International ORP in Lima, Peru: Day 1
September 1st, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Monday, August 29, 2011
On our way to Lima, Peru, for an international residency project modeled after ORPs in the United States, Midori and I had a late night flight. The flight to Lima is only half-full, so we quickly find places for our violins in the overhead compartments – places that we would have forgotten by morning. I seat myself in the middle of three adjacent free seats, none of which belongs to me. Late at night, comfort beats reason.
Midori falls asleep before most people turn off their cell phones and I keep myself entertained with the personal screen across from me. With the help of a cheap blockbuster about fast cars and furious drivers, I drift away somewhere between Tijuana and Ensenada.
About 7.5 hours later, my sleep is rudely interrupted by the flight attendant who slams the window shade open. I guess they are slowly waking up the plane in preparation for arrival. Once my eyes get used to the blinding light, I see the mountains of Peru towering over the perfect winter clouds. We soon dip underneath them and the brightness is gone. The earth looks dusty and so do the roads. But the houses make up for it with their happy colors.
Alberto is waiting for us and takes us straight to the hotel. After checking in, Midori and I decide to hit the nearest supermarket, which turns out to be an even more delicious version of Bristol Farms. We stock on fruit and snacks, and get a few local breakfast items that we hurry to eat right there.
Midori makes some calls to the US while I play with the Channel Guide, and in the early afternoon, Alberto takes us to Maestro Miguel Harth-Bedoya’s house, where Midori is to teach a masterclass. The maestro is still in the States, but the maids let us in and offer us some tea. I meet Asha, who is a great music lover and has been the president of the Philharmonic society here for many years. His education is in engineering but the love for music was instilled in him by his mother back in the Czech Republic where he was born. He introduces me to the two participants in today’s class, one currently studying in Dallas and the other somewhere in Germany. They both play wonderfully and Midori gives them about an hour each. After pictures and questions, we are on our way again.
Alberto stops at a local pastry shop and treats us to the local tamales – they quickly become my favorite rendition of this popular food.
After a shower and two hours of practicing, I call Midori so we can head to the dinner downtown. The youth orchestra violinists and the organizing committee are already waiting for us in a rather large Chinese restaurant. I meet with all the violin teachers, the director of the Conservatory, and the staff from the Symphony offices. One of the violin teachers is Alejandro, whose son played in the orchestra when Midori and I were visiting Mobile, AL for the American ORP… small world! Alejandro doesn’t speak much English but is fluent in Russian (being born in Cuba and schooled in the Ukraine) so we talk for quite a while.
Midori is circulating around the different tables of students, talking to them, taking pictures. I also join one of the tables and though my Spanish is limited to gestures only, I manage to have a pretty fulfilling conversation with the 10 violinists around me. They are happy, fun, and strikingly honest. It is really refreshing! Ranging from 19 to 24, they are all conservatory students and come from various places in the country. Two girls were born in a town bordering a large jungle and a few of them came from the far north, but they all moved to Lima to study music in the country’s only Conservatory.
I find out many things about the city and the education system here, and we also decide to get together and read chamber music in the next two days. I will be running their sectional rehearsal tomorrow and am curious to find out how long they’ve had the music for. I feel like this residency will be at least as educational for Midori and me as it will be for the students.
The taxi driver waits patiently while we all say our multi-lingual “good-byes”. The relentless evening drizzle is now a fully-blown rain. An American pop song is playing on the radio. I remember hearing it at the USC gym a couple of days ago. The world is really not that big!
-Moni
