NEC Orchestra Members' Rome Tour 2008

Top 5 Memories - Andrea Segar, Celine Ferro

2008-12-03T10:52:00.000-08:00

Andrea Segar, violinist - BM '08, MM '10

Rehearsals in English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and trying to see how much I could understand of each!

Stepping out of the subway station and seeing the Colliseum across the street.

Walking into St. Peter's Basillica for the first time.

Seeing paintings and building I'd only seen in textbooks - in person!

View of Rome from Castel Sant' Angelo

Celine Ferro, clarinetist - BM '11

Playing in the Vatican - the Mass, the epic beginning when they brought in the cross w/candles, the 8-second reverb, and being surrounded by a massive ,beautiful building signifying that there are things - in the power of music & religion - that are larger than life.
The last night there - the dinner, music, and meeting all the people who made the trip possible. Plus meeting Ricardo Muti at the Rome Opera rehearsal and making really good friends in YOA.
Seeing the Sistine Chapel, Colliseum, etc. - things that you only see pictures of that you never expect to see in your lifetime and the amount of pure awe that I felt standing in St. Peter's.
Hanging out ewith my new friends in YOA - meeting people from different areas who ashare the same love for music was a beautiful and refreshing experience.
I was just blown away by everything - the massive buildings, detailed architecture, the FOOD, it's hard to limit it to only a few moments.

Top 5 Memories - Julia Noone, Yoonhee Lee

2008-12-03T10:44:00.001-08:00

Julia Noone, violinist - BM '11

Playing in the Vatican
Music by YOA musicians at the Thanksgiving Dinner.
Being conducted by Maestro Rilling.
Lunch by the Spanish Steops.
All of the very filling dinners.

Yoonhee Lee, violinist - BM '11

The first time I saw the Spanish steps, it was absolutely incredible/breathtaking.
Seeing all the monuments and ruins.
The Thanksgiving Dinner WAS EXCELLENT!!
The communion at St. Peter's Basillica was a special experience.
The whole service at the Basillica was very moving.

Top 5 Memories - Moira Bette

2008-12-01T11:24:00.000-08:00

Moira Bette, violist - BM '11

Gelato
Playing in St. Peter's
Seeing The Forum
Pasta
Hanging out with a lovely group of people.

Top 5 Memories - Katie Youn

2008-12-01T11:21:00.000-08:00

Katie Youn, cellist - BM '11

Seeing the Pope.
Playing in a Mass at the Vatican
Working with Maestro Rilling
Walking around Rome.
The food!

Top 5 Memories - Merrick Nelson

2008-11-30T10:07:00.001-08:00

Merrick Nelson, violist - MM '09

Playing in St. Peter's Basillica.

Participating in the Papal Audience.

Seeing Rome.

Meeting and making friends with all of the YOA musicians.

Making friends with the NEC students who I had barely known before!

Jenny Banks - Memories

2008-11-30T09:48:00.000-08:00

Jenny Banks, violinist - MM '09

Playing and rehearsing in St. Peter's Basillica & both of the other amazing churches. Experiencing High Mass.

Rilling, amazing choir & soloists!

Eating my weight in Italian food, daily!

Sistine Chapel & Vatican Museum.

Great group of people, last dinner was really special. Rehearsal with Muti at the Rome Opera - soprano was amazing!

Top 5 Memories - Michael Dahlberg

2008-11-29T12:08:00.000-08:00

Michael Dahlberg, cellist - BM '11

Playing in a High Mass with those musicians under Helmuth Rilling, while simultaneously witnessing my first Catholic Mass, while doing it in the Vatican.

Exploring Rome on my own and meeting and talking to many shop owners in Italian & Spanish. I was so happy to feel that I could explore and handle an entirely new place on my own.

Hearing stories from the YOA musicians about their countries. Everyone was so joyous and grateful.

Celebrating the trip with a Thanksgiving meal and hearing the YOA musicians play music from their countries. Everyone was so joyous and grateful.

Talking to a man who called himself Mr. Moustache at a store in Il Mercato. We spoke in Spanish to each other and he told me about his life and we share some bread with oil and peppermint. We talked for about 30 minutes.

More memories, funny moments, thoughts on the musical experience and general thoughts about the trip to come. Stay tuned ...

Top 5 Memories - Celia Hatton

2008-11-29T11:31:00.000-08:00

Celia Hatton, violist - BM '11
Seeing the Sistine Chapel.
Late night parties to mix YOA and NEC musicians.
Riding the metro a bunch of times amongst hundreds of Italians and foreign nuns.
First rehearsal adding the choir. It opened up spiritual dimensions.
Seeing St. Peter's tomb. OMG

Stay tuned for more ...

2008-11-27T17:10:00.001-08:00

Margie Apfelbaum, Admin.Dir. of Orchestras:
Here we are just passing the time before we head off to the airport at 6 AM for our flight back to Boston! Tonight we spent the evening celebrating Thanksgiving Day - Italian style. The YOA group sponsored a lavish Thanksgiving Dinner with the hugest turkeys any of us had ever seen. Seriously, the birds had to weigh at least 40 pounds each. Then the fixings - potatoes, salad, stuffing, green beans, cauliflower, soup, and CRANBERRY SAUCE. Just think, we were eating a product that was likely grown right on Cape Cod! Oh, and then there were at least 4 different types of pasta cooked to perfection!!! Did I mention the dessert table? Completely outrageous - the meal should have come with a gym membership. The centerpieces were gorgeous with miniature pumpkins adorning each one. Completely classy. Speeches were made by Hilda Ochoa-Brillembourg who is YOA's board chair. Our own Mike Dahlberg gave a lovely speech about what this trip meant to all of us as a group. NEC President Tony Woodcock added his thoughts about the incredibly moving performance we had at St. Peter's Basillica. This brings me to coming attractions for the blog. Each musician will be asked to write their impressions of this fabulous week while we're flying home - it's their bus ticket from Logan - NEC! As soon as I get a bit of sleep when we return, I will input their thoughts. Eventually we will add photographs. Apologies for not being able to keep up with this in real time. We have had a really busy week! Ciao!

Day 2 - After some rest ...

2008-11-24T17:06:00.000-08:00

November 22: by Siri Bloom, Oboe - BM 2011

After a night's sleep recovering from jet lag, I woke up ready for a new day in Rome. The morning routine proved tricky as my roommates and I had to plan for three showers and a limited supply of hot water. We managed quite well, and I am now a big fan of the detachable shower heads they have here. The looming chance of an ice cold shower though ... not so much.

Once I was done getting ready for the day, I went down to breakfast in the hotel restaurant. There waiting was an incredible spread of croissants, bread, cereal, fruit, yogurt, ham, cheese plus a machine for juice, cappuccino and espresso. It is very unfortunate that I don't like straight coffee, so that's one Italian experience I'll have to miss out on. However, I enjoyed my breakfast very much. I realized I had whole milk on my cereal, which was both interesting and surprisingly good.

Following breakfast, all of us loaded the bus to drive into Rome around 10:45 AM. By strategically picking a window seat I got a good view of everything on the way into town. The sides of the streets are usually lined with various shops and bars, and above them are apartment buildings. Almost 100% of all these apartments had their own personal balcony and the buildings themselves are decorated with plants. It's a very different atmosphere from anywhere else I've been before; everything is old and the architecture is so interesting to look at. Also on our way into town we crossed the Tiber River, got a small view of St. Peter's within the walls of the Vatican, the Castle of St. Angelo and parked the bus right in front of the Piazza Venezia. From there we walked to our rehearsal site - the Church of St. Ignazio.

To get to the church we got to experience crossing busy Italian streets with Smart Cars and mopeds flying by. We zig-zagged through side streets until we reached the square. I was amazed how large and beautiful it was, and it was just a rehearsal space! When I stepped inside I was blown away by the incredible size, detail and beauty of the artwork and architecture of the church. It was full of color and every space in he church was different and unique. he walls and altars were beautiful, but for me, nothing compared to the ceiling. The artwork looked like it was three dimensional it was so vivid! I took what seemed like a thousand pictures and then went out in to the city while the strings had a sectional. I was so lucky to get a few more hours to explore Rome!

I went to the Piazza Venezia first and marveled at its size and beauty. The white marble combined with grand statues and the ancient architecture was amazing - a perfectly designed monument. From the top of the monument I could see the Coliseum plus parts of the Roman ruins. Also, another great part of the monument to see was the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Two guards were on either side of it as well as two fires that are constantly burning.

A large part of my day was taking advantage of the amazing shopping in Rome! It was a lot of fun for me to explore Italian stores and see European fashions. My favorite purchase was a "Bordeaux" color leather coat - on sale. What could be better? I also bought gifts for friends and family and towards the end of the afternoon bought myself un ciccoliata (hot chocolate). It was European hot chocolate, so it was basically a melted chocolate bar in a cup - American cocoa will never be the same!

The next part of my day was the evening rehearsal. We were in a different church, but it was only a half block away. It was a smaller church, but even so, there wasn't a slack of artistic excellence. There were paintings everywhere on the walls and ceilings. The rehearsal was a good one and it was an honor to work with Maestro Helmuth Rilling and the members of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas (YOA). The only thing that was problematic was the tuning. I have to tune the orchestra to A=443, and what made that even tougher was the lack of heat in the church! Because of that, intonation was one of the weak spots in the orchestra, but overall it was a productive rehearsal. I like my stand partner a lot, and it seems that everyone else from NEC does too (we are seated next to YOA members). The fun thing for me is that she's from Montreal and speaks fluent French. So I not only get to work on my Italian while I'm here, but my French as well!

Following rehearsal we loaded the buses and came back to the hotel. We took a detour though, in order to pass St. Peter's Basilica. It was absolutely gorgeous! It is completely surreal for me that we will give a concert there on Wednesday. What an amazing, once in a lifetime experience! That sent a wave of excitement through the entire group.

The day of rehearsals, shopping and sight-seeing concluded with a late dinner at our restaurant for the week - Benedetto Ristorante Bar Pasticceria. The past two days we have all eaten so much food! Every night we get 4 courses, the first being some type of past, the second being meat or fish, the third is a side of salad or French fries, and the fourth is dessert. It's a great part of the day because you can wind down, eat good food and have fun conversation.

Rome is an amazing city, and I'm so excited to see, hear, taste, smell, and feel more of it in the coming days! Ciao!!!

Day 1

2008-11-24T16:51:00.000-08:00

Getting to Rome:by Andrew Chilcote, Double Bass - BM 2011
Flying to Italy was my first experience flying outside the country with my bass. After hassling us at the airport, the ticket agents had our 3 cellos and 2 basses taken to security, where they were all searched. After arriving in Italy we waited an extra 50 minutes after everyone had gotten their luggage until we finally found out all instruments had made it fine and we were reunited with them.

After dropping off our luggage at the hotel, a group of us headed for what I considered to be the symbol of Rome, the Colliseum. Just thinking of all the events that had taken place, the emperor's and hundreds of thousands of people it could hold emboldens the place. Seeing the pit where all the action occured made feel as though I was at a football game. Just imagine a Fenway Park with 3 times the seating capacity, all the excitement, and a full day of events, and you have the ancient Colliseum.

First posts (finally!) From Rome

2008-11-24T16:33:00.000-08:00

Note from Margie Apfelbaum, NEC Admin. Director of Orchestras:
Welcome to our blog! We are currently in Rome and just finished our third full day of rehearsals and touring around the city. Apologies to everyone who heard about the possibility of a blog but have had to wait until now for our first postings. Different students will write each day during the trip. Each has their own personality and style, so we hope that you will enjoy the variety. If you are a parent whose son or daughter is on the trip, my sincere congratulations on having a great kid! It has been a real pleasure to work with all 22 students who are here in Rome! They are truly role models and wonderful ambassadors for New England Conservatory!