For CU Winds, Costa Rica experience ranged from ambassador's reception to jamming at jazz club
By Daniel Aloi
Members of the Cornell University Wind Ensemble returned from their nine-day concert tour of Costa Rica on Jan. 21 with many memories, particularly of several accomplished private and public performances.
The Cornell student musicians performed for and interacted with the Central American country's oldest, youngest, richest and poorest citizens. They played music and touch football with young children in the impoverished rural village of Matapalo near the Pacific coast; and they performed for diplomats, street vendors, schoolchildren and retirees in and around the capital city of San José.
The 38-member group played outdoor concerts in Santa Cruz and Tres Rios, and large crowds cheered when local officials announced the ensemble's gift of 50 donated musical instruments to the Matapalo students on Jan. 13. Officials in each city also made proclamations and presented certificates of appreciation to ensemble director Cynthia Johnston Turner.
"The Santa Cruz people were really impressed with us," said oboist Jason McCuiston '06, a physics major who acted as the tour's unofficial Spanish translator. "They really went overboard."
Four of the students played an impromptu concert in front of the Teatro Nacional in downtown San José, for a small group of street vendors, tourists and shoppers.
"Ah, musica clasica," one of the onlookers said happily.
At a reception at the San José residence of U.S. Ambassador Mark Langdale on Jan. 17, the ensemble performed for more than 120 guests, including two former Costa Rican presidents, a leading vice presidential candidate in the Feb. 5 national election, several business leaders and the British and Israeli ambassadors to Costa Rica.
"Cornell's music program is excellent, but it's small -- it's not a conservatory," Johnston Turner told the guests. "Only two of these musicians you see before you are music majors. The rest study engineering, math, all sorts of sciences I don't understand. It's a pleasure to conduct not only such wonderful musicians -- and I hope you'll agree -- but such well-rounded students as well."
It was the first reception hosted by Langdale at his residence since the Texas native, president of a hotel management company in Mexico, was appointed to the post in October. His staff includes Cornell alumnus Whitney J. Witteman '83, MPS '01, the embassy's economic officer.
"Many of you told me earlier tonight that you were honored to be playing here," Langdale said, before requesting an encore from the ensemble. "I just want to tell you that we are honored that you're playing here."
Any nervousness on the part of the students was allayed by the warm welcome they received, and the relaxed setting of the concert, held poolside under tents of billowing white fabric.
"It seemed like we were on -- everyone played with more intensity," said trombonist Zach Maben '08, a biology major.
Earlier that day, the ensemble had played a brief concert for 250 English-speaking middle-school students on their first day back from the holidays at the private Country Day School near San José. Johnston Turner and the Cornell musicians also conducted an ensemble clinic for pupils in the fledgling music program there.
The next day, they performed for residents of a San José retirement home, Hogar de Anciones Carlos Maria Ulloa. The ensemble musicians also met with a group of students learning English as a second language and rehearsed with University of Costa Rica musicians for the final concert of the tour that evening at the Teatro Eugene O'Neill.
The concert marked the Costa Rican premiere of composer Eddie Mora Bermudez' "Concierto Cornell," which had its world premiere in Barnes Hall on Dec. 10. The piece features saxophonists Emily Looney '08, Daniel Nelson '06, Timothy Vadas, Ph.D. '07, and David Lifson '05.
"It was fantastic -- they did it with a lot of power," Mora said. "When they know the music, they play more freely. The [saxophone] quartet is playing this piece naturally now; they are playing all of the nuances and emotional movements. I'm very happy to have a chance to write for them."
Ticket sales raised more than $1,100, earmarked by the Canadian Club of Costa Rica for improving facilities for students at Escuela Aruba, a school in rural San Juan de Dios.
"The cross-cultural experience that this has generated has created an impact on the lives of both the musicians and people that they have interacted with," said Manuel Arce, director of the Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano, home of the 300-seat Teatro Eugene O'Neill.
"A high level of performance and musicianship was very evident, even though for the most part they are not music majors," Arce said. "But they are musicians at heart. They are very sincere, and I think it's been a wonderful experience for us all; very meaningful. Every day was special."
Despite the demanding tour schedule, the students were able to swim in the surf and stroll on the beach at Playa Brasilito, attend a bullfight in Santa Cruz and visit the active Poàs volcano. In San José, they visited a jazz club where Kyle Story '07 and Ithaca College student Nikola Tomic jammed with a local trio.
The tour was a milestone for Lifson, who recently earned his M.S. in computer science. He founded CU Winds as a student club and served as its first president.
"This is it for me! My last concert for Cornell," Lifson said after the Jan. 18 performance, while his fellow musicians danced to salsa music at a reception attended by Cornell alumni and friends. "This group has grown so much over the last five years, and since I've been here this long, it's been great to see these kids grow up with it."
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