Final composition from my Electronic Music course.
"If war brings separation, it brings a new unity also: a unity which comes from common peril and common sufferings unwillingly shared." King George VI (Royal Christmas Message, 1940)
Synopsis: "In this intertwining of the oldest Christmas carol (the Wexford Carol) with excerpts from wartime speeches by George VI, I've sought to comment on winter, war, and - most of all - the ways we seek comfort, community, and light in the coldest and darkest parts of our lives."
In January 2013, I embarked on an adventure to study in Amsterdam. I’ll be upfront: I wasn’t much of a traveler. I’d never been out of the country - I hadn’t even lived outside my hometown before going to college! - and while it would be nice to see the world, I thought I’d be just as happy sitting at home with my cat and a cup of tea.
Boy, did that change.
Over the course of the semester, which I spent studying harp performance at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam through IES Abroad, I immersed myself in another culture, made close friends from all over the world, and was challenged in ways I could never have anticipated. Things didn’t always work out the way I’d hoped, and I ran into rough spots more than once, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world.
The semester has long since ended and I'm no longer living in Amsterdam. After a whirlwind of a final week - a couple of museum visits, no fewer than three fancy dinners with friends, and a two-day masterclass taught by one of the greatest harpists alive - I returned to the States on June 3rd. I have done a few cool things this summer, including a few wedding gigs and my first camping trip ever, but mostly I've been laying low, re-adjusting to life Stateside, and preparing for the ordeal that is senior year. (Grad school applications, honors theses, and senior recitals, oh my!)
This used to be exclusively a travel blog, but now it’s time for other adventures. I will continue to post photos and stories from Amsterdam and my travels in Europe, but I also plan to blog a bit about my performance and scholarly life back in the USA. Expect pictures, video clips, the occasional rant about graduate school applications - and, of course, lots and lots of music.
Warning: terrible pop song. Listen at your own risk.
FIJNE KONINGINNEDAG! HAPPY QUEEN'S DAY!
It's April 30th here in the Netherlands, which means it's Queen's Day/Koninginnedag. I'll post more about the holiday later - suffice to say it's ostensibly a celebration of the Dutch royal family, but it's really just an excuse for the entire country to go mildly insane.
Anyway, it's been especially exciting this year because Queen Beatrix recently abdicated and left the throne to her son, Prince (now King) Willem-Alexander. As part of the official proceedings, the "inauguration" committee commissioned a pop song for the new king. The above monstrosity is the result of that commission.
Dames en heren: the official "Het Koningslied."
(Also, a fun dissection of the song and why it is so fantastically terrible: http://nathalieinnl.blogspot.nl/2013/04/het-koningslied-guide.html)
Italian “Spring” Break, Day 4 (Part 2): Palatine Hill and the Forum
21 February 2013
Our ticket for the Colosseum included a tour of the ruins on Palatine Hill. As a former Latin student, this was one of my favorite sites: the legendary birthplace of Rome and the home of the Roman kings and emperors! We also got a chance to wander around the Forum, which was equally amazing.
Our final day in Rome, we left our hotel and, backpacks in tow, headed downtown for one last round of sightseeing before catching the train back to Milan. First stop: The Colosseum!
The next day, we took a train down to Naples to see the ruins of Pompeii. In retrospect, this wasn't one of our best plans; we wound up spending most of the day (and night) on trains - it's two or three hours by rail to Naples, not counting the time we spent on the Circumvesuviana line from Naples to the ruins - so we didn't actually have much time in Pompeii itself. (Story of my life, it seems.)
I'm still glad we went, though. Even though we weren't able to see some of the most famous ruins, what we did see was still breathtaking. It's a sobering experience - I definitely recommend it.
If there's one thing I enjoy doing, it's complaining about the, er, "flexibility" (read: chaotic disorganization) of Dutch conservatories. Frustrating as it is, though, I've found that this "anything goes" attitude can produce some pretty fantastic things. I had the good fortune of being involved in one such thing this past week:
Fast forward to this month. After a short reading session in late March, the ensemble had its first (and last) rehearsals this past weekend. It was exhausting - nearly 10 hours over two days! - and sleep deprivation from early morning rehearsals eventually caused me to catch cold, but it was so worth it. I'd forgotten how much fun it is to completely dedicate myself to a project of this size, even if it is just for a week. Utterly fantastic. This is a life I would have no problem leading forever.
The experience was over almost as soon as it started. We had our concert this Thursday evening, and now life has returned to normal. The performance was incredible, though. It wasn't perfect - we had difficulties staying together at times, and I made a rather conspicuous pedaling error in the last piece - but we definitely made music together. It was an all-Asian program (hence the title, "Postcards from Asia") featuring works by Asian composers and/or inspired by music from Asian cultures:
Hirokazu Fukushima - Eternal Memoir, Saga of the Lucky Dragon
Tetsunosuke Kushida - Ikaruga
Prateep Suphanrojn - Lao Duang Duan
John Barnes Chance - Variations on a Korean Folksong
Kelly Tang - Sarabande
Satoshi Yagisawa - The West Symphony, Fourth Movement: Sunset below the Horizon, Flaming Red
I only played on the first, second, and final pieces, but they were all awesome. Most of it was new music, too; our performances of the Fukushima, Suphanrojn, Tang, and Yagisawa were all European premieres, and the Kushida hadn't been played in the Netherlands before.
While I am primarily a harpist, my musical "roots" lie in wind band; my first real musical experiences were as a clarinetist in my middle school band, and part of me still prefers the sound of symphonic winds to any other ensemble. (Don't tell my orchestra director that!) It was great to be a part of that again, even if it was as a percussive accent rather than a melodic voice.
The director recorded the concert and recently posted the videos to Youtube, so I'll be posting them here shortly. The rest of my Italian "spring break" photos will be up soon as well. (Sick days make for productive tumblr-ing, apparently.) Tot ziens, mijn vrienden!
Italian “Spring” Break, Day 2 (Part 2): Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel
19 February 2013
When the public transportation strike finally ended, we hopped on the metro and headed over to Vatican City to gawk at art like proper tourists. It was already fairly late in the afternoon by the time we arrived, so rather than spend an hour or so in long lines, we opted to go on one of the commercially-run tours. It was somewhat overpriced - more expensive than going in on our own, at any rate - and the tour guide moved us through the museums a bit too quickly, but it was well worth it in the end.
In any event, we saw some fantastic things! The Vatican museums are comprised of hundreds (if not thousands) of rooms, filled to the brim with Classical and Renaissance paintings, frescoes, and sculptures. And then, of course, there's the Sistine Chapel.
My camera died partway through the tour (and photography is *technically* forbidden in the Chapel), but I was able to get some nice photos. Enjoy!
