Doublereed Archive - Posting 000071.txt from 2004/06

From: Kat Sleeper <katsleeper@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] Are military comments off topic?
Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 14:52:48 -0400

On Thursday, June 10, 2004, at 10:54 AM, Jonathan Dlouhy wrote:

> "Shoemaker, stick to thy last."

--and the poor shoemaker is the first to bite the dust when "things"
happen in the world around him...

I think expressing disinterest in discussing anything political or
outside of the nuts and bolts of the double reed profession is one
thing...no problem, understood...delete away. But to say none of us
should because it has nothing to do with playing the bassoon or oboe or
being a musician is simply denial and not fair. No one is being forced
to read anything and some people appreciate the discourse.

I went to China in 1993 as an ACULSPEC (American Cultural Specialist)
sponsored by the American Embassy (a political body...who paid for our
hotel, salary, expenses, driver, airfare, etc.) It was a wonderful,
life-altering experience--musically, socially, emotionally
and....politically. When I performed in a concert series entitled
"East meets West" during that month in Beijing, there had been a "boat
boarding incident" that occurred the day before our second concert. I
knew nothing of this. That night, I commented on how nicely the ushers
were dressed. When I came out to play Liu Qi's and Thom Sleeper's
pieces (hence the title of the concert) I noticed the two seats in the
middle of the third row were empty--they were the ones reserved for the
President of China and the American Ambassador. They were the only
empty seats in the house. I found out later about the incident and no
one had told me because they didn't want to scare or upset me. The
ushers were members of the military. They were armed. I was one of
four Americans in the building. Two of those were the Cultural Attache
to China and his wife. He filled me in on the details and what it
could have meant to me, personally, later. What went on regarding the
logistics of our musical tour and what it all took to make it happen
was fascinating, interesting and very, very relevant.

While there I met a man who had been sent to the country for
rehabilitation for owning a recording of Shostakovitch's 5th symphony.
He had once aspired to be a conductor. He now works for IBM China.
Most of the older members of the orchestra were war orphans who had
been sent by the government to the conservatories because they needed a
place to put them. They performed in buildings which were not heated
at certain times of the year because of governmental decree (even
though they really needed to be--just for personal comfort, let alone
instrument preservation) and had to depend on the good graces of the
fellow musicians who were in charge of housing.

I met a man from Croatia who was once trying to have a horn lesson in
the basement of his music building while bombs were going off and guns
were being fired in the street above him. A man I know from Yugoslavia
was handed a gun at age 17 and told to go kill Croatians. He didn't
want to go kill Croatians. He escaped via a cruise ship and now has
political asylum here. Instead of a being what he wanted to be, he is,
for the moment anyway, a janitor for the church who helped him.

I know a Latvian violinist whose brother had a great career as a
trombonist, until he displeased someone politically and his adam's
apple was broken and he can no longer play.

I went out to dinner with a member of the Berlin Philharmonic. We
discussed music, of course, but also food, entertainment, the
rainforest, current events and yes--politics. A flutist friend from
Germany is no longer performing in traditional venues, but instead is
using his music to try to bring attention to war torn areas.

I am not just a musician to these people--I am also a symbol of a place
where people are perceived as free to pursue their lives and their
music. I am asked so many questions I cannot answer. They all know so
much about what is going on in the world and what it means to so many
daily lives--yes--even musical ones. (And I am not even going into my
personal experience with our different administrations and what they
have meant to my income and job opportunities.)

These people also had many different ideas of what an American is like.
That, I cannot answer, either with words or by example. I have found
over the years that I have as much or more in common with all the
musicians I have met all over the world, as with all the Americans I
have met--and yet...I feel like an American--I just don't know exactly
why.

I was pretty moved by Sameer's post. An oboist with vibrato questions
in a country full of American soldiers he doesn't want to have there.
All I can offer in addition to my sadness at the mental image of his
family drive is this: I, a mother of two and bassoonist by profession
who had the good fortune to be born in the USA, do not want those
soldiers to be there, either. I, personally, want a world where the
shoemaker and the oboist can pay attention to their respective crafts
and arts and the world goes on peacefully around them, letting them be.
I want those of us who want this as well to figure out what we can do
to help make that happen. The ones who are waging war are NOT going to
make that happen.

I have a small hunch that one of the first steps is to greatly reduce
our individual consumption of oil and natural resources. Since I have
to drive all over the place to perform, I've just bought a car that
gets twice the gas mileage of my old one.

I also like the idea of organic cane. And if anyone knows of a glue
that works as well as DUCO cement (man that stuff is nasty) that isn't
full of horrible chemicals, please tell. Sometimes I just wrap mine
with rubber bands (at least you can use them over!) and leave it at
that.

--Kat Sleeper

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