moment in the streets of France as the STARS toured!

It was refreshing to see their open honesty. At BFA, I work with kids who are extremely good at blending into any culture. They are great at being invisible when they choose to be. As TCKs (third culture kids), they can speak various languages and pick up on nonverbal communication in different countries. In many ways, they are just the opposite of these people with developmental disabilities. Though cultural sensitivity is a good thing, sometimes TCKs are too good at putting up a façade. They know exactly what teachers and parents want them to say, so they say it and they get by without really addressing issues of the heart, doubts, and their own internal faith.

I wish we could have people with more severe disabilities at BFA. Unfortunately, our support staff is already completely overworked with their mainstream cases of ADD, mild learning disabilities, and mild autism.

“Kirchenkonzert” means “Church concert.” My community band (Stadtmusik Kandern) played a concert in the Evangelical church in town on Sunday, May 22. A few months ago, the director of the band could see that I was getting bored playing tuba. As he is my next-door neighbor, he had heard me playing violin, so he approached me about playing a solo with the band. Eagerly, I agreed to learn the theme from “Schindler’s List” to play at the church concert. I was rather unsure about how the balance would be when pitting violin against powerful brass and shrill woodwinds, but in the church the acoustics turned out to be quite good.

At the end of the concert, the band president gave flowers to the two soloists, myself and a pianist Gergana Schneider.

A couple days later, someone at school walked up to me with a big copy of a newspaper and said, “You made the newspaper!” The Badische Zeitung is a regional newspaper covering the southern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. If you can read German (or to look at the picture of the whole band), check out the article here. A few key phrases and their translations:

Zu den Höhepunkten des Abends gehörten die Soloauftritte der Pianistin Gergana Schneider und der Violinistin Jill Musick.

The high points of the evening belonged to the solo performances of the pianist Gergana Scheider and of the violinist Jill Musick.

Der Auftritt der Violinistin Jill Musick war einer der Höhepunkte des Konzertes. Sie spielte Musik aus “Schindlers Liste”, dem bekannten Film über einen Fabrikanten, der in der Hitlerzeit mehr als 1000 jüdische Arbeiter vor Auschwitz rettete. Mit kraftvoll warmem Strich vermittelte die Miskerin, die an der Black Forest Academy unterrichtet, Trauer, aber auch Hoffnung.

The performance of the violinist Jill Musick was one of the high points of the evening. She played music from “Schindler’s List,” the famous film about a factory owner who saved more than 1000 Jewish workers from Auschwitz. With strong, warm bow strokes the musician, who teaches at Black Forest Academy, communicated sadness but also hope.

The music naturally lends itself to emotion-filled playing. Many of the audience members and other players in the band expressed that the violin was the ideal instrument to express such sadness and pain. It was an honor to be chosen to play the beautiful piece of music in a church in Germany, a land with a conflicted and shameful past.

So… last time I wrote was May 19th. We are no longer in the month of May. I’m becoming a delinquent blogger! Oh no!

Even my violin students are going crazy at the end of the year!

Actually, there were so many things happening I didn’t have time to write about each one before it was time for the next one to start. So let’s go on a journey back in time…. but this will take several blog posts.

Present: Today is Sunday, June 5 and summer break has officially started at BFA.

Past: Here we go!

It had been a long time since teachers at BFA had gotten together to perform a recital, but Tuesday we did it! It was a good way for us to remember how it feels to work up a piece of music to performance level and deal with all the stress of performing.

Suzanne introduced the evening, reading from Ecclesiastes (the famous “there is a time for everything” passage).

Mike Hill was the first to play; he told the story of how he had heard this 20th century piece on the radio and called the station to find out what it was! It was the Danzas Argentinas by A. Ginastera. Listen for the notes of the guitar strings at the end of the first movement.

Next up was David McCormack playing Chopin’s Nocturne in C Minor, Op. 48 No. 1. David described a bit of background on Chopin’s life and the composition before starting.

Katie Roberts played “It is Well.” She shared how this piece has meant a lot to her this year as she has gone through some difficult things. God is her peace in the midst of turmoil.

Jane Tiik wowed us with her beautiful, rich voice. She sang “Tu che accendi questo core” from Tancredi by Rossini. She explained that it was from the “Bel Canto” style of opera, which means “beautiful singing.”

Melody Olson played the first of “Deux Arabesques” by Debussy, a composer whose works are in an impressionist style.

Brian Post played the Bach Cello Suite in G Major – transcribed for guitar! Bach wrote all his music to the glory of God – at the bottom of each manuscript he wrote “Soli Deo Gloria” – to God alone be the glory.

Suzanne played Gershwin’s Preludes for Piano. She described how Gershwin took “Black people’s music” and brought it onto the concert stage.

Karen Purpero performed the Scherzo from Griffes’ Fantasy Pieces. The piece depicts some a crazy dance of some mythical creatures.

Before starting the Brahms Violin Concerto (1st movement only), I mentioned that romantic composers tried to portray emotion through their music, and Brahms was no exception. Sometimes the emotions evoked in romantic music cannot be put into words. In this piece, I feel a certain longing, best described by the German word “Sehnsucht,” that reminds me of a greater beauty beyond anything this world has to offer. It’s a long piece, so it’s on YouTube in 2 parts. Part 1, Part 2.

Many thanks to Lauren Holland for accompanying me – especially after a delayed trans-Atlantic flight!

Thanks to Hans Fung for videotaping and making it possible for my parents to hear the performance even though they are many miles away!

Thanks also to my students who came and gave me flowers and hugs!

Last weekend, my younger brother David came to visit me for a couple days. He could only stay Sunday through Tuesday morning because he had to get to Munich for his Wheaton in Germany program.

He arrived about an hour before JSB (Junior/Senior Banquet), which is basically Prom. As a Junior Class sponsor, I was already there helping set up. A friend picked him up at the airport and brought him straight to the banquet. He had changed into his suit in the Frankfurt airport!

David's here!

I couldn’t stop smiling the entire night. It was so good to have David there!

The theme for JSB was Broadway, so we had decorated the tables to match various shows. Here’s a Phantom of the Opera table:

The Phantom of the Opera

Throughout the evening, students performed on the stage. Performances ranged from an a capella trio of guys singing “Dynamite” to 2 girls singing a song they had written for the seniors. One of my violin students performed!

A.C. playing Chopin's Nocturne in E Minor

JSB turned out to be a fun evening, especially after the work we had put into it. Having David there made it even better!

On Monday, David came to school with me. After my first period study hall, we went outside and played frisbee and wandered around town all day.

There aren't many better places to play frisbee!

King of the Mountain

After school, I had orchestra, so David went to the track practice. He ended up coaching the long jumpers and triple jumpers! I got to watch the end of their practice.

Supervising the jump

demonstrating technique

That night we stayed up really late playing games, talking, and praying. Tuesday morning he was on a bus and off to Munich!