International ORP in Lima, Peru: Day 2

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

 

I reluctantly reach over and shut off my cell phone alarm. It’s 6 a.m., but the thick curtains of my hotel room prolong the torturous process of beginning Tuesday. I washed my concert shirt last night and am glad to find out it’s dry already. Shower while CNN World is blasting the latest sensations, and I am nearly ready to open those curtains.

In a few moments, Midori and I are greeted by Alejandro and his wife Marina. Their house is close but they insisted on driving us. In their comfortable apartment, there are violin and piano studios, so both of them can teach their respective instruments of choice, and lots of pictures of their son, whom Midori and I met in Alabama three years ago. We practice for about an hour and have tea with our hosts. They met while studying in Odessa and after getting married, moved to Peru. The importance of the arts here has changed lots since they first arrived. They said that even a few years ago, someone would ask “What do you do?” The reply of, “I am a musician” would yield “But what about your profession?”. Now they both teach at the the Conservatory and maintain private classes with more than 30 students each. I guess things are changing! On our way out, Marina gives us two books she wrote. One is on the most common physical conditions that prevent musicians from functioning properly, and the other is on sight-reading.

The family takes us back to the hotel and the delegation from the Japanese embassy is already waiting for us. Our interpreter Yana (fluent in English, Japanese, and Spanish) joins us in the car along with Naomi Kuroda, the cultural attache. The orphanage we are headed to is about an hour away, but had it not been a national holiday, it would have taken us two. We go through the poorest part of town and hear a bit about the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who come to Lima from the provinces, hoping for a better life. The ones who can survive living in self-made houses with no glass windows long enough are allowed to register and become residents of Lima. The policemen, abundant everywhere else, are nowhere to be scene in these parts. There are little kids playing with sticks, rolling around in the dust, chasing their adopted homeless dogs.

The orphanage, built with funds from the Japanese embassy, is like a little oasis in this sad desert outside Lima. Behind the high walls is a courtyard with farm animals roaming around freely. I like to think that the huge turkeys and the quiet sheep are not there to provide nutrition down the line. They are just for the kids to play with.

We meet Ambassador Masahiro Fukukawa and his wife, as well as members of the staff with the Japanese Embassy. The performance space reminds me of a really really large living room with three curiously large doors; so large that birds fly in and out as if they are confusing it for the outdoors. The first few rows are reserved for our hosts – the children. They are all wearing bright red sweaters with the name of their home embroidered in blue. Behind them are about 30 inhabitants of the nursing home, right next door. I can’t tell which group is more excited about having live music on the day of Santa Rosa.

Midori and I begin by playing some music together and then we do a couple of solos. Our translator Yana explains the forms of the pieces to the audience. Her background in music is helping quite a bit. Before the last piece, Midori asks the kids to come around the stage and try playing our violins. Easily my favorite part of the day. Tentative at first, they loosen up and start listening to the sounds they are making. Each one notices what they do when the sound is cleaner, and try their best to clean it up even more. If it only worked like this for professionals…

After the last pieces, we receive gifts from the home and say good-bye to our audience. Mr. Fukukawa has invited us for a snack before we hit the road again. Delicious seafood and informative conversations. We find out about how this home got started, about the demographics of the region, and about other similar homes. Before long, we say good bye to the Ambassador and his entourage and head back on the dusty road.

In about 20 mins, the colorful signs advertising internet cafes appear, then the billboards with shiny cell phone promotions, and finally the Coca Cola ads. We are back in civilization.

After an hour of practicing, we head over to the National Museum where the auditorium is. We are quite early but most of the students in the youth orchestra are already warming up. Some of my friends from last night are here and we talk for a bit.  Maestro Harth-Bedoya, who has just arrived, introduces Midori and then leaves with the winds, percussion and brass to a different rehearsal room. I take the strings and we begin with Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet. Today is a day for sectional rehearsals and we have 3.5 hrs ahead of us.

The students are very quick to respond to all my comments and we plow through the material very quickly which leaves time to touch on some specific points on string playing in large ensembles. I share some things I knew I had heard when I was first learning the orchestral repertoire.

Tomorrow will be our longest day here – a 4 hr masterclass, a 3.5 hr rehearsal,  and 4 hrs of practice. Time for bed!