Preparatory School

Today was another hot day for MYWE here in Krakow. We spent the morning sight seeing in the old quarter of the city. We went into St. Mary’s Basilica, a beautiful brick cathedral in the central square, where we saw the ceremony to open the giant wooden alter. The cathedral was beautiful, with hand painted ceilings and marble, wood, and gold decorations everywhere. We also got to hear the trumpet call from the very top of the church steeple. Apparently a trumpet plays this specific call every hour of the day, four times (one in each direction, N, S, E, W). Our guide Isabella explained that the trumpet call commemorates a trumpet player in the 13th century who was killed by an arrow to the throat while he was trying to sound the alarm for a Mongol attack on the city. We heard the trumpet player play many times throughout the course of the day. At one point, we even all waved at him from the ground below, and he waved back!

After free time for lunch, everyone had the option to take a tour of the oldest university in Poland, Jagiellonian University, or have more free time. About half the group, myself included, decided to go on the tour (I think the air conditioning swayed many people). Inside was an amazing collection of old documents, scientific instruments, and treasures as well as the preserved dining room, living room, and lecture hall for the scholars. They even had a first edition of Copernicus’ De revolutionibus orbium coelestium! 

After meeting up with the group again, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our concert at the Krakow Conservatory. Upon arriving at the hall for a quick rehearsal, we were all surprised by how dry the acoustics were. It took some getting used to after the resonance of the salt mine! During the concert, we performed some pieces that we had not played on the send off concert, including the Ives Symphony #2 Finale. The audience was smaller, but seemed receptive to our music. 

After a dinner at a local restaurant back in the old part of the city, we came back to the hotel to get some sleep for the final leg of the trip. Tomorrow, we are going to drive four hours to reach Warsaw. I think everyone is excited to see yet another beautiful city!

Best,
Jennine Weller

Welcome back to the Sr. MYWE Tour Blog. Today, we toured the medieval old town in Krakow (after getting to sleep in until 11!). Krakow is the one major Polish city to have survived unharmed through World War II, so much of its historical features are well preserved. Krakow was the capital of Poland for almost 600 years starting in the 11th century, and it contains monumental architecture dating from the middle ages and the Renaissance, as well as newer constructions.

Today we learned about Krakow’s legendary dragon, which is said to have required sacrifices of the townsfolk. The legendary leader Krak, for which the city is named, sent knights futilely against the dragon until a local shoemaker volunteered and outwitted the dragon. After seeing a sculpture of the dragon we visited the fortified castle and cathedral on Wawel Hill, looking out over the city. The cathedral contained the tomb of Queen Hedwig, who married a Lithuanian king 30 years her senior to unite the kingdoms of Poland and Lithuania, and a relic from the late Pope John Paul II, the first Polish pope who is likely to be canonized.

After lunch in the old town square (I had goulash in a bread bowl with shredded cabbage and pickles), we continued to to Wieliczka Salt Mine, one of the world’s oldest salt mines. Inside lie a number of beautiful chapels carved out of salt by the miners, who must have been quite pious. The most massive of these contained two towering staircases, Da Vinci’s Last Supper carved in relief, and a rock salt chandelier. It was created by only three miners over 70 years! We were grateful to have the opportunity to play a concert of chamber music inside this chapel, including pieces by Telemann, Bach, and our own Alex Mayhew and Ezra Weller (that’s me!).

From the salt mine, a cool 55 degrees F, we reentered the blazing heat of the summer day in need of a refreshing meal, which we received at a restaurant near the mine. Back at the hotel, most chose to watch the final game of the Euro 2012 Football Cup. Too bad for us Italy fans, Spain dominated in a 4-0 victory. But still, a great day.

-Ezra Weller

Sr. MYWE Manager

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Hi, MYWE fans. Today we moved on from Wroclaw to Krakow, stopping on the way at Auschwitz and Birkenau, two of the biggest Nazi concentration camps from World War II. It was a scorchingly hot and sunny day and an emotional visit for all of us. After a refreshing midday meal, we arrived in Krakow early enough to spend the evening around town, eating at local restaurants and seeing the local scenery. More updates and videos to come tomorrow!

-Ezra Weller

Sr. MYWE Manager

Videos from the first few days in poland. You can see more at the SR MYWE channel on Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQAGm83sIm4nlTst40AQz2w

MYWE Students on the Lover’s Brige.

MYWE Students first Concert in the Wroclaw Philharminic Hall.

Below you will find a collection of photos from our Chopin adventure thus far.

Chopin’s grave in Père-Lachaise Cemetary

The “Dan Big Mac.” There are three Daniels on this tour, Daniel our Tour Guide, Daniel Kim, and Daniel Xiang. There are also two Ericas/Erikas on this trip. So we put all five of us into one picture with the Daniels sandwiching the Ericas/Erickas and you have the “Dan Big Mac.”

George Hu removing a freshly cut piano leg off the carving table in the Pleyel Piano Factory

Masterclass with Professor Adam Wibrowski

Notre Dame Cathedrals

The beautiful gallery in the Opera Garnier

5 Things about the Tour with Phuong Nghi Pham, Friday, 6/29/2012

1. What was your favorite part of the day?
Strolling around the center of Paris with Ms. Skavish to visit a chocolate store and the grand Madeleine Church where Chopin’s funeral was held. 

2.  What was a surprise to you?
Having a special farewell meeting in the hotel lobby and learning about the extremely creative and hilarious superlatives that the adults gave each one of the students.

3. What was your favorite view of the day?
Definitely the view of glittering Paris from the top of Tour Montparnasse under the pink-violet hue of the fading sun.  I need a dictionary to come up with all of the adjectives to describe this unforgettable view. 

4. What was your favorite food that you ate today?
The crème brûlée.  I’ve heard so many people gushing about this dessert and I was able to taste it for the first time today! There is no doubt that it earns the place as the last dessert of our last dinner in France. 

5. What was your favorite quote you heard someone say today?
“I feel flirty in my beret.”

5 Things about the Tour with Brittany Rodriguez, Thursday, 6/28/2012

1. What was your favorite part of the day?
My favorite part of the day was playing at the Auditorium Frédéric Chopin in Nohant, it was very inspiring.

2.  What was a surprise to you?
To see how big and beautiful George Sand’s mansion was.

3. What was your favorite view of the day?
The view of Chopin’s room in George Sand’s house.

4. What was your favorite food that you ate today?
The bread pudding that we had at the restaurant for lunch.

5. What fun fact did you learn about one of your fellow students today?
George beat his highest score on his iPad ninja game today.

5 Things about the Tour with Parker Sheil, Wednesday, 6/27/2012

1. What was your favorite part of the day?
Having had the same Facebook profile picture since November, My favorite part of the day was taking pictures at the second Chateau with Mr. Madrian and other students in the tour group. Not only do I think I managed to finally get a new profile picture, but some to decorate my room.

2.  What was a surprise to you?
Something that surprised me today was that yes, yes I can make a box of 6 macaroons last more that two days. This is my third night with my chocolate friends and I still have four left.

3. What was your favorite view of the day?
Today after dinner we went to a grocery store. The most beautiful thing I saw today, if not all trip, was a one liter water bottle listed for fifty-five cents. Since half a liter is usually 3€ at cafes and museums, I successfully emptied out the whole row.

4. What was your favorite food that you ate today?
This question is like picking your favorite macaroon at the shop we went to two days ago. News flash, we’re in France, everything tastes good. My favorite food today was the strawberry tart I had at the first Chateau with my lunch.

5. What was your favorite quote you heard someone say?
Everyone was sleeping on the bus for three hours so there wasn’t an abundance of witty remarks today

5 Things about the Tour with Zachary Haroutunian, Wednesday, 6/27/2012

1.  What was a surprise to you?
How much we walked today.

2. What was your favorite view of the day?
My favorite view was overlooking Le château de Chenonceau

3. What was your favorite food that you ate today?
Eggs Benedict with truffles

4. What was your favorite quote you heard someone say?
“Oh my god, THAT is gorgeous”

Hi all,

We have just finished our first full day in Poland! We had a great buffet breakfast of Polish foods (as well as some familiar cereal and fruit) and then headed out on the bus at 10 A.M. Polish time to have a tour of Wroclaw with our guide for the day. We toured around the town in the bus and then were dropped off in the restored medieval section. From there, we stopped in the second oldest cathedral, which had been restored after it was bombed in WWII. The oldest parts of the church were from the 1300s! At the outside of the church were old medieval lions that guarded the elaborate doors. The local legend is that if you rub the head of the lion with someone, you are destined to spend the rest of your life together. The lion heads had been rubbed for centuries, to the point where they were unrecognizable as lions! 

We continued on our tour across the lover’s bridge, where people put padlocks on the bridge with their names on it and throw the key in the Oder river to seal their love. The bridge was entirely filled with padlocks (the tour guide said there were over 3500)! In places, it looked like the structure of the bridge was the locks.

We stopped in the local bazaar, which was gigantic. There were fruit stalls, meat stalls, snack and sweet stalls, fabric stores, watch repair places (“zegarmistrzs”)….pretty much everything in one giant place! Many people tried the gooseberries, which were delicious but turned our hands and tongues blue!

We also got to see the inside of the Wroclaw University. We visited first the baroque  main hall (which had not been bombed in WWII so had its original gorgeous frescos on the ceilings and walls). We then went down the stairs to see the music room, where Jesse Bogdan tested the acoustics by singing the trombone part of Stars and Stripes! It sounded great and had everyone cheering!

After free time for lunch and hanging out around the town, we headed on a short bus ride to our first concert at the Wroclaw Philharmonic Concert Hall. Our concert was being promoted by a giant banner across the front entrance and the promotion worked: there was a great turnout! We played through a program quite similar to the send-off concert. It went really well, and the after-concert spirits were high! We finished the day at a very nice restaurant .

Tomorrow, we plan to travel the 1.5 hrs to Auschwitz and stop there. Everyone will have the option to go in if they choose or stay out and do something else with a chaperone. From there we will continue on driving to Krakow.

I would say that so far, everyone is having a great time! We are attempting to learn Polish (some more successfully than others), and are overall appreciating just how kind and friendly the Polish people are!

 Until next time,

Jennine Weller

Sr. MYWE Ringer

Welcome to the Sr. MYWE Poland Tour 2012 blog! As we start our first full day in Poland, everyone seems in good spirits. A good night’s sleep was needed after all the bus and plane rides yesterday. Both the Warsaw (Warszawa in Polish) and Wroclaw airports were beautiful, and our luggage suffered no casualties. After landing, we met our Polish tour guide Isabella and headed over to the Mercure Panorama Hotel.

After a few hours of free time, we gathered the group together and walked around the edge of the “fan zone” for the European Football Championship to arrive at a local restaurant for dinner. Sitting in a dining room decorated with various traditional paintings and interesting ceramics, we were all happy to receive a delicious meal of pierogi, potatoes, chicken and salad (or salmon for those allergic to fowl!).

After dinner came more free time. Some chose to watch the football game, experiencing it alongside the crowd of Polish football fans who, while sad that their country’s team was out of the tournament, remained excited to watch the game. The upset of Germany by Italy was certainly a surprise to me, but I have an Italian friend back in Boston who will be pleased!

It was an eleven o’clock curfew, and everyone I spoke with was happy to slip into bed. We’re looking forward to today and our first concert tonight.

-Ezra Weller, Sr. MYWE Manager

As NEC’s Piano tour continues on it whirlwind of a successful tour, NEC’s Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble flew off yesterday for their concert tour in Poland.

They have all arrived safely in Poland and enjoyed their first Polish feast at one of the oldest restaurants in Wroclaw before heading straight for bed. It was a long day of travel for all. First a bus from NEC with a stop in Springfield and then on to Newark, NJ for their flight to Poland. Once they are well rested they will have a full day of sightseeing tomorrow(June 29) and their first concert!

Below is a picture of the group on the steps of Jordan Hall. They are just about to begin their journey.

5 Things about the Tour with Daniel Xiang, Tuesday, 6/26/2012

1. What was your favorite part of the day?
The “Dan Big Mac.”  There are three Daniels on this tour, Daniel our Tour Guide, Daniel Kim, and Daniel Xiang.   There are also two Ericas/Erikas on this trip.  So we put all five of us into one picture with the Daniels sandwiching the Ericas/Erickas and you have the “Dan Big Mac.”

2.  What was a surprise to you?
How large the Eiffel Tower actually is

3. What was your favorite view of the day?
The Eiffel Tower was the best view of today

4. What was your favorite food that you ate today?
A Hamburger that I ate at lunch today.

5. What was your favorite quote you heard someone say?
“I like souvenirs”

5 Things about the Tour with George Hu, Tuesday, 6/26/2012

1. What was your favorite part of the day?
The boat cruise we took on the River Seine

2.  What was a surprise to you?
The amount of time we had to practice today

3. What was your favorite view of the day?
The Eiffel Tower from the riverboat

4. What was your favorite food that you ate today?
The dessert we had with dinner

5. What was your favorite quote you heard someone say?
“May I have another souvenir?”

We all have been having a wonderful time here in Paris and our days have been jam-packed with activities.  There is so much to tell you about the things we have done and the places we have seen that I could go on for hours talking about it.  Since I don’t have that kind of time this morning I will do my best to summarize the past few days for you. 

The first item to share with you as our wonderful Masterclass with Adam Wibrowski at the Polish Library.  He was so great with the students.  He kept them engaged with his wit and insightful pieces of musical knowledge about Chopin’s compositions.  The four students that played for him, Phuongnghi Pham, Brittany Rodriguez, Nicholas Griffiths, and Daniel Kim, all did very well. Professor Wibrowski was impressed with their preparation and abilities.  Overall, a wonderful experience for all that were in attendance. 

Another highlight from that day was after the Masterclass in the Chopin Room of the Polish Library.  In this room we found Chopin’s 1839 Pleyel piano, the actual piano that is printed on out tour t-shirts.  All of the students had the amazing opportunity to play on this historical piano.  That was a moment we will never forget. 

Below you will find a list of places we have visited over the last three days.  This might help to explain the large number of places we have seen so far.
-The Notre Dame Cathedral
-Père-Lachaise Cemetary (where Chopin is buried)
-La place Vendôme (where Chopin died)
-Opera Garnier
-The Musée du Louvre
-The Pleyel Piano Factory
-Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre
-Champs-Elysees

An incredible list is it not?  There are so many stories from each location that I do not know where to begin.  One thing I will share was a poetic day we had on Sunday, the day of the student’s concert at L’église Saint Julien le Pauvre. 

It was a rainy dreary day here in Paris and we visited Chopin’s gravesite, the apartment where he died, and the cathedral where his funeral took place.  The weather was strangely appropriate to visit these places.  Later that evening after the student’s performance, who all played incredibly well by the way, we left the church and the skies where no longer rainy and dark.  There was a beautiful sunset instead.  It was interesting to experience the sad days of Chopin’s life in the dreary rain and the beauty of our student’s performance amongst the most colorful Paris sky. 

More to come soon as well as some pictures this evening…

Corey

5 Things about the Tour with Nick Griffiths, Monday, 6/25/2012

1. What was your favorite part of the day?
Going into the Sacré-Coeur basilica.  It was beautiful in there and very peaceful

2.  What was a surprise to you?
The double piano at the Pleyel Factory.  It was really cool!  I was not expecting to see that. 

3. What was your favorite view of the day?
From outside of the Sacré-Coeur basilica on the top of Montmartre

4. What was your favorite food that you ate today?
The chocolate cake the we had at dinner tonight. So good!

5. What was your favorite quote you heard someone say?
“The pianos are our babies.”

5 Things about the Tour with Minji Kwon, Sunday, 6/24/2012

1. What was your favorite part of the day?
Lunch, we ate at a great restaurant near the Opera Garnier

2.  What was a surprise to you?
Some people want to have their hearts cut out when they die. This is in regards to Chopin’s request to his family upon his death.  He asked them to make sure that his heart was cut out when he died so they knew for sure he was dead before he was buried.

3. What was your favorite view of the day?
The Opera Garnier.  This Opera house is so beautiful.

4. What was your favorite food that you ate today?
Escargot, aka snails.  I group of students and I tried escargot for our first time at lunch today. 

5. What was your favorite quote you heard someone say?
“Oh look, there are a pair of pants by the trees over there!”

5 Things about the Tour with Erica Loh, Saturday, 6/23/2012

1. What was your favorite part of the day?
Adam Wibrowski’s Masterclass!! He was hilarious and kept everyone very engaged and attentive.

2.  What was a surprise to you?
We played Chopin’s actual Pleyel piano at the Polish Library that is printed on the front of our tour t-shirts!

3. What was your favorite view of the day?
Notre Dame… the architecture was so detailed and impressive.  The mood inside the cathedral was really calm and it was nice to walk through.

4. What was your favorite food that you ate today?
Authentic French croissants that we had for breakfast!

5. What was your favorite quote you heard someone say?
“Do they call French Fries just Fries here?”

5 Things about the Tour with Daniel Kim, Saturday, 6/23/2012

1. What was your favorite part of the day?
Performing in the Masterclass with Adam Wibrowski.  I learned a lot and it was a lot of fun.

2.  What was a surprise to you?
There was a Polish Library in the middle of Paris

3. What was your favorite view of the day?
Inside of the Notre Dame Cathedral

4. What was your favorite food that you ate today?
Croque-monsieur – Delicious!!

5. What fun fact did you learn about on of your fellow students today?
Erika Madrian and Erica Loh are terrified of spiders.

5 Things about the Tour with Erika Madrian, Friday, 6/22/2012

1. What was your favorite part of the day?
Musée d’Orsay was my favorite part of the day.  Although we were all exhausted and it took us a while to regain our interest in art after climbing five flights of stairs, the impressionist exhibit was fantastic.  It was such a cool experience to stumble across a piece of art I’ve known my whole life, or even a painting that I have a copy of in my room at home.

2.  What was a surprise to you?
I was surprised at how different the culture is here.  I’ve been to Europe before, so I thought I knew what I was up against. There was a guy reading a book while driving on the freeway, which (I hope) you wouldn’t see on the Autobahn.  I don’t know any French, but I expected everyone would know English and start using it as soon as they realized we were tourists.  This was not the case, people kept speaking rapid fire French as we smiled and nodded hoping they understood our food orders.  My favorite example is when cranberry juice and crème brûlée got confused with our waiter.

3. What was your favorite view of the day?
Driving into Paris from the Airport we went past the Stade de France, the football (soccer) stadium.  The architecture was really cool to see up close and personal with the city in the background.  Especially with the Euro Cup getting close this was exciting to see!

4. What was your favorite food that you ate today?
Probably the lasagna on the airplane….. no that is not true, it was actually the tomato soup with pesto at dinner.  This was easily the best I have ever had, not that I’ve had a lot of, “Non-Campbell’s,” tomato soup in my life.  It was good…. yumm….! 

5. What fun fact did you learn about one of your fellow students today?
My roommate Erica Loh and I, aside from sharing names, have many similarities.  We both play the piano and we both live in the Greater Boston area.  When we were little, I lived in Illinois and she lived in Missouri, so we were practically neighbors. Our hobbies also include making Erica/Erika sandwiches  with other students by standing on either side of a person who is expecting only a picture of themselves in front of a Parisian landmark.  They then receive a gift much greater due to our presence with them in their photo.

We have officially arrived in Paris, well, actually we arrived many hours ago but we have been out and about in the city.  We had a great flight and tried to get as much sleep as we possibly could on the plane knowing today was going to be a very long day. 

Our fearless leader, Marilyn Roth, Piano Department Chair, having lunch with a few of our students. We sat and ate lunch amongst beautiful flowers.

A beautiful picture of Parker Sheil, one of the students, while having lunch by the flowers.

The beauty of Paris has been captivating.  From the historical landmarks, to the architecture of the residential buildings.  We have already seen so much on our first day we can’t wait to see more of the what this city has to offer. Our first two major highlights include our visit to both the Paris Conservatory and the Musée d’Orsay. 

The Paris Conservatory was in line with our, “In the Path of Chopin,” journey due to the fact that Chopin himself performed many concerts at this conservatory.  We were able to tour the concert hall and see where his performances took place.  This was a true honor to able to view this.  Standing in the hall we all felt taken back in time and imagining what it would have been like to see Chopin perform here.  Debussy, a former student of the Paris Conservatory, and Berlioz both have a history in the building as well.  We were able to tour a room where Berlioz himself composed music.  Our students immediately wanted to sit down around this huge circular table to take in this experience.  There is also an old fireplace in the room which Berlioz used to burn his music when he was not happy with his compositions. 

We also visited the Musée d’Orsay later in the afternoon.  This museum , formerly a train station, features multiple floors of beautiful art and legendary paintings.  On the top floor we found many paintings by Impressionist artists Monet, Renoir and Degas.  It was mesmerizing to stand in front of those paintings that many of us have only seen in books. 

All the girls together in front of the Louvre

All of the guys eating lunch together with our tour guide, Daniel.

Tomorrow will be our Masterclass with Adam Wibrowski so please stay tuned for more…….

Corey

A quick video shot at Logan Airport just before the Piano students take off for France. Stay tuned for much more!

The Piano Department is going on a Concert Tour to France!

“In the Path of Chopin”

Welcome NEC Community to the Piano Tour Blog.  Check in here to follow our adventures while we are abroad in Paris, Tours and Nohant.  We are very excited for our departure today from Boston to Paris.  Suitcases are being packed, students are polishing their repertoire, and the administration is making final preparations here in the office.  We will be posting stories, pictures and more items here on this blog while we are in France as well as when we return to the United States.   

Our students will be touring around France “In the Path of Chopin.”  We will be visiting many significant sites in correlation to Chopin’s life and musical journey.  Including the Paris Conservatory, the Polish Library, and La Madeleine Church, just to name a few.  They will perform in Paris at Église Saint Julien le Pauvre, as well as in the Auditorium Frédéric Chopin in Nohant, at the Nohant Festival.  Both concerts will be a memorable experience for these talented students. We will also have the extreme pleasure of partaking in a Masterclass with esteemed pianist, Adam Wibrowski, at the Polish Library in Paris. 

The picture above is a sketch of Chopin’s 1839 Pleyel Piano by the talented Hawaiian artist Kimble Mead.  This sketch was done by Kimble specifically for our tour t-shirt.  Our gratitude goes to Sandy Davis for coordinating with Kimble Mead to have this piece of artwork created for our tour.

Please stay tuned…..

Sincerely,

Corey King
Program and Operations Manager, Preparatory School