CornoColombia: Days 1-4

Hi, everyone!  I've just returned from my trip to Colombia! Unfortunately, because of extremely limited internet connectivity, I was unable to post on this blog as I had planned to.  So now I will attempt to recreate the blog posts that would have been here if I had had internet access!
I arrived in Colombia on March 17 early in the afternoon, and was met at the airport by Yuli, my host and my main aid in organizing all the activities of my trip.  I was also met by my boyfriend, who traveled there at the same time to work with percussion students, though he of course was not sponsored by the grant.

We're excited to be in Colombia!

After a long taxi ride to Yuli's home in a suburb on the other side of the city from the airport, we spent the rest of the day relaxing, getting used to our surroundings, and planning the types of materials that I should use to work with each group/program.  I brought about 30 books with me on the trip, including method books, technique exercises, and works for horn ensembles.  I went through all of them with Yuli to determine which were appropriate levels for each group, and to become further acquainted with the purpose and organizational structure of the programs.
The next day, Friday, was a free day.  We slept in a little to get over the fatigue from the previous day of traveling, then went into downtown Bogota to do some sight-seeing.  I knew before I arrived in Colombia that I would be staying outside the city, but it was pretty far to go in.  Some days we took taxis, but usually we traveled via TransMilenio, Bogota's public transportation system.  The TransMilenio is a system of buses, which drive in their own lanes on all major roads so as to avoid the problems of traffic.  Also, it is not a dangerous place to be, even for someone who is obviously North-American, like me.  Since it's so safe, we were able to use it almost all the time, except very late at night when I had my instrument with me.  So into the city we went! We spent most of the time in La Candelaria, the historic center of Bogota, where most of the museums and many historic churches and cathedrals are located.  We visited nearly all of the museums, many churches, and we even took some pictures outside the president's house!

With Yuli in the Botero Museum

 It was a good thing that we went back home pretty early on Friday, because Saturday was the first day of work.  We were working at Sabana Centro, a music program for children in Tocancipa.  Tocancipa is a Colombian city outside of Bogota (see map below), but since it was on the opposite side of the city from San Mateo, where we were staying, it was a pretty long trip to get there.  We spent about 2 or 2 1/2 hours on different buses on our way there.  We arrived in a small town that seems to me fairly typical of rural Colombia from my experience there last July.  The town was very small, with a few restaurants, markets, and one large building that is the music school.  Students go there from all over the area to play with the youth programs.  They have an orchestra and a few bands.


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I worked first with a variety of students, from beginning (one with just 1 week of  playing!) to high intermediate.  First, we warmed up together and discussed  basic means of sound production.  I then went student by student through  the group, correcting problems of position, technique, and breathing.  After lunch, the beginning students left and I worked with the intermediate level students on basic ensemble.  I played a horn quartet with the other teachers while the students watched, then the students sight-read an easier piece.  We discussed the types of markings that come up often in scores, such as tempo markings, repeats, articulations, and dynamics, as well as how to play together well, including how to coordinate fast notes, match note lengths and articulations, and cue or follow someone else's cues.  After one more run-through (watch the video below!), it was time to take the long trip back home.

The next day, Sunday, we again spent working in Tocancipa.  In the morning, I worked exclusively with the beginning students, on technique (including basic fingerings and long tones) as well as reviewed the concepts of positioning we had talked about the previous day.  To culminate our time together, we worked on a very simple trio from one of the method books I brought, which involved just stepwise motion and differentiating between similar-feeling partials on the horn.  Below you can watch a video of their final performance!

In the afternoon, I worked with the staff members at the program, as well as the more advanced students, on some more trios and quartets, and we finished off by playing some orchestral excerpts and discussing the excerpts' stylistic difficulties.

Working on ensemble playing with intermediate students

Altogether, I had a fantastic time working at Sabana Centro Tocancipa with the students and teachers there, and check back soon for information about the rest of my trip!