Thursday: Belo Blato, Zrenjanin and the Cantemus Festival
Dear fellow parents and friends of Ensemble.
Our hotel in Belgrade is across the street from an all-night high speed internet, so I have been able to upload videos and more pictures in earlier posting. check them out as you get time.
Videos: Go to youtube.com and search for "piedmont ensemble"
It brings up Frankfurt practice, you can see a dear one in actrion. By mid day Sunday a second short video should be available. This one is of part of the Maribor concert Dan made in Quick-time (low quality) from his high definition master.
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The choir survived its first night in the big city in an older hotel -- with grace and maturity.
"I like this hotel, we can move the furniture and make it our own room." -- Katherine D
"Its just a different experience" --Alex B
"It is like home, close to an alive city" --Marie
Also in the hotel are 40 finalists for high school wrestling. Some of the girls noticed. "That one wrestler was smokin!"
Another reaction was "Wrestler's are not cool, they are too short."
Breakfast and onto the bus for a tranquil trip to Belo Blato, "white mud" a small village on an island with the Danube and Drava waters on all sides. It feels like an Amish community with 19th century hand crafts, agriculture, and a strong religious component. Other aspects of the village feel more like The Farm in Tennessee. Its central theme is tolerance with 21 different ethnicities who speak 7 languages living in an intentional community of 1500 people. Fascinating is their constant development of their own integrated language using aspects of all seven languages. This intentional language is now the most common language used in their daily lives.
After exploring their 19th century house with thatched roof, outside bread oven, feather mattresses, hand made clothing and earth insulated cold box, our young people headed for the playground -- monkey bars, teeter-totter and swings.
Observation: In spite of long bus rides and significant pauses while waiting for one reason or another, I have yet to hear the mantra "I'm Bored". They make things happen.
Near by, on the Danube is the Imperial Pond, (Emperor's Swamp) a wildlife preserve with 257 different species of birds, countless insects and a wide variety of fish. The emperor used to hunt boar and rabbits, hence the name.
A small plum tree was loaded with fruit, Maya and Marie ate 27 small plums...and the reaction the next morning was the exact opposite of what you parents are thinking.
We stopped for lunch: soup, salad, meat, potatoes, and mineral water. A few requested still water, but most tried "mit gas". The ultimate Berkeley moment was overhearing "I really want some ethnic food-- Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Vietnamese..anything except another meat and potatoes meal"
On to Zrenjanin for the opening of the Cantemus Festival. We arrived early enough to explore the small town, a group picture, some shopping and....ice cream. The evening concert was presented by the Belgrade University choir of music school graduates who put on a polished, high volume, energetic performance that included several national pieces familiar to the audience.
As the applause died down in one piece, the pitch for the next piece was established and as the last claps were sounded, their next piece was begun at full volume. We have seen several versions of the intense approach to choral singing, which is in marked contrast to Ensemble's emphasis on blending and wide ranging tones.
"Powerful sound, great bass, wonderful details."
Bob's reaction to the Belgrade choir was that they had set the bar rather high.
A singing bus ride (surprise) back to a cool Belgrade and sleep to prepare for Ensemble's solo concert tomorrow evening.