Buson Orchestra Concert and more

Saturday evening
We flew back to the mainland from Jeju Island yesterday, arriving in Buson. We drove to the Catholic Boys and Girls Orphanage there, where I was scheduled to rehearse and perform with their boys’ orchestra. I had no idea what I was to conduct (sight-reading a score is every conductor’s nightmare) and didn’t have high hopes for the experience because the orchestra does not have a director or music teacher of any kind — the boys practice on their own. Apparently they had no high hopes for this American who was coming to spend less than an hour in rehearsal with them, then attempt to conduct one work on their concert that evening. We were both dead wrong.
What I experienced in Buson is what every musician hopes for: an exciting and heartfelt experience, where the musical communication transcends language barriers. From their folder, I chose the von Suppe, Light Cavalry Overture, for which I had a pedestrian knowledge. We rehearsed for about 50 minutes, and in that time I was completely impressed with their musicianship, technique, and intonation, and they gave me their full attention and superior effort. The resulting performance brought the audience to their feet, and afterwards Mother Superior invited me to return to work with the orchestra again at some time in the future. The group played on the level of an all-state orchestra — it was simply amazing. And I was so happy to hear that the nuns in charge remarked about a clear difference in their performance after our rehearsal. The boys crowded around for photos and handshakes afterwards, and it was very difficult to leave these orphans, who clearly have a healthy balance of academics and co-curricular activities in their lives, as well as an extraordinary and positive self-image. The remainder of the program included traditional Korean dances performed by the girls’ and children’s dance ensembles, and a performance by the girls’ drum ensemble. It was a phenomenal performance, on any standard.
We have photos and video, but the computer in the hotel is accepting neither from our cameras. Those will have to wait til I return. It was a pivotal musical and emotional experience I will remember the rest of my life.
Today (Saturday) was busy and exhausting. We were up and out of the hotel by 8:00 am. We had an early morning walk around an island park in Buson with beautiful views of the harbor (and you can see Japan in the distance!), and had a quick visit at the Shinsaegae Department Store, recently named the largest department store in the world by the Guinness World Record team. From there we traveled to Gyeongju, the capital of the Shilla Dynasty for about 1000 years. There we toured the Cheomseongdae Observatory (7th century stone structure), the Gyeongju National Museum, the Seokguram Grotto (6th century Buddhist temple) and Bulguksa Temple (6th century temple and surrounding buildings; although most of the wooden buildings have been rebuilt over the centuries, the stone bridges, stairways and pagodas are original).
We then drove to Daegu, where we checked in for the night. Tomorrow we must be up and out of the hotel at 6:00 am to drive to Sokcho in time for a church service at 11:00 am!