William Erickson
Education Abroad
In July and August 2018, I travelled to Europe to take part in Ohio State’s study abroad course, “The Heart of Europe”. This study abroad come in the form of a performance tour of a chamber wind ensemble made up of Ohio State students from the School of Music. We met in Columbus in late July and began rehearsals on W.A Mozart’s “Serenade in c minor” and Gordon Jacobs’ “Old Wine in New Bottles”. We travelled to Austria and Italy to take part in performances in Salzburg, Austria (as well as seeing the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra rehearse Gustav Mahler’s second symphony) and then to a small town in northeast Italy where we served as an ensemble-in-residence for the Corzi Internazionale di Perfezionamento Musicale in Cividale del Friuli, Italy.
Since Salzburg, Austria is birthplace of Wolfgang Mozart, it was very fitting that we should closely study one of his finest works for winds in a place that knows Mozart better than anywhere else in the world. I was taken aback by how supportive of the arts, and especially music, the people of Salzburg were. The Salzburger Festspiele takes place each year, drawing large crowds to some of the finest classical ensembles in the world. Tickets are sold out an entire year in advance for many shows, and the people of Salzburg treat musicians like celebrities. In America, it is no secret that classical music is a dying art. Our audiences are growing older, and classical music is seeming more and more out of touch with the popular culture of today. I found this to be completely false in Europe, though. Random passersby were very intrigued and impressed when we would tell them we were musicians. Seeing this excitement and enthusiasm for classical music being displayed in the mainstream of European culture was not only refreshing, but it changed my view on the future of classical music and gave me hope that this vital part of human history will not be lost anytime soon.
The entire trip culminated in our biggest concert as an Ohio State ensemble, in the Chiesa di San Francesco in Cividale. Originally, we were supposed to perform outside in the courtyard of the ancient lombard monastery, which was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011. Unfortunately, a heavy storm forced us to move the concert into another one of the 34 massive stone cathedrals they had in this town with a population of 11,000 people. Despite their low population, our concert was incredibly popular. The local people braved the storm and packed into this church in order to hear us play, which was incredibly humbling for all of us involved. I couldn’t imagine the same happening for an italian ensemble in America.
Since we were actively participating in the festival as part of being the ensemble-in-residence, we had the opportunity to make friends with other italian musicians who were attending the festival as normal. It was a very rich experience to make good friends with people who come from such different backgrounds as I do. The american and italian clarinetists would always hang out after the masterclasses were done, and we’d often be out at restaurants until late, or out exploring Cividale late into the night. I found during my time that learning about something and experiencing it are two very different things. I knew in my head that the italians were much more laid back than the americans, or that you often drank wine with lunch in Italy, but being there and seeing it first hand made a real impression on me.
The festival in Cividale was also incredibly rich musically. There were concerts by some of the finest musicians in the world almost every night. I got to have chamber coachings with Vladimir Mendelssohn (an actual descendant of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy!) I got to study with Nicola Bulfone, who is a fantastic clarinetist, as well as receive more attention from my clarinet professor from Ohio State, Caroline Hartig. I saw major in myself both musically and personally over the course of this festival and study abroad program.
The changes I outlined above were important because art requires experience. Music, as an art, is informed totally by the life experiences of the musician. Every measure of music we make is incredibly personal and vulnerable, and nobody can make music based on life experiences they haven’t had. Attending this festival and exploring Europe through making music was one of the most enriching and foreign life experiences I have ever had. The people I met and the things I learned (both musically and culturally) will inform my music making for the rest of my life.