CUWinds Costa Rica

Tonight after dinner the 95 instruments brought to Costa Rica — packed in suitcases with t-shirts and toothbrushes — were all laid out on the lawn of the hotel for inspection and tagging.

Cynthia reviewed each instrument and tagged it for a specific school, based on what she feels their needs are.  I heard some great stories of donated instruments — a goofy marching euphonium donated from a church in small-town Maine and tagged in memory of a woman who lived there — and Freshman student Zach Montague, who is giving away his very own flute, the one he has played since sixth grade.

Zach’s interest in music has blossomed at Cornell and he is taking his playing to the next level at the CU wind ensemble and the orchestra. He hopes his beloved childhood flute goes to a child like he was — a kid who will enjoy, value and share the gift of music.

Amy Dickinson

The wind howled and blew the drifting snow across campus as we pulled away to head to the airport in New Jersey. The hours before our 11pm departure were filled with instrument packing and weighing and various wacky solutions engineered for the sole purpose of trying to bypass the airline’s checked bag fees. My favorite was the brilliant idea to duct tape two trombones together, nestled together head to toe.  Like many brilliant ideas, for a few minutes it seemed so wacky it just might work.

The airline laughed out loud, disentangled our taped instruments and charged their fee.

After a very quiet and uneventful flight, we circled beautiful Costa Rica, a country which looks dreamy even from 3000 feet above.  The airport was busy with vacationers and smelled of cigars and cinabon — I believe the scent may have been shipped in from Chicago.  The Cornell group demonstrated an awesome ability to form a clump and move through the various queues like a giant unweildy organism — all gangly and malformed, most of us still done up in down and wool and dragging various instruments.

Costa Rica is warm and breezy and I could easily stay at the airport for four days, soak in the warmth, and leave again. But we have a job to do. Cynthia went off to the cultural ministry to collect donated instruments for the Cornell players to use and Peter brought the students to our first stop — Hotel la Rosa De America, a little slice of heaven complete with banana trees, mangos, mangas, and the squawks and squeals of various exotic birds. Really — it sounds like the background to an episode of “Gilligan’s Island,” but I only say that because I’ve never expreienced anything real and have gathered all of my knowledge of exotica from television sitcoms.

My first move was to take off my socks on the bus, and for that, I apologize. 

I have informed the proprieter of the hotel that I plan to move in and permanently occupy the little bungalow near the pool.  I plan to become the hotel’s resident American eccentric.

From my perch, I have urged some of the young musicians to commence their practicing. They will do so, not because they need the practice, but to humor and entertain me.  And after all, that’s why I came along.

Amy Dickinson

So after a week of full-day rehearsals, months of soliciting instrument donations, and a semester of anticipation, the Cornell Wind Ensemble is in Lincoln Hall with the 2010 Costa Rica Tour just hours away. Though we’re awaiting a redeye bus ride to New York on unplowed roads, and the challenge of getting a group of our size through airport security at 5:00 am, everyone seems more than ready to go.

Though I could say the preparations have been strenuous, relative to others on the tour, I’ve had it pretty good. Being an Ithacan native, I’ve had my own bed to sleep in this last week, and an endless and free supply of food back home. I’ve also managed to procrastinate packing until earlier today, and at the very least, haven’t had to leave a home in some warmer climate to come rehearse here all week.

Nonetheless it has been great to see the group pull together, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that we’re ready to go. We’ve got a long ride ahead, but can breathe a collective sigh of relief tomorrow when all of us, and the giant pile of donated instruments that has been looming beside us in the rehearsal room, are safely in Latin America.

Zach Montague
Class of 2013

We’re in the thick of it now…yesterday 10:30am-5:00pm. Today, 10:30am-5:00pm and then 7-9pm. That’s a lot of rehearsals! Yesterday, we were missing 5 students due to weather conditions (missed flights, bad weather travel, etc.), but Chris P’s story is the best. Stuck in Alaska because car breaks down on the way to the airport; finally gets to Detroit; flight canceled to Ithaca; flies to Philly; flight to Ithaca canceled (that happens just way too often); flies to Elmira; hitch-hikes to Lincoln Hall; arrives to rehearsal on time this morning. No luggage.

He deserves a medal.

Welcome to the CU Winds Costa Rica website. We’ll be regularly updating this blog as the CU Wind Ensemble tours Costa Rica this January, 2010.