The Gustavus Wind Orchestra performed in Spain and France from January 19 to February 1. The ensemble, directed by Dr. James Patrick Miller and guest conductor Dr. Heidi Johanna Miller, performed 7 concerts and shared their music to more than 1000 audience members.
“You make us feel like family”, says JPM to the audience in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France. The ensemble shared their performance with the Ensemble Musical du Sud, a local wind orchestra.
Before the concert, dinner was provided by local members of the ensemble and conversations were shared between students and locals.
Being on an international tour is a life-changing experience for students. Chasey Wedge ‘24, a percussionist in GWO, describes her experience.
Chasey Wedge ‘24
“When I look back on everything that we did on this tour with GWO, I think about our program title Toward the Horizons” and that truly feels like the best possible way to try and summarize such an indescribable experience. This tour was all about moving beyond my typical comfort zones to experience new ideas, learn new things, meet new people, and encounter new cultures all through our travels and through literally expanding the horizons, or boundaries, of my own mind. Every day we got a chance to experience a bit of life in a place that we never would have imagined ourselves to be in.
Every moment of the tour was life-changing in some way or another but one of the stand-out moments for me was our visit to La Sagrada Familia, the iconic cathedral that has now taken over 140 years to complete, in Barcelona, Spain. As we were approaching the ground of the cathedral on our tour bus, I had butterflies in my stomach thinking about how unreal this moment felt. I first learned about La Sagrada Familia in my seventh-grade Spanish class and since that first day of class, I have been dreaming about visiting the cathedral in person. I was completely enamored with the history, architecture, passion, faith, and artistry that is illustrated throughout the cathedral’s facade and the first moment we arrived at the cathedral is something I will never forget. Seeing the spires towering over the city skyline was almost dizzying to look up at and all I could do was stand there in complete awe.
Standing there, trying to absorb all there is to see in the magnificent facade of the cathedral, I could overhear the conversations and reactions of the other members of GWO that were around me. Watching my friends and classmates react to the beauty that was in front of us was incredibly moving; I saw some in silent awe like me, some were excitedly taking pictures attempting to capture the stunning beauty, and I even saw some brought to tears by the cathedral’s magnificence. What was taking place at La Sagrada Familia among the members of GWO completely encapsulated what the tour meant to me. All at once, and all together, we were brought into a new culture and by simply admiring and walking around La Sagrada Familia we were able to absorb the cultural significance illustrated in the cathedral: the dedication to religion, the passion for artistry, and the respect and admiration for nature and something bigger than the individual.
This feeling and emotion was echoed again at the end of our tour when we performed in La Madeleine in Paris. Walking into the cathedral, I heard a chorus of gasps as we took in the incredible space we were going to be playing in later that evening. Everywhere we looked we saw the most incredible detailing, from the paintings covering the ceiling, to the marble sculptures on the massive altar, to the gold details tracing the walls. The space was beautiful and we were all anxious to start making music that would hopefully do justice to the cathedral.
I will never forget the way that concert felt. From the first note we played in warm-ups, we knew this performance was going to be magic. Each note echoed for several seconds after we played it and the result was a breathtaking cocoon of music that we could not just hear, but feel too. When we arrived at the peak moment in our performance the energy and emotion, both in the audience and within us in the orchestra were tangible. I have never in my life experienced a performance that felt so impactful and I remember not wanting to blink for fear of missing a single moment of that experience. I knew I would never experience anything like that ever again, and I am so proud to have shared it with this incredible group of people.
This tour was truly life changing. It brought me so many experiences and connections that I never would have thought I would be lucky enough to have and I will never forget the people I got to share those experiences with. I will forever be thankful to GWO for giving me this opportunity and these memories.”