Reflections of Russia

It is mid-morning as we leave St. Petersburg, heading back to Finland, and then home to familiar surroundings, family, and friends. We are traveling by coach through miles and miles of pine and birch forest. If I was to open my eyes, not knowing I was in Russia, I would probably think I was traveling through Montana’s high plateau on a bright blue morning in June. But no, this beauty belongs to a country half a world away from our little corner of North America. It belongs to a country with a proud and deeply held connection to its land and history. After spending these amazing, and too few, days here in St. Petersburg, I leave with a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye as I recall the profound experiences I have had in this incredible country. My belief in humanity is renewed by the shear authenticity of the Russian people, an authenticity that goes far beyond nationalism or patriotism and is consistently present throughout all routine, ritual, and evolving life. Mother Russia is not a slogan. She is real and always present in how the Russian live their lives.

What gradually came over me, sometime between the ballet of Swan Lake at the Alexander Theater and the Russian Orthodox monastery churchyard (where we found the final resting places of Tchaikovsky, Rimsy-Korsikov, Mussorgski, Galinka, Glasinov, Rubenstein, and others: ten major composers all within a few yards of one another - not to forget Dostoevsky also in the same church yard) was a profound sense of place and the passion of those lives spent there. How can it be that such a vast amount of creativity emerged from this land? Parts of the answer may be imbedded in Dostoevsky’s War and Peace, or the 900 days of siege endured by the people of Leningrad (450,000 of them dying of starvation in the first winter alone) to repel the Nazi forces and hold on to their beloved land. Other clues to what it means to be Russian may be found in the beautiful works of the great composers, artists, and architects. Whether it was the drama of the human story, so passionately played out throughout these many past centuries in Russia, or something in the psyche of a people who have endured so much suffering and triumphs, while finding expression through the creation of much of the epiphanies of beauty we in the West so cherish today, it remains that the gifts given to the rest of the world by our fellow human beings from this part of the planet are truly a world treasure. I have been profoundly changed by this experience.

If my previous visits to Western Europe have broadened my worldview from a rational/logical perspective, then Russia has reached deep into my soul and forever changed the way I will view the myriad struggles of the human heart. To the people of Russia I express my gratitude for what they bring to our global family table, and to the Sacramento Youth Symphony my deepest appreciation for allowing me to once again share the wonderfully pleasurable experience of traveling with the best and brightest youth that your organization so lovingly nurtures through these highest art forms: music and working together toward a better world.

With Warm Regards

Dennis Oliveira
Sacramento Youth Symphony
Gulf of Finland Tour 2007
Head Chaperone

Message from Gordon Garcia

Sat. 7/21/07
Here we are at 11:30 pm. The sun is finally setting and we are on the 6th floor of our hotel, having commandeered the hotel club. The disco music is getting us up and dancing, this being our last night in the beautiful city of St. Petersburg. Our last concert will stay with me for a long time. After driving endlessly around the city trying to find the church, the kids played to a full house, and the audience enthusiasm was awesome. The audience was yelling, “Bravo” from the very first piece played – the Russian national anthem.
We’ve had a great trip, despite the various medical mishaps and occasional seeming endless waiting on the bus. I return home with increased respect and love for the kids of the SYS.
See you all very soon.
Gordon Garcia

Todd's Travel Journal...

Time Entry: 1809 ;l

As we sit here on the bus one is forced to recall what has gone on through the day.

Dearest reader, let us begin our recollection.

I awoke to a badly synthesized version of Chariots of Fire playing on my TV that somehow managed to self-activate. It indeed frightened me at first given the remote was several feet away from me and I was expecting an actual telephone wake-up call. I freed myself of my sleeping garments and took my daily, morning shower in the bathtub that was sans shower curtain. In place of what would be the shield that guards the remainder of the bathroom from the spray of the shower was a glass panel that only guarded the sink and mirror. After brushing my teeth and packing I bid my single-room (503) a adieu. I dragged my three pieces of luggage to the lobby: my carryon laptop bag that contained no laptop, my personal suitcase, and a broken suitcase full of heavy percussion equipment stuffed with excess tour shirts for padding. I joined my fellow musicians for our last breakfast in Estonia. Similar to the day before, it consisted of nothing but carbohydrates and dairy… well… just bread and butter.

Once we finished breakfast, we packed and boarded our alphabetically assigned buses to depart for “the Motherland”, Russia. We all departed with a sense of fear, anxiety and excitement. The bus ride was expected to be upwards for 5 hours long and we tried our best to mentally prepare ourselves for the production that was to be our crossing the border into Russia.

After 3 hours of a mix of sleep, noise, and more sleep we began entering Narva, our last Estonian checkpoint. As we neared the central area of the town, we observed a couple miles of highway that were lined with cargo trucks on the right side of the road. To our bewilderment, we drove right on past it. We drove around the town in what seemed to be irregular circles before we pulled over and had lunch in a nice restaurant in which we cafeteria-style served ourselves soup, bread, meat/cheese, soda, and cookies. This indeed relieved me of my self-diagnoses of “hunger headache”.

We boarded back on the bus and expected another long ride to the border, but within 15 minutes, we found ourselves at a place that we did not believe to be the boundary of Estonia and Russia.

Dearest reader, thus starts the recollection of what was to be the most arduous leg of our journey thus far and to come. For a reason that slips my mind, our bus, which was second in the caravan, somehow got first in line to go through customs. Ironically, we made the mistakes the other two busses learned from. We debussed and waited inside the borderline-distasteful mint-chocolate-chip-motif waiting area that was the customs hold. To the best of our combined abilities and knowledge, we musicians filled out our forms of declaration. After receiving our stamps in our passports and immigration cards, we passed through the security threshold which was composed of a pathetic excuse for a metal gate. After being welcomed to “the other side” by Maestro Neumann himself, we boarded the coaches and began another depressing period of wait time.

To our dismay, we discovered that we had incorrectly filled out our declaration forms and consequently had to fill them out again. After a few moments of tension between the students and the powers-at-be, we were walked through the slow and painful process that was the completion of the aforementioned document. We began to see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel but for some reason, remained in the same spot past the customs building. Once we received confirmation that everyone’s forms were filed completely and correctly, we once again obtained our spot as number two in the caravan despite being the first bus through customs.

Time entry: 1854

We are now en route to St. Petersburg along what is a narrow and undeliciously rocky road. One would even call this journey seaworthy as I currently feel that I am in a small dingy being ravaged by the ferocity of a thousand heated piranhas.

Upon our arrival in St. Petersburg, dearest reader, I ensure you that no gypsy nor thief will have a pick at my pocket for even I know not where my wallet is.

Just kidding.

Until our next encounter…

Thaddeus Christian Derosenthal McClintock

New St. Petersburg hotel information

Dear SYS Family,

Our location in St. Petersburg has changed from the previously published Anderson Hotel to:

Hotel Azimut
St. Petersburg, Russia
Address: 43/1 Lermontovsky prosp., St.-Petersburg, 198103
Tel: +7 812 740-2640
Fax: +7 812 251-8890
Rooms: 550
Rating: 3 star ( *** )
Location: City center

For additional infor or questions, please contact the SYS office.

Thanks

Dennis Oliveira

Estonia Rocks!

We've spent the last two days in this beautiful country. The musicians wandered Old Town Talinn, lunching at the Market Square, checking out the Marzipan Museum, climbing St. Olaf's tower and enjoying the sunny and warm days. The SYS concert the first night was held in a maginificent church...the horn duet sounded great bouncing off the high ceilings. Fellow musician, Andrey, reunited with his bass teacher after the concert. We have found the Estonian people to be very friendly and quick to speak English. Tonight we visited an open air museum showing how Estonians lived in the past and we were entertained by young Estonian folk dancers. Tomorrow we board the bus for St. Petersburg!

Message from Maestro Neuman

Dear SYS Families and Friends,

Here I am on another wonderful SYS international tour. Our stay in Helsinki was fabulous - playing in the amazing "Rock Church" with its great acoustics was awesome. The hotel (+ food) was 1st class. I received numerous comments from people in the audience of how good our orchestra is.

Sahsha Haft had to stay behind at the hospital in Helsinki, which is sad for me. What a long way to travel, only to have appendix problems. But we look forward to picking up Sasha on our way back through Helsinki. I am also sorry to have lost Hannah Canty (harpist) because of some health issues of a family member, she had to drop out after the Helsinki concert. Our tour leaders Jack and Dennis, SYS staff, and all the parent volunteers are doing a wonderful job of keeping things running smoothly. I am very grateful all is well here in Estonia. Tomorrow: Russia!

Regards

Maestro Michael Neuman
Artistic Director
Sacramento Youth Symphony

News update...

Sorry I haven't written in awhile. We've been seeing a lot of interesting history. Estonia has an unusual combination of all the architectural styles that have "blown-through" with each successive political/religious regime.

Several people have had to leave the trip for health reasons. However, they are all taken care of and doing well.

Today we continue our fun in Estonia (see pictures) exploring cultural artifacts and social interaction.

Cheers!