What a great day in Brazil

Hello all.
A lot to talk about today. Started very tired this morning. My body has not adjusted to the time change yet, so it feels like I am getting up at 330am everyday. Very tired!!

Had a wonderful chamber orchestra rehearsal this morning-made GREAT progress and really had a connection with the players today. I think they believe in me and trust me, which is very cool. It makes for a great music making environment when this happens. They are very friendly, positive, and really making beautiful music.

Came back to the hotel at noon and slept for two hours. Had to catch up on some sleep. Ate lunch at 2pm and Arley picked me up at 3 to make the trip to Pindoretama. his wife and daughter were along so that was nice to see them again. We drove a different way so I could see more of the beach and ocean. Went through a beautiful resort area right on the coast-amazing!!! And very expensive.

Stopped at a vendor along the rode where they crush sugar cane and make it into juice and candy. Tasted some and bought some. Then we stopped at another roadside place where Arley often stops for a snack. Very nice old man who explained how they made the stuff. See pics.

We were a little late to rehearsal because of the stopping and that worried me as I need every bit of rehearsal time I can get. Kids were there waiting for us and ready to go. Had a great rehearsaL tonight. Circus Days is concert ready, then we worked on Ave Maria-they still have a hard time playing slow and soft, so I did some articulation exercises and tuning with them.. It got better, but still not perfect. At least they are aware now and have an understanding of the goal. Then we played Longford Legend and the 1st and 3rd movements are ready to go. Second movement, slow, still needs some work.

Here is a funny one, I totally forgot I sent concert variations by claude smith down to them. Arley asked me if I was going to rehearse it and I had forgotten to even bring my score. They had one for me and the band played the daylights out of the piece. By far the best piece they had rehearsed. It was REALLY good!!! Very cool. They REALLY like the piece also.

We finished out rehearsal with Persuasion, and the brazilian piece we are doing. There is a wonderful positive energy in the group. It is probably the most meaningful teaching experience I have had for many years. See the next blog telling the story of the group.

Came back home to the hotel and had dinner around 830 and have been on the computer ever since. Enjoying my time here immensely and Arley is already talking about my next trip and what we are going to do together to improve bands in Brazil. Very cool

I think that is all for now in this blog. thanks for following the trip and I will now write another blog about the band.

Tchau

Oh what a night

Greetings my friends. It has been a very interesting afternoon and evening. It is 9:50pm and I just finished dinner and am in my room to blog. Arley picked me up at 3pm today to go to the town of Pindoretama where his wind project is located. It took about an hour and 15 minutes to get there, but I got to see alot of the countryside along the way. When we arrived, it was VERY cool. The entire band was set up outside, along with the 30 or so string players he started two months ago (no instruments) and the assistant governer of the town. They were all there to welcome me-how cool is that!!! They played two pieces, the asst. governer gave a little speech, and I got to speak as well. You just cannot believe the beautiful smiles on these peoples faces. They all have very dark complexions, deep brown eyes, and wonderful smiles. Arley is doing an amazing thing with the kids in this community.

I was so honored to have them welcome me that way. You could tell by the way they were looking at me that most of them had never seen an american before. I felt like a foreigner for sure, but they were so friendly.

Then we had a little reception in a room where the older students, basically section leaders, had some empanadas and just talked for awhile. The youngest was 15 and the oldest 23. Most of them have played in the group or been active in the project since it was started eleven years ago. We talked about how important this project is and how it has given them something positive to do with their lives rather than doing drugs and prostitution like many of their friends. I am going to go into detail about the project in my blog tomorrow. Too much to write for tonight, but you will find it very interesting I think.

AFter the reception and talk, we started rehearsal around 530pm. They were all anxious to get rehearsing as was I. AFter hearing them play outside, I knew there were some things I would want to work on, but overall they had a very nice and warm sound. That would change quickly.

We started with the Curnow Fanfare and Flourishes. The rehearsal room is quite small so they play pretty loud in general. The type of music they usually play is quite rhythmic and up tempo, so articulations are very harsh. The greatest challenge is going to be to teach phrasing. They take breaths all over the place and break phrases often. Overall, they can play this piece OK tho so it will need a bit more work but will be fine.

Then I did the Biebl Ave Maria-very slow and expressive. This was a challenge for them due to the aforementioned. We spent alot of time on shaping a phrase, not breathing on bar lines, and just trying to play expressively. While it was hard on them, they could hear the difference and I think understood what I was striving for.

Then we did the Sheldon Longford Legend, a difficult piece for them. They could really play the first movement pretty well. You could tell they were proud of themselves for the work they had done on this before I came. The second movement, which is slow, did not go so well. They just aren't used to playing slow music. The last movement, again a faster movement, also went pretty well. Then we took a break. The room is quite hot and crowded.

After break, we read through the Nestico Persuasion, an alto sax solo with band. Arley is a fine saxophone player so I decided to feature him on this piece. It went well. Then we did a Brazilian piece call Choros and Dobrado. Of course, they played the heck out of that since it is in their comfort zone. Then we closed rehearsal with Circus Days. We started in a pretty fast two, but then I changed it to one and they about fell out of their seats. They were having fun, but struggling to keep up. I completely forgot to read through the Ticheli Shendandoah!!! It is also going to be hard for them since it is slow. The goal of my coming to work with them is to "Americanize" their band sound and expose them to American band music. I will have alot of work to do. The only problem is that I only have two more rehearsals, so we aren't going to get alot of fundamental training done, just work for the concert. Arley and I talked at length on the drive home about ways for him to work with the group to address these weaknesses in their musicianship on a longer term basis.

After rehearsal, we stopped to pick up his wife and daughter from her English lesson. She is just cute as a button. Today they learned the seasons and she has a test on Friday, so I was quizzing her on how to say the seasons and which ones are hot and which are cold. I think she enjoyed that.

Had a very nice dinner at 9pm of chicken, mashed potatoes, and this wonderful Greek Rice dish they have. I like it the best of anything I have eaten so far. the food is just fine, pretty good actually.

Well that was a pretty long blog now wasn't it. Geez, this is just my first day of rehearsal!!! It seems like much more than that since I go three hours in the morning, then take a three hour break and go back again in the evening. Each day feels like two days.

I am going to try to get to sleep around 1030 or 11 tonight, but I have a feeling my head will be spinning with what I need to get done in rehearsals tomorrow. Arley picks me up at 730 again tomorrow and the schedule is the same. We are going to do a tour of Pindoretama tomorrow before rehearsal so I will have great pictures to show you. You talk about poverty......holy cow. You just can't believe the living conditions in this town.

continued

I had to start a new session due to pictures. I am going to meet with the students from 5-6, then rehearse from 6-8 tonight. Really looking forward to that. I will tell the story of the wind orchestra at a later time, very interesting story of how it came to be.

I guess that is all for now. Will try to write more later.

Tchau

boah tarde

Boah Tarde (bo'-tard) means good afternoon. I have had my first chamber orchestra rehearsal this morning and am now back in my room after lunch (shrimp, fries and rice). Muito lindo (very nice). Rehearsal went well all in all. The first hour was a bit uncomfortable while we got to know each other. After break, things settled in and I thought we got alot more done. One of the violist did his masters in US in kentucky so he speaks fluent english. a big help in keeping rehearsal moving. I will rely on him heavily over the next week!!!

Group plays pretty well overall. The concertmaster, who happened to be gone today, has been rehearsing them over the past two weeks, but not alot of detail work. It is just a matter of working my tempos, working through transitions, and helping them to understand the music. We played the entire program today so they could see the final goal, then we started rehearsing a bit. We are doing some scenes from an opera to close the concert. The theatre we are performing in has its 100 year anniversary this year and these two people have been performing opera in this theatre for over 25 years, so they wanted to feature them to close the concert. Very nice music, but I just need to figure out where they are going with it. No tempos shown in the score, so I was just guessing. This will take some time on my part to work through.

The pics posted are from the rehearsal site today. The rehearsal room, the outside of the theatre, the view from atop the building, etc. Rehearsal room is kind of like a ballroom with a very beautiful ceiling. Throughout rehearsal, various groups of students came and went as they were on a tour of the center and they are allowed to come in and watch rehearsal for awhile. It was kind of nice to have an audience throughout the rehearsal.

Arley will pick me up around 3p to go to Pindoretama for the wind orchestra rehearsal tonight.

bom dia

Good Morning:
It is 7am here and I am getting picked up at 730 to go to my first rehearsal with the chamber orchestra. I am a bit nervous, but excited as well. I slept really well last night. I got up at 630, which is 330 on my body clock. that will take some getting used to. Had a nice breakfast.

Last night, I met with Arley and his wife Christina and daughter Beatrice. They are both beautiful and very nice. Bea speaks a little english, but Christina none. We had a very nice evening going over the schedule, having dinner, and then going to the cultural center of the city where there was live music. we met up with some trombone players who were have a masterclass. Teh leader is originally from Brazil, but now lives and plays in Rome. Since I am going to Rome in May, we exchanged cards so we can meet up when I am there.

We just looked around this wonderful area for awhile as one of the band concerts will be in an open plaza there. I will get pics later. We did not get back until around 1030 so I went to bed around 1130 and asleep around midnight.

It is another sunny warm day here. They say the temperature is always around 85-90 degrees. It was pretty warm yesterday for sure. Am continuing to learn more portuguese. I have rehearsal from 830-1130 this morning, then back here for lunch, then we leave at 3 to drive to Pindoretama for the first band rehearsal tonight. I have a two hour rehearsal with them tonight, then back here for dinner at 830 at the hotel. They eat pretty late here like they do in Paraguay. Sounds like alot of late nights and early mornings!!

I guess that is about it for now. I will try to write this afternoon between rehearsals.

Tchau

I have arrived

Well, after a long day and night of travel, I have arrived in Fortaleza. I was met at the airport by Arley and it was great to see him again. He is very excited that I am here. He brought me to my hotel, which is literally across the street from the Atlantic ocean. See pics. It is not the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in, but it is free, all my meals are free, and it is across the street from the Atlantic Ocean for gosh sakes!!!

I unpacked, went down and got something to eat-see pic- then went to an atm around the corner, got a dulce leleche (sweet milk chocolate pastry-refer back to Paraguay blog), went to the beach and took some pictures, and now I am in my room cooling off and going to take a quick nap before dinner. It si 3:38 right now and they are picking me up at 6pm for a meeting, dinner, and then off to an area where there are some bars and shopping to hang out for the night and have some cervesa.

The Portuguese language is very difficult for me since I just learned survival spanish. Some, but not many, words are the same so I am trying to learn the basics as quick as I can. Arley's english is pretty good, but not perfect so we have a deal that over the next two weeks, I will help him with english and he will help me with Portuguese. I already know 3 times as many words as I did before I landed.

He is married-his wife is a teacher, and they have a nine year old girl I am anxious to meet them both this week. He is 33 and quite a story that I will tell later sometime.

This place is very much like a much larger Asuncion. Lots of street people, young people at every intersection wanting to wash your windows for a handout, lots of what I see as poverty. I will be anxious to learn more about the culture and socioeconomics of the area. It is definetely a tourist destination here in Brazil. Much like Florida. Very warm all the time, the ocean water is always warm, and beautiful view of the ocean.

Well, that is all for now. I am going to try to sleep for about an hour before I get up to shower for the evening.

Tchau (that is how they spell ciao)

Off to Brazil

Well, I left KCI at 3:10pm right on schedule and landed in Atlanta on time, not a very long flight. Am sitting in a TGIF having dinner. My flight does not leave until 915 so I have some time to kill. Fly all night and arrive in Brasilia, Brazil (the capitol of Brazil) around 9:00am there time. They are three hours ahead so it will feel very early. I then leave Brasilia at 10:54 and arrive in Fortaleza around 12:30.
Will have the rest of the day to check in and relax

Rehearsals begin on Wednesday with chamber orchestra rehearsals from 830-1130 each day and band rehearsals from 5:00-6:30. Only three band rehearsals before the concert so that worries me a bit. I hope they have the music prepared!!!! With the chamber orchestra, I get three rehearsals this week and two next week so we should be fine there.

Temperature has been 87 for the last week straight, with no change in sight. Should be beautiful. Arley (I will speak of him often-he is the person who invited me down) was going to the beach with his wife and daughter today so maybe I will be able to do that sometime when we have some down time.

Was hard to leave the family again for this long. Caleb was especially clinging to me. Love them all and will miss them. I am lucky to have these types of opportunities though.

Well, I will write more when I get a chance, but I wanted to get the blog started. I will try to write in Brasilia if they have wifi in the airport. Going to study some Portuguese for awhile.

Talk more later

Craig