Currently, I'm working on my final Masters project for school, a concert with American music representing Kentucky, a classical music piece by Mozart and/or Mussorsky, and a Turkish folk/classical piece. My project is focusing on two regions that are unknown in a country that is very well known. Also the concert will present the more humorous side of these two regions: Paris, London, Versailles and Louisville all famous cities located in Kentucky! as well as the castles and mosques of Elazig!
For example, when I tell French people that I'm from the US they automatically think New York. I tell them politely "no I'm not from there, I'm from Kentucky" and the looks and responses I get are so funny "KFC"? "Where's that?". And then I have to explain that Kentucky is in the center part of the eastern part of the US and then explain that I have never been to New York, which was once again is a shock. The same goes for my husband who is literally from a tiny village in the middle of nowhere, and every single time someone asks if its near Istanbul, he gets angry because Istanbul is not anything like where he is from.
Therefore, this project is a way of connecting two cultures (American and Turkish) in a culture that is not like either of these, the French.
At the moment I am in the process of finding music and groups to play the pieces I have picked out. If any of you, the adventurers know of someone or a song representative of these two cultures, don't hesitate to contact me, I would love to hear your ideas.
Some of the songs being considered:
Kentucky Mountain Music
Music influenced by turkish music: http://www.turkishmusicportal.org/list_songs.php?type=11
Turkish classical music - http://www.turkishmusicportal.org/listen.php?id=460 Leylim Ley
In other news: in September I will be interning at Florence Brunel Artistic Agency (at the moment she does not have a webpage, that's one of my jobs!) near Chinatown in Paris. She mainly has baroque music clients: opera singers, a couple groups, and a few instrumentalists. Some include: VENICE BAROQUE ORCHESTRA, GABRIELI CONSORT & PLAYERS, CAPRICCIO STRAVAGANTE SKIP SEMPE, GIULIANO CARMIGNOLA, etc!!!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Time Abroad is Time Well Spent
Since I was a freshman in high school, I knew I wanted to live in Paris, or well at least somewhere in France. It was at the moment in French class when I was learning how to say "Bonjour, je m'appelle Adrienne...". At Western Kentucky University, when I was a sophomore I was looking at the study abroad site when I discovered the perfect program: International Studies Abroad. Seeing glimpses of Paris flutter across the screen, I knew that it as my destiny and in fact it was - I meet the man of my dreams - and today my husband ( but more about this fairy tale later)I studied abroad in 2008 for 4 months from February to June! Since October 2009, I have been currently studying my masters at a small private university, IESA, near Opera - more info about this soon.
It was an experience that became a true adventure and has continued to guide me today...my homestay changed at the last minute from the suburbs of Vincennes to the 15th arrondissement ( an area with a metro that goes to all the hotspots). I was at a really good school, The Catholic University of Paris, about the size of 5000 students. My grammar class that met 3x a week for four hours helped improve my French level and pushed me to study more. Even though I didn't meet very many real French people, the people I met were so nice and I have even stayed friends with a few of them.
All my time was not spent studying either, I had time to visit each area of Paris and take advantage of the great places: The Eiffel Tower, Grand Palais, the Louvre, etc etc. The exhibitions that I took advantage of were amazing, the Dutch paintings in the Louvre, contemporary art at the Pompidou, the operas at Theatre de Champs-Elysees.
The point of this post is to express why someone should study abroad. The life lessons and the people one will meet is what pushes and encourages us to grow, when we return to our country of origin. Culturally we grow as people, learning about our "home" culture, the "study culture" and culture in general. That is the reason why I returned to the city that can offer everyone something including love, a city that offered a hand to me, and now I'm handing you my hand, take advantage of study abroad!
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