Students from the University of Oregon School of Dance and Music are on a cultural and musical exchange tour-- in Costa Rica. The musical odyssey began last Saturday for 36 singers with the UO Chamber Choir and 50 instrumentalists with the Oregon Wind Ensemble. They're in Costa Rica’s capital, San Jose, until May 18.
Dr. Dennis Llinás is Director of Bands at the UO and conductor of the Oregon Wind Ensemble. He knows Alejandro Gutiérrez, a professor at the University of Costa Rica who also happens to conduct the National Symphony. Through that contact, Llinás was able to make this unique musical, cultural exchange happen.
“One of the things that I think will really help the students is understanding how they teach individual instruments, what the performance facilities look like, what is the style of the music of Costa Rica?” said Llinás. “One of the best ways we’re going to do that is a lot of side-by-side concerts.”
UO’s Director of Choral Activities, Dr. Sharon Paul, described how the musical exchange process worked between her Chamber Choir a local community choir, Coro Lirico Herediana.
“They sang songs to us from Costa Rica. They were very proud of their country and their songs,” she said. “The piece that they chose for us was kind of a calypso that showed some of the beautiful rhythms that Costa Rica has in their music.”
Paul said as part of the musical exchange, her choir offered a 16th Century "villancico," which is basically a Spanish Carol.
“It was a lovely exchange,” Paul said.
Llinás said the tour is about broadening horizons. For many of these Oregon Duck singers and musicians, this is their first trip abroad, and is an opportunity to try out their Spanish.
“They’re gonna have to speak to each other and they’re going to be completely interspersed and learn different pieces, perform together—which is going to be really exciting for our students. Just to help us broaden our horizons,” Llinás said. “It’s just a great way for our students to just get a more global view of what’s happening in a different country and learn about a new style of music.”
The Eugene Wind Ensemble played its first show in Costa Rica at Anfiteatro Fidel Gamboa, during the country’s first National Band Festival.
The UOCC and OWE will have a total of six concerts, including performances with college ensembles and at high schools. OWE has a gig with a professional band, Banda de San Jose, on Friday.
As for taking in the culture, the student singers and musicians are visiting museums, handcraft markets, La Paz Waterfall Gardens, and even a coffee farm tour.
The UOSMD group returns to Oregon on May 18.
