Reflections on the I-ORP in Lima by Manuel Emilio Otero Ramírez, a youth orchestra participant

I still sigh deeply every time I remember…for me (and I believe for all of us), that week was a precious and unforgettable memory. A week in which we got to know music and musicians in a whole new way. A week that inspired us all in so many different levels and showed us that hard work and respect can help you to accomplish any goal in life.

It all started with the long awaited results of the auditions. Even though some of us already knew the results, seeing them printed on paper was a great relief and the beginning of happy expectations. Everyone was so excited!

Then, the first of many amazing and unexpected things happened: Monday dinner with Midori. This was completely unheard of! I’m sure no one even thought that someone with such great talent and a distinguished career would have dinner with the orchestra before even rehearsals had begun. I didn’t get to go for I was busy with school, but you could tell just by the look at people’s faces in the pictures! However, the most amazing thing about such a detail was the humble character Midori showed at every moment and the respect and value for the people she would play with. I was just stunned when I heard all of this from my friends. How could that be? I would find out the very next day at rehearsal.

I arrived at the National Museum for rehearsal a bit early and was about to warm up when a friend tells me: “They’re here!” I immediately looked back and there they were: Midori and Moni, entering the room, though they looked a bit confused. My friend and I almost ran to greet them although it was a short “nice to meet you!” They didn’t know much Spanish so we translated for a bit and helped them find a very needed (though a bit improvised) place for Midori to warm up and practice. I met her for the first time, but it really became apparent she was a really good person.

Before the rehearsal began I recognized some friends and met some new people. We were all part of three different orchestras, so I have to admit it was kind of weird at first to have someone you didn’t know at all playing next to you. It was the first time we would play together! Then, Maestro Harth-Bedoya entered the room and talked to us for a little while. It was great! It was a short introduction of Midori, Moni and himself, and he seemed really excited to be working with us and surely we were too. We would be playing Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture, Francisco Pulgar Vidal’s Symphonic Huayno “Cascay” (a Peruvian composer and a Peruvian type of music) and Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. The program was demanding: Tchaikovsky’s play is full of notes and Peruvian contemporary music has a great but unusual (very interesting and even fun to play) rhythm, and Beethoven’s concerto demanded complete attention to such delicate notes and the wonderfully emotional solo part. However, everyone was eager to practice and even more after the first sectionals. Moni’s directions for us (strings) were great, they were easy to understand (and translate) and they made a quick difference in how we played. By the end of the rehearsal, no one felt weird at all, our sound wasn’t perfect, but we were all completely sure that we could make it sound great.

The next rehearsal was such a great experience! We got to know each other some more and we played through all the pieces. However, the most special one was definitely the violin concerto. Midori’s playing was just…amazing! It wasn’t just the perfect technique; it was that and much more. You could hear so much from her music it was like you weren’t in the room anymore… Her feelings, love and dedication for the piece, music, and everyone who was playing with her was all directly transmitted to everyone in the room. Maestro Harth-Bedoya was so easy to follow and he understood exactly what Midori meant with every note, we just knew right there that this would be an amazing concert. It became hard to keep going and not stop playing just to watch and listen to them! After this day, it felt as if time had stopped. Hard work was the least we could do to make this concert a success, and to thank Midori for teaching us so much just by playing. The orchestra would not be the same after this.

The next few days were full with many happy experiences: fun sight-reading chamber music class, master classes, and being able to share with Midori, Moni, Maestro Harth-Bedoya and your friends laughs and musical experiences. It is moments like this that make you realize one of the most wonderful and unique qualities of music: it is a truly universal language. It made people who didn’t even know each other work hard for one common purpose and understand each other. It didn’t matter where we came from, we all wanted to play and make wonderful music for us, our guests and the people who would go and hear us.

Opportunities like this don’t come often and sometimes you don’t even know how it all even began. Being able to play in such a great orchestra with so much potential and with such great artists; you know you’ll give everything to make it work and happen again. The concert was getting closer, but it was clear these wonderful feelings wouldn’t go away, and we would never forget what we had learned from these true musicians. Maestro Harth-Bedoya reminded us quite often how hard Midori had worked to be able to play so well, to show us what we can accomplish anything if we give it all, but without even having to tell us, we learned something important by ourselves: Music is not just about technique or acknowledgement, it is about passion, dedication, love for people, humility; it is so much more than just going through notes!

That concert will be an inspiration for all of us forever. An unforgettable experience that surprised us and taught us so much! We will never forget the admiring humility of Midori and the moments we spent with her and her friends behind the stage. Such a gratifying experience was worth all the hard work in a short, but wonderful time. Specially, we will remember the short but touching speech Midori gave us at the end. That speech was not only the critical moment for everyone who was trying to hold their tears, but the true summing up of a week full of amazing memories.

Maestro Harth-Bedoya, Moni, Midori, please be sure that everything you taught us will not be forgotten, and that we will all work hard to make this experience happen again. Until then, we will patiently wait, remembering what that week meant for every one of us.

Advertisement