4/23/12 Globe Theatre

  On April 23^rd in London, England we woke to a wonderful English breakfast at the Belmont Hotel. We then took a ride down the “tube” to see the sites of London. The “tube” or “metro-link” as we call it, was very crowded, yet very quiet. It was a Monday morning and the work week had just started, I am sure they were thrilled. Once we arrived at our stop we went to a little place by the Thames called the Globe Theatre. I myself am a pretty big Shakespeare fan and find his Globe Theatre to be quite interesting. Upon arrival you knew this Elizabethan Theatre was the Globe. Sara Dern gave us a presentation on the Globe to give us a little more background before we went in. The Globe Theatre was built in 1599 by the Lord Chamberlains men. There were 3 Globe Theatres. One happened to burn down during a performance of Henry VIII when a canon went off and the thatched roof caught on fire. Apparently the outside of the Globe Theatre was made of plaster and sheep hair. Near the Globe during the winter the Thames was frozen, people gathered on the Ice and had a large festival called the Frost Fair. As we walked into the actual Globe Theatre I was in awe. It was breathtaking to be where the famous Shakespeare and his Lord Chamberlains Men performed historical literature that we still read/perform till this day. As I sat in the middle gallery of the Globe Theatre rain fell through the opening of the roof and scene designers were working on the trap door of the stage, art was surrounding the stage and all together it somehow formed an amazing visual picture. Shakespeare’s shows are still performed at the Globe in about every language.  After my trip to the Globe, I felt inspired to maybe one day perform on this very stage.  

25/04/2012 Blog!

On April 25, we had a busy day ahead of us. First we were seeing St. Paul’s Cathedral, the marriage site of Price Charles and Princess Diana. This Cathedral was very interesting because it gave a lot of history to the world, and was attacked during World War Two and served as the location for many royal events. Something interesting about the Cathedral is that we were able to climb 1,500 stairs all the way to the top of the Cathedral. This gave us a 360 degree view of the city of London that could have been seen on the Eye…We saved money! We also saw the longest-running musical on the West End, Les Miserables. This show, written by Alan Boubil and Claude-Michal Schoenberg, is an epic pieceof work that focuses on the student revolution shortly after the French Revolution and is based on the book of the same name by famed French writer, Victor Hugo. We were seated in the front row which is an experience in itself. Being able to see the detailed work to  the sets, lights, and make-up was wonderful. You could see all the detail that they would need to change on certain characters faces to make them appear older throughout the show. The show utilizes a revolve which was something that I had seen before, but never done to the extent that it was in the show. After the show ended, we had to quickly rush to St. Stephen's Church to attend a German High School's choir concert. This was truly an experience. Not only were we in a church that had been bombed in WWII, but I witnessed an amazing choir full of amazing talent. Something interesting about the performance was that they performed pieces that Culver's choir has performed. I was most attentive during these because I wanted to compare it to our own performances. Locus Iste was especially different because they were doing their vowel shapes differently than we have been doing here at school. The concert only ran an hour long and flew by. The students were very nice to all of us and it was truly inspiring to see that Culver is not the only choir that goes on tour. Until this, I had not seen another choir that toured. It was awesome!

4/23/12 Guided Activity #1 London

Guided Activity #1 Blog

            We started off the day by getting up for a bus tour to the Globe theater.  We arrived at the Globe theater and Sara Dern did a presentation on it and did a very nice job.  Unfortunately some of us in the class were not allowed to go in to the theater because they don’t do large group tours.  I was a little disappointed but a few of us in our group went to the millennium bridge in London right next door to the Globe.  We were excited to go on the bridge because it was from one of the Harry Potter movies and a few of us were huge Potter fans myself included.  After we departed the Globe theater we had free time until the evening.  Part of our free time had to be used for our first Guided Activity.  For our first Guided Activity assignment we were given in London, we were tasked with visiting one of the many art galleries in the city.  Many of them were free with our London pass.  The group I was with decided to go to the National Gallery.  They had such works from famous artists like Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Monet, and many more.  We were supposed to find two contrasting pieces of artwork in the gallery that spoke to us.  When we walked in everyone in my group split up individually around the gallery to find our artwork.  I started browsing in the first room of the gallery admiring various paintings.  I finally came across a very striking painting of Christ carrying the cross to his crucifixion while two soldiers lead him with a rope around his neck.  It was one of the most beautiful pieces of artwork I had ever seen.  As I walked by it I had no choice but to look at it and analyze it because it spoke to me so much.  It was a painting by Altobello Melone made in 1515.  I am of the Christian religion so I think that is one of the reasons why it spoke to me so much.  The first thing I noticed about the painting was Christ’s face.  It was a close up shot of his face for the most part.  In one snap shot I could see the sadness, fear, hope, all in his face.  The reflection of his life all in one look, it was incredible.  It was one of the most realistic paintings I have ever seen of Jesus Christ before.  A lot of it had to do with his eyes.  The emotions captured in the painting would not have been complete without his eyes.  His face told the paintings story.  Something else that stood out to me in the painting was the depiction of the soldier to Christ’s right.  The artist made a decision to make the soldier look slightly cartoonish and unrealistic, almost like a caricature.  I couldn’t quite figure out why at first but I think that it was because the artist wanted the viewers to keep their focus on Christ.  The soldier helped tell the story but to truly grasp the meaning of the artwork you had to look into Christ’s face.  It was at that moment that I truly understood more than I had before what Jesus went through.  The painting almost brought me to tears.  I was in love with the painting so much that I proceeded to go to the gift shop to see if I could find a print of it to purchase.  Sadly they didn’t have anything on the painting to buy.  Though I will never forget that painting and Christ’s face will always stay in my memory.  I was incredibly happy after we left the gallery.   I had never before been so moved and thought provoked by a piece of artwork in my life.  It was an amazing experience. We spent the rest of the day exploring the great city.  In the evening we went to go see The King’s Speech play at Wyndham’s theater.  It was one of the best plays I have ever seen.  It was a very good day to say the least. 

4/22/2012 St. George's Gala Concert

Today was our first day in London. What a journey it was. The flights were all pretty smooth except for the crying baby during our 6 and a half hour plane ride. Walking into Heathrow airport was something new, I felt the culture shift instantly and I cannot wait to actually hit the streets. The first English women I encountered was one of the nicest people I have met. She asked, "Is this your first time in London?" Kirwin and I replied that is was. She asked why were in London and told us to have a wonderful time. She was so sweet. On the underground I start to see London and it is picturesque. I was immediately thrown back to my childhood watching Mary Poppins and dreaming of one day coming here. During this journey, I began to feel like a tourist. I have travelled all over the U.S. but I have never had this feeling before. Finally we get our station, Paddington, and walk to our hotel. It isn't like American hotels but it has a bed and that is all I cared about because I could already feel the jet lag even thoughadrenaline is coursing through my body. We soon left the hotel and walked to the Royal Albert Hotel. On that walk through Hyde Park, I fell in love with London. This area was beautiful. I want to come back for an extended amount of time. Finally we reached the venue; and the concert was fantasticSomething I notices about the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was how transparent their sound was. I have heard St. Louis Symphony Orchestra countless times and they have a much heartier sound. This does not make one better than the other just a different taste of timbre. The choir was also lighter. The sopranos were light and airy. They waved their flags with so much pride. Through every song that the audience knew, they would sing loud and clear just like they were in the choir. If someone were to do that during a concert in the United States they would get a dirty look. Not in England, everyone and I mean EVERYONE sang, and sang loud. I felt out of place because I was not singing. Every person in that audience waved the flag they were holding high and with so much pride. Honestly, I have never seen anything like this. Even though I am not English, I was proud to witness this moment. It made me wonder why America does not have this pride. We don't even sing our own national anthem at anything. Someone else has to sing it and we listen. Why do they have so much, but we have so little?. There was one set back for me. During "See The Conquering Hero Comes" by Handel, the 2nd horn player messed up the beautiful horn call. I was looking forward to that famous part. But, his mistake taught me that no matter how good you are you can still mess up at performance time. Professionals are human too. It pushed me to be a better player. This experience taught me that America should take more pride in herself. We don't neccessiarly need to show it in the same way the English do, but a little more pride would not hurt us.

Welcome Culver-Stockton Students!

MUS/THE 499P

This course will focus on the relationship between the arts and culture. Students will engage in how art is frequently a reflection of, reaction to, restatement of, or a challenge to culture of its era. Exploring the political, historical, sociological, psychological and philosophical forces behind the artist studied will allow students to engage in the ongoing dialogue between culture and the arts. At each travel location, students will attend at least one musical, theatrical, dance, and visual/architectural event to experience and discover first hand this relationship.