Professors, Students Visit Other Countries to Share Musical Talents

Crosby says he takes the group on a tour every few years, and they have visited Spain, Portugal, Canada and Japan and gone twice to the Canary Islands and Hawaii. He’s also traveled with Dr. Michelle Roueché, professor of music, and the Concert Choir to Austria and Italy and with former professor Dr. David Guess to Germany, where Crosby also toured when he was a student at UMHB.

“Getting to sing in another country is just a great experience,” he said. “Music is an amazing way to bridge cultural and language gaps because everybody speaks the musical language. People appreciate music, even if they can’t understand what you’re saying.”

Once in Wales, One Voice connected with Linguae Christi, which is a mission organization that focuses on reaching the lost for Christ in their native language. One of their hosts from Linguae Christi was 2009 graduate Amelia (Black) McCain, who was with the University Singers when she was a student at UMHB.

Just like going on a mission trip abroad, choir trips provide a glimpse into different cultures and ways of life.

Crosby said the trip was part tour and part mission trip, and they did a lot of prayer walking for the people.

“Part of the experience is seeing what God is doing in other parts of the world, which is really important,” Crosby said. “It gives them the opportunity to look at Christianity through another culture’s perspective.”

INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL

This July, Richard “Rick” Novak, associate professor of music, traveled with four music majors to Acqui Terme, Italy, for two weeks of classes and concerts at the InterHarmony International Music Festival.

During the summer months, Italians from all over the country descend upon this small town to enjoy entertainment from music students from around the world, all performing in Italian.

“Within just a couple hours of landing in Italy, our singers were singing the pieces, in Italian, that they’ve been preparing all summer,” Novak said. “This gave them an opportunity to prepare music in Italian and then sing it for an Italian audience. This really upped the level of learning for them. The audience wants it to be authentic, and they give feedback after they’re finished.”

Novak was one of three voice teachers attending the first summer session and spent the two weeks providing vocal lessons. His trip was made possible thanks to a UMHB Faculty Development Grant. In addition to student and faculty concerts, the four UMHB students attended master classes with famous musicians offering musical coaching and Italian diction.

“It’s one thing to learn about music in a classroom or a studio, but a whole different experience to actually travel to these places and go to the opera houses where operas were performed,” Novak said.

Summer opportunities like the music festival are also valuable because students network and meet other singers from across the globe.

“It’s a really safe environment for them to try things out, and hopefully, they’ll make connections with conductors and pianists from all over the world,” Novak said. “Social media makes it so easy to connect with them later.”

The students were also treated to excursions to Genoa and Turin to visit opera houses, and after the festival, Novak traveled to conservatories in Milan, Genoa, Bologna and Florence to explore opportunities and potentially create international partnerships.

“I felt like I was on a Lewis and Clark expedition, going around exploring to see what the possibilities might look like,” he said.

BECOMING A BETTER ARTIST

Dr. Michelle Schumann, a professor of music, also performed this summer at the International Viola Congress in Thailand. It was her first trip to Asia, but she is no stranger to playing piano at venues all over Europe. She’s been sharing her talent each summer at worldwide festivals for the last 20 years.

“The creative aspect of being a musician is so enriching and enlivening. For me, it’s recharging,” Schumann said. “I also like the creative aspect, so when I come back to my students, I’m not only re-charged, which is important, I’m also a better artist.”

Schumann frequently performs during her nine months as a professor, but from May through August, when she’s on break from teaching, it’s all about traveling and collaborating.

“I love the constant exchange of ideas, and I always learn new things on these trips,” she said. “I bring all of that back to my students.”

When she’s not traveling, she and her family spend much of their summer surrounded by the luscious green forests and mountains in Santa Fe, NM, where the weather is “way less oppressive” than in Central Texas, and she can hunker down and practice.

“It’s a very creative place to be. Just a very peaceful place to kind of get away from everything for a little bit,” Schumann said. “That was a major thing that older composers from the 18th and 19th centuries used to do in the summertime—go out into the mountains and seek refuge and retreat from the regular, day-to-day activity.”

When school starts back each fall, she feels refreshed and ready to teach. And by the following summer, she is packing and looking forward to her next adventure.

“It’s so valuable to be a part of the world—the global world—which sometimes gets a bad rap. But when we become insulated—and we feel like everything that’s going on that’s meaningful is in our own backyard—I think we get further divided from the rest of the world,” she said. “When we travel and meet people, we realize that we’re all much more similar than we expected.”