I don't know german

Baltic Youth Philharmonic June 21-July 10

Day One
I’ve been looking forward to this tour for such a long time! However, as I spent the last few days packing and preparing to move out of my apartment, touring around the Baltic is the last thing that I saw myself doing this week. It still doesn’t feel like the tour has begun yet, but tomorrow’s rehearsals will hopefully make the experience come to life.

I woke up super early this morning, in an over analytical “did I forget anything” mode. It was hard to figure out how to pack all my percussion stuff, computer, camera, and 3 weeks worth of clothes/concert dress…but I finally found a way that to do so in just 2 bags plus a cymbal bag...all very heavy bags! Aside from that accomplishment, I felt so bad because I barely got the rest of my stuff packed away. So, Arvid is going to have to pack/clean/move everything while I’m gone. He kept saying it’s ok, but I definitely owe him big time! Once everything was situated, he and I went into town to pick up a few last minute things, had lunch, and drove up to the airport in Luleå. Since I was so worried about being on time and not missing the flight (it’s weird not booking it yourself, I felt so disconnected), we got there 2 hours early….which in Luleå is about 1.5 hours too early! Arvid and I got to sit down and have a cup of coffee, before having to part ways. I was so sad to leave, 3 weeks is a long time!

The travel itself was super easy, no troubles at all, and 2 good naps :) when I arrived in Berlin I noticed a girl with a cello on my flight and asked her if she was going to the Baltic Orchestra. She was, and soon we both met Markus outside of the gate to take us and 5 other musicians to the hotel.

At the hotel we were given our room key, stipend, t-shirt, bag, and extra information. Then, we all gathered in the lobby at 8:30pm to walk to dinner. It seems as though a lot of the musicians know each other from last year. I had to suck it up and just approach people, which isn’t the most fun thing…but did end up meeting some nice new girls.

The best story of the night is of a really nice girl named Simone. She is a clarinetist from Luxemburg that studied at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio! (about 40 minutes north of my hometown!!) What are the odds?!?! We ended up chatting most of the night, she seems really cool.

Now it’s time for bed…tomorrow we actually start playing, YAY!


BYP Day 2
Good thing my roommate, Bettina (plays double bass), and I get along…because we have to sleep in a double bed! What better way to get to know someone?! She is from Germany and studied in Finland for a few years and is really nice and easy to talk to. We got up this morning with no problem, and I think we’ll get along fine for the next few weeks!

Breakfast was a mess, everyone went at the same time, but it was decent, and free. After the quick breakfast we were herded into vans and buses and drove about 40 minutes to our rehearsal space. When we got there, the percussionists were shown into the main space where tons of cases awaited us….full of all our equipment. Damien, our coach wasn’t there yet (on his way from NYC), so we just started unpacking everything and setting up. I accidentally took my usually leadership role, because no one knew what to do…so I made a few suggestions :) Luckily the guys are very chill, and have taken to my “American” personality just fine.

Damien soon arrived and said that we would be auditioning for what parts we would play on Rite of Spring, Sibelius No. 7, and a Nielsen piece. I was aware of this, but felt very under prepared….life has been getting in the way of some practice time. I tried to be calm and focused, but something weird happened when I walked into the audition room. All of a sudden I felt like I was in junior high again. I was confused about which part of the piece we were supposed to play, and I literally felt like the 10+ years of percussion education left me. I was feeling weirdly intimidated by the situation, even though I had no reason to feel that way. It was probably the worst playing I’ve done in the past 6 years, and I am thankful that he didn’t kick me out of the orchestra! When I left the room, I had to sit by myself for a few minutes to get a grip. I wasn’t upset necessarily, just mad that I let the situation get the best of me…I pretty much just psyched myself out. I really wanted to impress Damien, but all of a sudden felt small and way too feminine (welcome back to junior high!) Once I gave myself a little mental talk-down, I joined the rest of the guys to wait for the rest of the auditions to be done.

There are 6 percussionists total. Wictor and Johan both study/studied in Gothenburg; Daniel is French, but studied in Gothenburg and now lives in Oslo, Norway; Jussi is from Finland; and Alexander is Russian, speaks very little English and winks at me all the time. There isn’t a great percussion section energy yet, but I think that we will get there. They are all really nice and the jokes are started to be told…let the fun begin, soon, hopefully!

We had a short lunch at the rehearsal space, and then the full orchestra met. First we played through Rite. I’m playing crotales and crash cymbals. I was really hoping for the bass drum part, but like I said….audition stunk! It’s just nice to be apart of the group, and experience the music. We then read through a piece that was commissioned for the group…it’s very rhythmically complicated for the rest of the orchestra, but I just play a few things here and there…have to count my butt of still, so at least I’m alert. On Sibelius No. 7, the Russian kid is playing timpani. Music really is the universal language, because he can’t communicate with us, but he played the part really well!

Once we were all sweaty and stinky (the room was not air-conditioned) we were herded back onto the vans and buses. We went to the hotel quickly, changed, and had to get right back on the buses to go into the Berlin center to take a group photo. It was slightly annoying, but during the photo I met another American named Leann! She lives in Norway now, is from NYC, studied at Cleveland (another Ohio connection!) and at Temple. She is loud, funny, and cool…my type of girl! There is also another clarinetist (besides Simone) that went to CCM (Cincinnati Conservatory of Music) for his undergrad. Along with Damien’s studies at CIM (Cleveland)…that is 5 people with an Ohio connection in this Orchestra. HOW CRAZY IS THAT?!?!?

Once the picture was taken (or about 100 pictures takes) we…you guessed it…got back on the buses to head back to the hotel and have dinner. We were on our own, but given a per diem. We headed to the closest restaurant (we were so hungry!) and had a nice German meal….along with a beer ;) The conversations were really fun, and people are starting to open up.

Now that I’ve been fed and am exhausted…it’s time for a good night’s sleep…with Bettina.


BYP Day 3
Today was fun, but boring, organized, yet hectic, and eventful, but normal. Make sense?

It began with the percussionists and bassists taking public transpiration to the Berlin Radio House for sectionals. We had to take two trains, and no one told us the directions before blindly following the guide. It was nice to get to see more of the city, but a little nerve wracking in such a big group. I would be very, very lost without the guides and few German speaking colleagues! My Swedish knowledge does nothing for me here!

During sectionals we spent 3 hours working on Rite. I really wish I had the bass drum part! It was killing me just sitting there, watching the score and listening. I still can’t believe that I bombed the audition so bad. But, I can’t change the past and now, considering I only play a few bars for the whole piece, I had a lot of time to contemplate my actions. At least I nailed what I do play…my soft crashes felt good, consistent, and solid. It’s going to be an uphill battle (with myself) to feel good about my playing the next few weeks.

Lunch was fine, and much better food than yesterday. This time we ate at a proper cafeteria in the Radio House, and got to choose whatever we wanted…the poor rest of the orchestra had to eat at the campus with the really bad food! The orchestra came together in the afternoon, and we rehearsed Rite. I didn’t play one note. I did stay awake though, and I now know all of the percussion parts really well. Maybe one day I’ll actually get to play one of the good parts…

At the end of the rehearsal, one of the orchestra managers came up to me and said that all of the Americans (three of us, plus one guy from New Zealand), had to fill out extra paperwork and provide an additional passport photo for our visa into Russia. WHAT!? How annoying! The paperwork was a joke…no, I haven’t operated nuclear weapons, and do no carry any rare, life threatening diseases (to my knowledge…!) None of us had an extra passport photo on us, so they sent us alone with some money, onto the train to one of the central stations to get photos taken at one of those self-serve booths. The New Zealand guy lives in Berlin now, so he showed us the way…but it was still really annoying that we had to take an extra trip just to get this photo taken for paperwork that is a joke! Silly Russia!

We made the best of it, and Leann and I had fun chatting during the side trip…it’s fun to have another loud and fun American around. We even treated ourselves to Dunkin’ Donuts, because we felt like we deserved it :) hehe. When we finally returned to the hotel, everyone else was relaxed and ready to go out. We still hadn’t eaten dinner, so got a group together to find some food, beer, and a good place to watch the Germany vs. Ghana World Cup game.

We finally stumbled upon a great, slightly posh, but not very crowded outdoor space to eat, drink, and watch the game. I paid too much for a pasta dish, but did enjoy my beer. Thankfully, Germany won, and soon the streets were filled with drunk, screaming, proud Germans. Most of which were wearing the German flag as a cape or skirt (that’s illegal in the US, right?)

We just came back from the outing, some people are still partying, but I’m too poor to have too much fun. Plus, besides Leann, there aren’t many people I’ve bonded with. The percussionists are cool, but quiet. Putting too much effort into being overly social just does not sound too appealing right now!

Tomorrow’s schedule is similar, but I will be playing more…so that gives me something to look forward too!


BYP Day 4
I’m in a much better mood this evening after a full day of playing (not as much as I’m used to, but more than just a few notes!), some good conversations, cheap Italian pizza in Germany, and the best ice cream I’ve had while in Europe!

This morning was much more relaxed because we started rehearsals an hour later than we have the rest of the week. It was nice to sleep and take my time eating breakfast and having coffee (Scandinavia sure has changed me! I used to hate coffee!) It was just percussion sectionals again all morning. We rehearsed the piece commissioned for the orchestra that is really groovy and modern. I’m playing all the “toys”, so the part isn’t as involved, but it’s fun. I play a mean slide whistle :) I’ve enjoyed sectionals because Damien is an energetic coach and he has a ton of good ideas. It still kills me sometimes when I’m not playing the meatier parts, but I’ve learned to be very patient and just absorb the information this week.

Lunch was at the same cafeteria in the Radio House, just with the percussionists and the bassists. I’m so glad we are eating at this place and not with the rest of the orchestra! I asked Damien about his Broadway career in NYC, and it was cool to learn about how he got to where he is now. Moving to the city will always be apart of the future game plan!

The afternoon was a full orchestra rehearsal at full speed. We didn’t know what we were going to rehearse (we have about 15 pieces in the tour repertoire), so there were moments of panic within the percussion section. Plus, the Maestro is infamous for his fast tempos, so that, along with trying to fit 4 hours of rehearsal into 3 hours…let’s just say we were all just trying to keep up.

We got back to the hotel about 7:30pm, and two of the percussionists and I decided to go grab some dinner. They are both from Gothenburg, and really nice (and reserved, Swedish) guys. None of us know the area at all, so we decided to just start walking and find something. After a few blocks we found an Italian place with ourdoor seating and really cheap pizza. The food was actually really good, and our waitress was so nice! She even brought us some bread “on the house”! She was an older lady, and she seemed as though she wanted to make sure we were taken care of and nice and full! It’s crazy because most of the locals that I have been in contact with have been extremely nice…I don’t know why people think that Germans are unfriendly!

Anyway…during dinner Wictor, Johan and I chatted a lot about Sweden and music, of course. We also complained that the members of the orchestra aren’t very social and open…which was bugging me the last few days, so I’m glad that they feel the same way! It’s nice to feel like I’m starting to get to know the percussion guys more, and hopefully more people in the group with open up as the rehearsals/tours continue.

On our way back to the hotel we passed a huge ice cream place that was full of people. We decided to stop and have a treat, which was the best idea we’ve had in a long time! It was homemade and delicious! I have a cone with Chocolate and hazelnut. Yum yum! Plus, once again, the workers were really nice to us!

Tomorrow the schedule is (again) the same…but it will be the famous “Midsummer” holiday. Since there are so many Swedes, Finns, and Norwegians in the group we will probably go out and celebrate, which will be fun!