The end of the journey...

Ok, I know I did not finish writing about my journey to Kazakhstan.  The truth is, it was mostly work without too many interesting details that I can remember through the jet-lag induced fog I was in.


It was decided that Saturday would be the day to record the CD and teach the masterclass.  Cool.  I get to the University, ready to do my thing.  I had plenty of time to warm up beforehand and set some registrations I didn't get to the day before.  The recording engineers were very nice and accommodating, thank God.  Because I  HATE making recordings.  I have all kinds of scars from graduate school and the many, many, many, many, many recordings we made (on DAT tapes, no less) for competitions.  Arranging time at local churches at all hours of the night.  Getting to the end of a big 12 minute piece only to make a huge mistake at the end.  And, joy of all joys, recording the Bach trio sonatas.  That is just pure hell.

Anyway, I worked hard to push those particular memories out of my and focus on the intimate time I would have with the instrument.  I always thought that was the real fun of a performance, anyway - all that dedicated, undisturbed practice time.  And I could do pretty much what I wanted for the recording session, because the engineers were up in the booth, tape running, and I could pace myself as I wished.  


Yeah, that didn't last long.

In steps Jet Lag.  I actually started out pretty strong.  I warmed up with some pieces I knew would be easy to record, but then it all went downhill from there.  Practicing is very taxing on the body and the mind, and considering the fact that I wasn't well rested anyway, this effort was doomed from the beginning.  By the end of 2 hours the notes literally looked like they were wiggling around on the page.  Seriously.  So I called it quits, and convinced the engineers that we would use the live recording of the recital the next day for the CD.  They were, of course, very accommodating, but I felt like a complete loser.  But there was no time for a pity party, as the masterclass was going to start in an hour.  And the energy from the students was all I needed to get my juices flowing again.  It's a small department at the University, but the students are very devoted to learning, playing well, and were very open to new ideas.  Saltanat, the organ professor, translated as we went along and a good time was had by all.  Well, at least I had a good time.  

Then I was finally off to meet the man responsible for arranging my trip - Alibek Batyrov, the head of public affairs for the University.  He's VERY young - early 20's - and studied at the Royal Academy in England before taking this administrative post.  He was very charming and polite, as I had to sign all sorts of paperwork and permissions in order to receive the prize money from the competition.  Getting money out of Universities is always a tricky thing, no matter what country you're in.  And he went to a lot of trouble to create side-by-side English translations of all the documents, which was appreciated.  

Needless to say, at this point I was so freaking tired.  I had a little bit of time to return to the hotel, take a 1/2 hour nap, then head back to the university for the concert that evening.  At that point, I could barely keep my eyes open.

The concert would feature music of Brazil, and the University orchestra was featured a guest conductor from Brazil.  Before the concert there was a reception where the ambassador of Brazil and someone representing Kazakhstan signed something to forge their new artistic relationship. It was an interesting gathering - there were ambassadors there from Japan, Brazil, China, and the Counselor for Public Affairs from the American Embassy.  He and I had a nice conversation, including talking about his PhD in music from Indiana University.  His daughter, a cellist, also went to CIM for a year.  What a small world!  It was interesting to speak to him about his career in the Foreign Service.  Sounds like an interesting career path... 

Well, this was all fun, but I could still barely keep my eyes open at the concert.  Thankfully, there was a lot of rhythmic Brazilian music being played, which helped.  After the concert I met up with some of the organ students who insisted on taking pictures of me in the new university building.

It is incredibly spacious, beautiful and VERY modern in its architecture.  

View of the walkways from the foyer

Beautiful, light-filled foyer

And the buildings that surround it are nothing to sneeze at, either.

The New Mosque

The Palace of Peace and Reconciliation

The students were a lot of fun.  It took me a few minutes to figure out why they were following me around - they kept asking me about the bus or the taxi.  Sweet kids just wanted to make sure I got home ok.  While we were waiting at the bus stop, some of the students from the orchestra joined us and decided to practice their English.  I have to say, this is the first time travelling abroad where being an American was, well, exotic.  It was funny to watch them all try to come up with questions to ask me - there was a lot of consulting of cell phones for the translation of appropriates words, etc.  They were a hoot!  We all got off the bus at the same stop, as the dorm was just down the street from my hotel.  As I made the turn for the hotel, I noticed that all 6 or 8 students were following me, laughing and having a good time.  They walked all the way up the stairs to the front door of the hotel and wave goodbye.  What a great group of students - lots of good energy.  Made me forget the nightmare of the recording session.  I was now excited for the concert in the morning.  And Sunday was the first and only day I actually got to sleep in...

Like most days, I woke up, went to breakfast, and immediately wanted to go back to bed.  And I did.  This was also the day I had to switch hotel rooms.  The front desk called when they were ready and sent a bell boy up to help.  Cool.  When I opened the door, the bell boy was there and the housekeeper for our floor.  She raced into the room over to the minibar and checked the contents.  She then spoke words of approval into the walkie-talkie she was carrying.  Really, people?  I almost laughed out loud, but hey - I guess that stuff is expensive.  The rest of the day was spent in recital prep and packing for the trip.  My plane was scheduled to leave at 4:00 am the next day (you can hardly call that the next day), which meant I'd have to be at the airport around 2.  It was going to be interesting.


I arrived at the recital hall in plenty of time to finish the masterclass and warmup for the recital.  I was actually feeling pretty relaxed, which was definitely a good thing.  Once I was finished warming up I had a little time to chill in one of the classrooms/practice rooms with the students.  One of the students was making a beaded necklace while she waited, which I later learned was for me!  I couldn't believe she finished it before the recital began.  

Saltanat also gave me a wonderful gift of folk Kazakh design:

In the end, the recital went well (I thought).  The organ was fun to play - it was a stunning instrument to behold.  I call it Big Red.

I was pleased to see the Counselor for Public Affairs from the Embassy in the audience - it was nice of him to take the time.  I had fun after the recital posing for pictures with people and their children - I'll never again have the pleasure of feeling that exotic.  Afterwards I spent a nice time with Saltanat and the students at a pizza place near my hotel, then we all said goodbye.  It was a wonderful experience - I hope I can visit Astana again in the future.


There's not much to comment on regarding the voyage home.  It took 24 hours - need I say more?  It gave lots of time to reflect on the trip, and how lucky I am to get to do the things I do.  Whenever I make a major journey like this one, I always thing about how my life will be different when I return home.  After all, what's the point of doing these things if I'm just going to return to life as normal?  I don't have an answer to the question yet, but I'm still working on it.  I do know that life is less about knowing what you want and more about knowing what you have and what to do with it.  And most of us have a whole hell of a lot more than we think - sometimes we just can't see it and have no idea what to do with it.  Hopefully I'll figure it that one out soon...