Vacation!

Because there were several Latvian holidays that conveniently lined-up at the end of April, the Richardsons decided to take a vacation to Austria!

We stayed with our "host family," longtime family friends Heidi and Wolfgang Roessler, in Vienna.  Here are some pictures of our first outdoor picnic at their home:

The Roesslers' two children, Bettina and Bernie, are both physicians in Vienna.  Bernie and his wife, Lucia, have a little boy named Moritz.  Bettina and her husband, Herbert, have three children: Josh, Jekab, and Emma.  They also have a trampoline!

Somehow we left Vienna without pictures of some Roessler extended family members, but here's Bettina hanging-out at her folks' house.

On Friday, April 30, we traveled downtown and, like tourists (it takes one to know one!) we took a horse-drawn carriage ride to check-out all the sights.  Heidi and Emma joined us, and Helmut was our driver.

Each of the ladies (those under the age of 9) got to ride "up-top" for a brief time!

Big fun...

Heidi and Emma left us to our own devices that afternoon, so we toured the Vienna Hofburg, residence of the Habsburg ruling family for over six centuries.  The location featured an extensive display of the Imperial Silver Collection, a museum exploring the life of Empress Elisabeth, and a tour of the 19 state and private rooms of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth.

The hand-held recordings were a big hit for the whole family, and we learned a LOT!  Of course, it helped to sit and take some time to digest the material...

The Richardsons tend to take a bit more time than the average museum-goer.  Afterward, we saw some street entertainers.

Next, we visited St. Stephan's Cathedral, including a nice elevator ride to the very top.  One of us was almost ill from vertigo, but we'll never reveal her identity!

Our next adventure was experiencing Vienna's public transportation system (subway, train, and bus) to get back to the Roessler's home.  With detailed written instructions from Heidi, we experienced no problems.

Saturday we traveled to Hallstatt, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the shadow of the Austrian Alps (http://www.hallstatt.net/).  With historical artifacts dating back to 12,000 BCE, this is home to the first known salt mines in the world.

With Heidi, Jekab, and Emma, we traveled up a very steep lift on rails and put on some very stylish protective clothing, followed by a tour inside one of the mines.  It was really interesting learning about the importance of salt from a historical perspective, and this was a very interactive way to do it!

On Sunday, we traveled to the the ice caves at Dachstein (http://www.dachsteinwelterbe.at).  After taking a long cable-car ride through the clouds towards the top of the mountain, we took a short hike to the entrance of the cave.

We learned how limestone is more easily influenced by water and ice than other types of rock, which is one of the main reasons these caves exist.  Spending time inside these natural structures certainly gives one a sense of something bigger than one's self!  Honestly, pictures don't do it justice, but here's one anyway.

We had a great weekend in the Alps!  On Monday, Leah joined Emma at her kindergarten class while Bill, Niki, and Sarah visited the "Haus der Musik" (http://www.hausdermusik.com).  Monday afternoon Leah joined us as we visited the summer home of the Habsburgs, Schoenbrunn Palace (http://www.schoenbrunn.at/en/).  While the palace itself was amazing, this site has the most incredible exterior, complete with numerous gardens, mazes, and pathways.

Monday evening we attended a performance by the "Schoenbrunn Palace Orchestra" performing music by Haydn, Mozart, and Strauss.  The concert was outstanding and we had a great time.

Tuesday we visited an apartment house designed by Austrian artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who had some very original ideas about bold colors, non-symmetrical forms, and environmentalism in his designs and artwork.

We then visited his museum (http://www.kunsthauswien.com) and were impressed with his original ideas and use of color.

On Wednesday, Sarah joined Jekab at his school for a few hours while Leah attended kindergarten with Emma.

Bill attended a master class by Norwegian trumpeter Odd Lund at the University of Vienna and was reminded that the brass-playing world is incredibly small...

We left Vienna on Thursday, May 6, and made it back to Riga.  Our vacation was fantastic and action-packed with lots of great company.  Many thanks to the Roesslers and their family for a great time!

Riga International Brass Symposium

Last week the JVLMA and Latvian Brass Association hosted the first annual Riga International Brass Symposium.  Featured artists for the week included Swedish tuba player Michael Lind, Danish trombonist Mogens Andresen, Dutch trumpeter Reijer Dorrestein, Swiss horn player Olivier Darbellay, and American trumpeter William Richardson!  Each morning was a 2.5-hour master class, with open lessons and performances in the afternoon and evening.  Here's legendary tuba player and teacher Michael Lind demonstrating breathing exercises on Tuesday, April 13:

Bill's new friend Reijer Dorresteijn taught trumpet lessons and "tag-teamed" for the trumpet master class on April 12th.  Reijer is a super-nice guy and a fantastic player and teacher.

Here is trombone player Mogens Andresen working with Dutch trumpet student and symposium participant Eline Beumer during his master class:

Here is the group of performers for the "Teacher's Recital" on Tuesday, April 14:

From left to right - Olivier Darbellay, Reijer Dorresteijn, pianist Herta Hansena, pianist Lauma Zutere, Janis Retenais, pianist Ieva Dzerve, pianist Ilze Dzerve, and William Richardson.

Here is a video of Bill and Ilze performing Legende by Georges Enescu (click here) at this recital.

Thursday, April 15, featured a concert of brass soloists with the Jazeps Medins Riga Music School Wind Orchestra.  Here's a video of three trumpeters who traveled from the Netherlands (Jordi Lensink, Ruben van Schijndel, and Eline Beumer) performing Leroy Anderson's Buglers Holiday, Andis Karelis conducting (click here).  Olivier Darbellay also played on this concert (click here).

Here is a video clip of Andante et Allegro by J.Guy Ropartz (arranged by David Marlatt) with Janis Retenais conducting (click here).

The Latvian Brass Band

The final concert for the Brass Symposium was on Saturday, April 17, featuring the JVLMA Brass Ensemble and the debut performance of the Latvian Brass Band.  Here is a clip of the brass band performing Diogenes by Jacob de Haan, Andis Karelis conducting (click here).  Bill's friend Edgars Svembergs plays trumpet in the Latvian National Opera and soprano cornet in the LBB (click here).  Bill has played flugelhorn in the brass band since January and was featured on Black Velvet (click here).  We're also "embracing the swing" here in Riga! (click here)

Of course, the party afterward is often an important part of these types of events.  Big fun!  Congratulations to event coordinator Janis Retenais, the JVLMA, and the Latvian Brass Association (website here) for an outstanding week of great brass playing and teaching.  We know that this annual event will continue to amaze and inspire brass players in this corner of the world.  Prieka!

Old-Riga Walking Tour (part viens)

With the weather getting nicer, we finally got a chance to start checking-out Old-Town using the "Self-guided Walking Tour" from the magazine "Riga in Your Pocket."  As instructed, the Richardsons started at the Freedom Monument and walked up the hill of Bastejkalns park for a good look at the city center and Old-Town.

Designed by Latvian architect Karlis Zale, the Freedom Monument was built in 1935.  The woman at the top is named Milda.  The two cute girls with matching jackets are named Sarah and Leah.

Next we walked across the street to see one of the important defensive structures of Riga, the Powder Tower.  The Museum of War is right next door.  If you look carefully, you can see Niki, Sarah, and Leah at the bottom right...this is a tall building!

Walking down Torna, the Jacobs Barracks are directly next to the Powder Tower.  They were built in the mid to late-1700s after the Great Northern War between Sweden and Russia (Russia won that one, by the way).  Painted yellow, it now features souvenir shops and cafes.

We then walked through the Swedish Gate, cut through an existing structure in 1698.

We then turned onto Troksnu iela, which is a really narrow street, probably much like streets existed in many European cities in the 16th-18th centuries.  From our perspective today, it presents a very closed-in feeling!

We then ran into St. James Church and the Parliament building (Saeima).

We then meandered through a few streets (actually, we were a bit lost, but soon found our way with the help of a friendly person willing to show us to the next site) and found the "Three Brothers."  Each of the three houses represents a different style of Middle Ages home construction.

From there, we walked to Riga Castle, now the home of the History Museum of Latvia and the official residence of the President of Latvia.

We continued onward to Doma  laukums (Cathedral Square) and checked out the Dome Cathedral in warm/sunny conditions for a change!  It was originally built in the early 13th century under the leadership of Albert of Riga and is the largest medieval church in the Baltics.  Apparently Albert was a military leader whose primary mission in life was to lead military troops and convert people to Christianity, similar to a crusader.  Anyway, he founded Riga in 1201 and established a military order, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword.

At this point, we took a break from the prescribed tour (suggested in the brochure) and checked-out the Daguva.

The Anglican Church is directly across the street from this river.  Bill has a trumpet recital there with organist Kristine Adamaite on April 28th (beginning at 13:00, if you live in Latvia and are interested in attending!).

Everyone was quite tired by this point in our walking tour, so we began walking home.  On the way, we ran into the "Cat's House," named for two black cat sculptures sitting high atop an old building.

Stay tuned for more walking tour adventures in a week or so!

Priecīgas Lieldienas!

Happy Belated Easter everyone!  As we mentioned briefly in a previous post, we have found a really nice place to worship, the Rīgas Reformātu Draudze (Riga Reformed Church).  Sunday services are held at 4 p.m. in the Methodist Church building on Akas iela.  Although the worship services are in Latvian, many in the congregation speak excellent English and the sermons/prayers are translated for us via headsets...it's kind of like a faith-based United Nations meeting!

With lyrics projected onto a wall, the music is sung by the congregation and led by a worship team of excellent musicians (a fantastic way to work on Latvian pronunciation, by the way!).  Here's an example of their music, recorded at the Good Friday service last week (April 2 Hymns)

At the beginning of the service on Friday, the musicians performed Bob Chilcott's Peace Mass.  Click here for the Kyrie.  In addition to playing the trumpet, Bill conducted a few of the movements and sang a little, but not so loudly as to drown out the crystal-clear straight-tone singing of Anete, Liga, Kristine, Anete, and Gundega.  We had a lot of fun preparing this music.

Of course, Sarah and Leah are excited to play with some Latvian friends at the church.  We all enjoy our time there.  Many thanks to Carl and Becky Chaplin (Carl and Becky's blog) for introducing us to pastor Ungars Gulbis and the congregation of the Riga Reformed Church!

As usual, we had fun Easter morning activities with a visit from everyone's favorite hare.  We will say good-bye for now with some pictures!

Springtime in Riga

With temperatures reaching the 50s today (F), it felt like a good time to update our blog.  We have had a very busy couple of weeks.  Bill was asked to serve as a member of the brass jury for school competitions throughout the country with fellow brass players and JVLMA teachers Arturs Berzins (trombone), Gatis Evelyons (horn), and Janis Retenais (euphonium and tuba).  Together they have provided ratings and feedback to students of a wide variety of ages and ability levels in seven Latvian cities - Riga, Liepaja, Ventspils, Jelgava, Jurmala, Rezekne, and Daugavpils.

At present, instrumentalists begin taking lessons between the ages of 7 and 9, a little earlier than most band students would begin in the United States.  Latvian students will often attend school from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., then take lessons and attend music theory class in the afternoon.  It seems that the emphasis is on solo playing rather than large ensemble playing here...we haven't heard of many school bands that meet on a regular basis.  It is interesting to note the differences between music education programs between our countries.  As with most countries around the world (Latvia and the U.S. included), current economic conditions certainly present challenges and opportunities for innovative ways of doing things!

For Bill's most recent trip, an overnighter in Rezekne and Daugavpils, the Janis Retenais Autobus was completely full with seven people, a tuba, and two trumpets.  Here are the three woodwind adjudicators (Ainars, Mareks, and Lara) chatting with Gatis.

While waiting for woodwind judges to finish their work (one location had 54 flute players!), the brass guys had a chance to do a little sightseeing.  In Liepaja they celebrated the "Rock & Roll" heritage of the city...

visited a Russian Orthodox Cathedral (brass-players' sense of humor is the same on any continent, btw!)...

hung-out at the beach and were amazed at how icy the shoreline was...

then freaked-out when Bill put his foot through the ice!

Yep, that's a picture of the drying-off process which, if you notice at the top of the picture, included Janis placing Bill's shoe on the dashboard and cranking the heater!  Too funny.

On to other things, Bill played a trumpet solo, Night Sun Journey by American composer Meg Bowles, on a March 16 recital featuring the JVLMA Wind and Percussion Faculty.  It was really great to hear such talented musicians perform in the JVLMA "Great Hall."

Bill also performed two compositions with Riga's City Jazz Big Band for a kind of variety-show on Sunday, March 21.  As a jazz ensemble director in the U.S., it was really fun for him to be "on the other end" and take a trumpet solo on Afro Blue.  The ensemble is quite good with really fine players, and the concert was at the Mazā Gilde, a performance venue in Old-Town. 

Friday, March 26, marked the beginning of the J. Jurjānu International Brass Competition, hosted by the JVLMA.  The event began with a concert of the JVLMA Brass Ensemble under the direction of Janis Retenais.  Bill played piccolo trumpet on Old French Dances which can be viewed here (Old French Dances, part 1, Old French Dances, part 2).  We're still working out some issues with the camera tripod, but this will give you the idea!  Two of Bill's trumpet students, Janis Ivuskans and Guntis Supe, are participating in the competition this week, for which we wish them luck.

Outside of Bill's work-related activity, our family has had some really fun experiences over the past few weeks.  As Sarah mentioned in the previous blog post, we attended the Riga Cirks (Circus), right across the street from our apartment.  On March 8 we celebrated "International Women's Day."  We also attended a childrens' opera, Hansel and Gretl, presented by the JVLMA Opera Studio and recently attended a performance of the Prokofiev ballet Romeo and Juliet at the National Opera.  They performed the "Rostropovic Version" with the orchestra on stage and dancers both behind and in-front of the orchestra, which was very effective.  Upon explaining the plot to the girls, Leah's response was "Wow...there's a whole lot of dying in this area!"  You've got that right, kiddo.

While at the ballet, Niki and the girls met some Americans from Houston, Texas, and began to chat.  It turns out that one of them, Mary Ring, attended Northwest Missouri State University!

Mary works with "Julianna Poor Memorial Counseling Center" at Houston's First Baptist Church and has traveled to Latvia over the past several years to assist with counseling programs here.  Now who would have thought that people with ties to Maryville, Missouri, would randomly meet in the 2nd Balcony of the Latvian National Opera house?!  Unbelievable...

Last weekend we took the tram to go ice-skating at LIDO on Krasta iela.  We're starting to get more used to public transportation here, which is a good thing.  Sarah and Leah had never skated, so we had a great time with the penguins.

Because Sarah's class is studying penguins (btw, check out the Horace Mann 3rd level class blog here!), we're calling the penguin with the tie "Captain Cook."

The girls both did an excellent job and had a great time.  We are really fortunate to have two daughters who actually like each other and, in general, play well together.  Here are some pictures we took yesterday morning in the sunshine!

Here's a picture of money we use in Latvia.  The "Lat" is worth roughly $2 U.S., depending on the exchange rate.  A "Santim," similar to a penny, is worth about 2 cents.  The following coins are found in the picture 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 Santims...plus 1 and 2 Lats.  The paper bills are in 5, 10, and 20 Lat denominations.

Daylight-savings time actually begins today for us, two weeks later than in the U.S., so it's probably best to sign-off for now.  More updates to come!