Eagerly Awaiting Our Adventure

Wow!  Only 2 more sleeps until the West Coast Symphony wings its way to Tirana!!

Our last rehearsal is Wednesday night, where we will put the finishing touches on our exciting and challenging progamme.  It is truly a special experience for all of us.  There is always a level of excitement when we run through our final rehearsals before a performance, but this one will be especially energy-filled.

After the last rehearsal, when we jammed all the donated instruments into the truck to be ferried off to the airport and thence to Tirana, we found a large portion of the orchestra standing around on the sidewalk, most with silly smiles on their faces, as we joked and chatted about our upcoming adventure.  It was like we didn't really want to go home - and we hadn't even left Vancouver yet!

The concert in Tirana will be auspicious.  To our knowledge, we are the first Canadian orchestra ever to perform in Albania.  Several Albanian dignitaries will be in attendance at the performance.  In addition to the Albanian and Canadian national anthems, we will feature works by composers from both countries, as well as some great works by composers from elsewhere in Europe.

Having spent 10 days in Albania with Bujar (our conductor) last year, scoping out potential venues for the tour, I have a bit of a head start in understanding what to expect.  I am very confident of the success of the tour.  I expect we will be greeted with open arms as I was last year.  It is part of Albanian culture to hold guests in very high esteem. 

Shane Koyczan, slam poet at the Vancouver Olympic 2010 opening ceremonies, described the Canadian characteristic of politeness - how we say: "Please"; "Thank you"; and "You're Welcome".  Indeed, in my experience, Canadians and Albanians are both very welcoming people. 

Stay tuned!!  (We will,too, but perhaps at A442.)