Music Department Tours Puerto Rico

By ROXANE PARK

On the night of March 9, 58 Exonian singers and musicians stood at the chancel of the stunning Iglesia de San José, surrounded by 140-year-old white walls and stone. As the sun set through the cathedral windows, they cleared their voices and picked up their instruments, waiting for the cue from their conductors: Michael V. Forrestal ’45 Chair in Music Kristofer Johnson, teaching intern Laura Grube, and former Michael V. Forrestal ’45 Chair in Music and Instructor in Music Peter Schultz.

When the music finally began, the audience of locals and tourists alike basked in both the beauty of the classics — Mozart, Shostakovich, Monteverdi — and the novelty of the unfamiliar — Runestad, Quartel, and Shaw. The robust program ended with two modern Puerto Rican composers, Voz del Güiro and Ernesto Cordero, as the students savored their last few moments performing in the pieces’ motherland.

Those 58 students and eight accompanying faculty enjoyed six days of a combined concert tour and vacation at the Caribbean island, sharing music and growing closer along the way. Senior and concert choir soprano Polly Valliant expressed her thoughts about the trip, saying, “I loved it. We left super early on a Saturday morning and then we came back that Friday morning. It was so much fun — we sang in different churches, we sang with the university, [and] we sang with the performing arts high school.”

The days and nights in San Juan were equally as exhilarating as the early morning flights there and back; the schedule was jam-packed with activities for the students to hone their music skills and bond with each other.

Lower and bass Aymeric Dauge-Roth reflected on the group’s growth. “I really enjoyed the professionalism that the choir built over the course of the week,” Dauge-Roth said. “On Thursday we visited a local music school with kids our age. The concert choir got to sing a song with their choir and chamber orchestra played with their orchestra.”

Valliant described the visit to the school as a positive experience as well: “I loved the performance we did with the performing arts high school. We were interacting with people our age who were also high schoolers [who] really loved to sing.”

Lower and soprano Hemani Stallard described her growth on a more personal level. “I definitely got to diversify the types of singing that I did, especially with the different settings that we were going to and…all these incredible instructors in music. I grew musically, and my drive [and] my passion for music also grew.”

For the tour itself, there were a total of four performances in a variety of locations: the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music, the Stella Maris Church, the Escuela Libre de Musica, and the Iglesia de San José. The last of them, at the Iglesia de San José, was the universal favorite. Senior and concert choir alto Angela Zhang said that “the last performance we did in the church was just so ethereal, from the acoustics to the audience. It made me realize that music is so much more than just a hobby. It’s very much an intellectual pursuit and a lot of people’s life’s work, and…even though I won’t be pursuing it professionally, it’s something that I want to do justice to. [That performance] made me take music more seriously.”

The Music Department roams the streets of Puerto Rico. Courtesy of @peapuertorico

The young musicians cherished these opportunities to step out onto the real stage and perform for unfamiliar audiences. “My best memory is the audience’s applause after each performance,” Dauge-Roth said. “The joy the audience gave me and others felt so fulfilling.”

“This trip unlocked our school’s music program’s potential,” Zhang said, “because I think being stuck in the Exeter bubble for so long, especially since COVID, has really done a number to the music program. Being able to travel outside of our bubble and work with other groups helped us realize that we can be so much better than we are currently. Performing for outside audiences also pushed us to become better musicians. This was a very much-needed trip.”

Music program tour manage Barb Darby echoed Zhang’s sentiment. “The kids definitely grew as musicians during the few days that we were there. The program repertoire stayed the same for all four performances, but you could see that from the beginning to the end of the trip, the level of playing had improved so much. It was awesome to see.”

While they weren’t practicing or performing, students were able to explore the island through organized trips and activities. “We visited a local organic farm where we ate delicious Puerto Rican cuisine and got to pet some baby bunnies,” Dauge-Roth said. “On another day, we visited a coffee farm and received a tour of the coffee-making process. The schedule also allowed for smaller group excursions and sightseeing around Old San Juan.”

To the students, a gift in disguise came as the buses accidentally broke down one day. “We had to turn around and come back,” Valliant explained, “but we had the entire afternoon to ourselves, which was super nice. Everything else had been super blocked out, but this had been an afternoon and night that we just had. We went to the beach, we went out to dinner, we walked around, [and] we went shopping. It was really fun.”

Many other students admitted wishing they had more free time but understood that the schedule was necessary for an organized trip. “I wish we had a little bit more flexibility with regards to scheduling,” lower Sam Benochi said.

Students also described their appreciation for the accommodations. “They had this rooftop with a pool — it was really fancy, and the ambience there was really nice,” Zhang said. “People would hang out there together at night and just talk. We were able to communicate with people that we have been singing with and doing music, but we haven’t really been able to engage with each other in this relaxed sort of setting.”

Darby named this forming of close relationships as one goal of the trip. “It’s kind of crazy that there are kids here who see each other in the music building every day and know each other’s names but have never had a real conversation,” she said. “It was great to see them getting to know each other, going out and having fun, and making music together.”

Lower and violinist Lucy Previn specified that these relationships formed not only within the concert choir and chamber orchestra but also across the ensembles. “As someone who is in the chamber orchestra, I didn’t know many members of the concert choir going into the trip. However, during the six days that we were there, I was able to meet and become friends with many of my fellow musicians,” Previn said.

“I think that that was the ultimate goal that they were trying to push,” Stallard said, “for everyone to become a lot closer.”

Behind the scenes is the careful dedication of the faculty in the Music Department in making the trip a success. Darby described that the process started nearly 10 months ago, as she and the other faculty began planning the flights, accommodations, activities, and venues. “This is the first trip like this that I’ve been able to plan in my position,” Darby explained. “We were planning a trip for 2020 and then for 2021, but they were canceled because of COVID, so we were really excited to get back out there and have the kids performing again. That was our hard goal.”

This hard work did not go unnoticed by the students. “I think Ms. Darby is a rock star,” Stallard shared enthusiastically. “She literally coordinated this whole trip with 50 plus kids and made everyone have a really good time and made sure nobody got lost or kidnapped. I really commend her for that.”

“Mr. Johnson was also great,” Stallard continued. “He was amazing at getting all these connections to prestigious music institutions. I don’t even know how one has that many connections, but he did it all. And I think that Ms. Grube did an absolutely stellar job at conducting the Shostakovich piece, which I’m sure the orchestra kids would agree with me about.”

Zhang agreed, thanking the organizers for making the trip a success. “The faculty did a really good job with planned sightseeing versus going out and exploring with friends, so you felt like you were getting to know the local people and the local culture, but you were also exploring everything you wanted to explore. We were able to sightsee and travel and go to really good restaurants, we had our free time. It felt like even though we were engaging in very robust musical activities, it still felt like a vacation. I think it was the most relaxing trip I have ever been on.”

Previn suggested that others would benefit from similar trips: “[It] was a great experience, both musically and overall, and I’d certainly recommend that other groups on campus find similar ways to connect and learn.”

Another trip is already in the works, Darby shared. “We’ve already started planning a trip for the jazz band next year — we’ll be going to New Orleans. We have some places in mind for future trips as well, but I won’t share those just yet.”