Sorry that it has been so long since my last post. I just got back from a guest conducting trip to Busan, Korea. What a great experience. The orchestra was great and the people were even greater.
The trip made me once again realize what a universal language music really is and how people are pretty much the same the world over. The orchestra had never heard the music of English composer John Rutter or American composer Aaron Copland. They immediately liked both. In fact, the orchestra was a little skeptical of playing this "new" music at the first rehearsal. By the end of the week the Rutter was their favorite piece on the program. Copland's Hoedown was the encore. The audience loved it!
The lessons I learned on the trip were these: 1) Good music appeals to people of all nations; 2) Music is a common language that has the power to bring people together. The United Nations would be well served to remember this.
