Las Aventuras de la Orquesta Filarmónica de Casady en España (Con Banda y Coro)
Lauren Kim, Campus News Editor
This past spring break, the Casady Performing Arts department went on a musical tour of Spain. This quadrennial trip has been the hallmark of Casady’s Performing Arts program for both students and teachers. Traveling to places such as China, Ireland, and now Spain to perform as a whole inspires students to work harder for an amazing experience. The students on this musical tour came from band, choir, and orchestra.
While in Spain, we went on a whirlwind of a journey, visiting seven cities in total. Out of Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante, Granada, Seville, Cordoba, and Madrid, I found that Barcelona and Granada were my two favorites. The unreal beauty and awe-inspiring architecture was unforgettably remarkable. Between walking tours of cities and exploring churches and cathedrals (La Sagrada Familia and the Mezquita Cathedral), palaces (the Alhambra and the Alcazar Palace), and museums (the Museo del Prado), we covered a lifetime’s worth of exploration and education in a mere nine days.
While exploring the city on foot and by charter bus, we got some free time each day to explore the city on our own and grab lunch from local restaurants. Being able to interact with the community of Spain gave us a chance to practice our Spanish and grasp the world of traveling with our own hands. Eating and socializing with friends for more than we normally can made this trip even more entertaining. Taking walks nightly, hanging out in hotel lobbies, and having every meal with the entirety of the people on the trip brought not only new friendships and strengthening of relationships, but also provided the students and teachers time to bond, creating a more powerful and moving impact that we channeled through our music and performances.
During our trip, we had the opportunity to perform three times for the city locals. Something that was very special for everyone was the fact that we had the honor of performing with a local group at each concert. Our first performance, in Barcelona, was at the Parroquia Sant Joan de Mata. Playing with L’orquestra Simfonica del’Escola Municipal de Musica de Sant Andreu in a beautiful church with amazing acoustics. It was a sonorous masterpiece. With a repertoire consisting of choral symphonies, full orchestra pieces, and string orchestra, choral, and band solos, each piece emanated deep emotion - some patriotic and passionate, others lyrical or lighthearted. Some were brought to tears after our first performance, showing us a touching reaction to how well we had performed and providing us with a poignant reminder of the copious amounts of hard work we all put in to prepare for this trip. Our second performance in Granada took place at the Auditorio Jorge Garcia Tudela with the Banda de Musica Cajar-Monachil. Listening to a band-centric performance was an enlightening experience, as we normally play concerts with solely strings or a piece with the band and choir. Our last performance, in Madrid, with the Banda Sinfonica “Tierra de Segovia” at the Auditorio Centro Cultural Sanchinarro, was a unique and memorable experience for everyone, even our family and friends watching on livestream back home. Incorporating Spanish and English descriptions by directors and students into the introduction of special pieces helped the audience to delve deeper into the interpretation of said pieces and the overall meaning of the performance.
My favorite performance in Spain was our first one thanks to the amazing acoustics of the church. Each instrument was audible thanks to the elongated reverberation of each note allowed each instrument to remain audible. However, my favorite performance throughout our entire trip was the airport concert that the orchestra, and later band and choir, held during an eight-and-a-half hour layover. In the Miami International Airport, we played Viva La Vida, “Aragonaise” from Carmen Suite no.1, Oklahoma, Boyce’s Symphony No. 1, and the Casady Hymn. People passing by stopped to take videos and pictures, and the rest of the group enjoyed a core memory for Casady’s performing arts. We even received a few coins from travelers passing through.
Overall, this trip was an extremely special and heart-warming adventure for everyone present. It will forever last in our memories as an unforgettable experience. In 2027, the Casady Performing Arts will travel to Venice, Italy. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for the Casady Performing Arts department, as things like this trip stay the same and as others change.
