Movement and Identity: Through the Dalai Lama's eyes

What does it mean to be a global citizen? How does your identity relate to your movement throughout the world? In particular, what impact does your identity have on your development in the society you live in? Identity can be defined as your essential self. It is the set of characteristics that you recognize as belonging uniquely to you. In essence, your identity is how you define yourself. The premise of this segment is to describe how one’s identity affects their movement around the world, through culture, and across time. The specific example that I will use to illustrate this idea is the Dalai Lama. Through his life we can see that how he and the world identifies him has greatly affected his movement around the world physically, intellectually, and spiritually.

The Dalai Lama

To begin, a bit of background on the concept the Dalai Lama is very important. According to the Buddhist belief and tradition, everyone is bound to a cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth until they gain enlightenment and step into the “ultimate state of being”. Certain enlightened ones choose to remain in the cycle as an act of charity in order to assist others on their way to finding enlightenment. The Dalai Lama is seen as being the manifestations of Avalokiteshvara, or Boddhisattva, who is 74th in a lineage traced back to a Brahmin boy who lived during the time of Buddha Shakyamuni. There have been relatively few Dalai Lamas, only 14 with the first being born in 1351 AD. The current Dalai Lama was born July 6, 1935 to a poor farming family in Northern Tibet. The process for identifying the Dalai Lama is determined by following a number of signs or revelations that monks or other respected Buddhists receive.

As the group of monks set out to find the next Dalai Lama, they came across a boy named Lhamo Thondup who showed all the signs of being the next Lama in the reincarnation cycle. In 1940, during a ceremony, Lhamo Thondup was installed as the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people where he. Through a ceremony of cutting off all his hair, he assumed his new name Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso. This changing of his name is significant because of his identity. When you assume a name, you become that person. Numerous studies have shown that your name can be linked to all sorts of social outcomes. The idea is that if you have a name that represents some sort of significance, you will be more likely to strive to reach it, than if your name wasn’t related to any significance of achievement.

Potala Palace in Lhasa

In the summer of 1950, the Chinese began raids on Tibetan posts. The previous year, the Chinese had stated their intention of liberating the Tibetans from imperialist aggressors, and in October of 1950, 80,000 soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army flooded into Tibet. As the news got worse, people began to advocate for the Dalai Lama’s full power in the government, and on November 17, 1950 at the age of 15, he was enthroned as the temporal leader of Tibet. Shortly after, he sent two ministers to Great Britain and America in the hopes of persuading the countries to intervene, who later returned with the news that neither nation was willing to help. Frustrated with these results, a delegation was sent to Beijing to open dialogue with the Chinese. This, however, turned out disastrously when the Seventeen-Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet was signed when the Chinese forged the Tibetan seal and forced the delegation into signing the agreement. In 1959, as the head of the country and as a prominent religious figure, the Dalai Lama was forced to escape and flee into India when General Chiang Chin-Wu extended a seemingly innocent invitation to the Lama to attend a theatrical show by a Chinese dance troupe, but under the conditions that no Tibetan soldiers were to accompany him. This sent a wave of anxiety throughout the nation and soon a crowd of tens of thousands of Tibetans gathered around the Palace at Lhasa in order to protect the life of their leader.

The Indian government agreed to provide asylum to the Dalai Lama and his followers, and in Mussoorie he began to talk to the Indian Prime Minister about rehabilitating the Tibetan Refugees. The Dalai Lama realized the importance of a modern education for the refugee children and along with the Indian Ministry of Education, set up schools for the displaced Tibetans. As the Dalai Lama, he was still responsible for his people and for their well-being. Because of this, he took it upon himself to make sure that the Tibetan way of life was preserved, even through exile. Finally on June 10, 1959, the Dalai Lama formally renounced the seventeen-point Agreement and began to make sweeping changes such as creating new Tibetan government departments such as the Departments of Education, Home, Security, Religious, and Economic Affairs. Tibet is still not an independent country, but its people have since been carrying out a non-violent movement to regain their freedom.

China may continue to rule Tibet for decades to come

Through the Dalai Lama’s life, we can see that his spiritual identity as the Dalai Lama has influenced his movement spiritually, and his growth and feeling of responsibility to mature and lead his people to enlightenment. His intellectual identity can be seen through his education and vision for a greater Tibetan Nation and the movement for Tibetans to become involved globally and become more modernized. Physically, his identity has displaced him from his home country, forcing him to become a refugee. He has had to endure the hardships of dealing with a Communist regime taking over the nation that he is responsible for and having to rebuild a people displaced from their homes. The Dalai Lama is an excellent example of how one’s identity relates to their movement. Their identity not only relates to their movement, but in many cases, such as the Dalai Lama’s, it determines their movement.

Sources:
http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=84&rmenuid=11
http://www.dalailama.com/page.4.htm#countdown
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/people/dalailama_1.shtml
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071114111138.htm
Encarta Dictionary

Images taken from:
http://www.upi.com/news/issueoftheday/2009/03/10/China-may-rule-Tibet-for-decades-to-come/UPI-38161236701614/
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/potala-palace-landmark.htm
http://theblackcordelias.wordpress.com/2009/01/

My life, my plans, my education

My future, my plans, my goals, my education
To know where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve come from. I was born in Massachusetts, raised in Germany, and just before High school made the transition back into American Culture. To say that my life in Germany made a small impact on my life would be a serious understatement. In Germany, I spent my best years. In Germany, I became the person I am today. I moved to the U.S. in 2004 to a small town called Hinesville in the swamps of Southeast Georgia. Then a year later I moved to Sanford, NC where I spent my High School career. It was a difficult transition to a new culture and a new way of life, but I found solace and a sense of peace in two things: God and Music. I played violin and trumpet in church and at the time I would often escape this new American world by enveloping myself in the music of the church. When I got to High school, I realized that one of the things that I missed the most about Germany was its architecture: the cathedrals, the city centers, the small village houses. I decided that I wanted to become an architectural engineer and just continue with my music on the side. Throughout High school, I took drafting classes and architectural engineering classes alongside my orchestra classes (there was no German program in my High school, so I had to waste my time taking Latin instead of the language that would inevitably be my major). Once I was into my sophomore year of high school, I came to the awful realization that I absolutely hated math. This, as you might guess, is a problem for anyone wanting to enter the field of engineering. So instead of pursuing a major involving miserable math, I committed my life to the arts and humanities.
Finding out what exactly you want to do after you’ve gotten a general idea is often the harder part of planning out your life. I knew that I wanted to major in some sort of music and German, so I searched out a school that could offer me both of these things. Music school was easy because there were only three reputable music schools in North Carolina that I could consider: Appalachian State, ECU, and UNCG. Only one of these had a German program. After much deliberation and soul-searching, I found out that I wanted to be a music educator. The reasons for this choice are all very difficult to explain, but mostly stemmed from the fact that I never had a good music teacher and I wanted to right the wrong in the world. So, I applied, auditioned, interviewed for, and now attend the school of music at UNCG where I received one of very few music scholarships that were offered.
As of right now, I’m planning on pursuing my goal of becoming a Middle school orchestra teacher (beginner’s instrumental music). Along with my German major, this will take somewhere between 5 and 6 years. My German major is a bit more difficult to get along with. The classes often conflict with my very temperamental, very confused music courses which makes it very hard to meet my major requirements. I’ve not been able to touch many of my General Education Courses which most people seem to be lucky enough to get out of the way their first couple years here and then focus solely on their majors. Being a musician, you have to be constantly on top of your major. You are expected to be able to jump right in and swim. It’s very difficult. Sometimes you have six classes a day with very little break in between to do homework, eat, sleep, and just live. On top of this, you have to fit in 15-20 hours of practicing on your primary instrument (Mine is the cello). I’m looking forward to my junior year where I’ll be able to study abroad in Germany and focus on my German without the music requirements getting in the way. I’m not yet so clear on my goals for my German major yet. There are a lot of options that you get with being a German major. You can work for an international business. You can be an educator. You can be a translator. You can work in the government with international affairs, or any other number of things. One of the many reasons I chose to focus on German is because of the great opportunities that it opens up for you. With a German major you have options and you don’t have to commit right away to what you want to do. Plus, there’s wiggle room to do other things as well without it consuming your whole life the way that music tends to do.
After getting my undergraduate degree, I hope that I can jump right into the workplace. Then after a few years of working, go back and continue my education for a graduate degree. I think education is very important and I’m in that awkward stage where I feel like I could be comfortable staying a student the rest of my life. Being a professional student could be enjoyable work, but it doesn’t pay or support itself. I can see myself one day being a college professor and working at some great university doing all sorts of research projects and contributing to the world of music and German education. I often ask myself if I’ll stay here in the United States or move off to Germany to work over there. I suppose inevitably it’s going to depend on whether I pursue more German or more Music. I think it could be very exciting to do music in Germany, but I’m not exactly sure how that could work out. Whatever I do, however, I’m going to continue to rely on God to show me how as I always have.

Casella Sinfonietta

Casella Sinfonietta UNCG Nov. 12, 2009

The Casella Sinfonietta is an ensemble of Graduate students that play every instrument from flute to violin. Their performance was based on very well known chamber music ranging from traditional composers such as Beethoven to more modern composers such as Stravinski. Since my honors proseminar class has been looking into furthering education, I took time to interview Graduate student in the Casella Sinfonietta.

Boja Kragulj is a Doctoral clarinet performance major from Illinois. She attended Interlocken Acadamy of music in Northern Michigan and decided to become a music performance major. Originally she was interested in becoming a member of the Chicago symphony, but after playing and getting involved in her major, she realized that she was more interested in a solo career rather than an orchestral profession. She was lucky enough to be enrolled and accepted in the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, where she continued to pursue her degree in clarinet performance.

Boja Kragulj

Later, she studied under Eric Mandet (considered the greatest contemporary clarinetist and composer in the world) at South Illinois University. He saw music from a compositional standpoint verses the soloist’s standpoint, and this helped her realize how she wanted to apply her performance Later, she decided to get her Master’s degree in music education focusing on Post-secondary education in the University and Conservatories. Outside of education, she wanted to get back her performance abilities and for that, she was led to UNCG to study under Dr. Kelley Burke (most famous clarinet pedagog in the US) for her scientific exploration of clarinet playing.

When I asked Boja what she inevitably wanted to achieve replied with a laugh, “To get a job would be nice. With the economy as it is, performing jobs are hard to get. In the past year only 2 performance opportunities have opened in the US. It’s rough. At this point I’d like to get a professor job at a university teaching undergraduate theory and performance.

When I asked her about the Casella Sinfonietta concert, Boja told me that originally she was scheduled to play the Stravinski’s Concerto in Eb, but the other clarinetist got sick and was instead asked to perform Beethoven’s Rhondino. She was given the parts and was required to perform them after only 2 rehearsals with the music. “I can easily sit down, read, and perform something. Especially in the small group feel and sound that you get with the Casella Sinfonietta. But, it was difficult to go from one playing style to a completely different one in only two rehearsals.” She continued to go into a lengthy explanation of how hard it is to make an instrument built for orchestral music to make the same sound meant for an intimate chamber ensemble. But ultimately, she was proud of the performance and enjoyed the variety of pieces that she played. “It helps to play many things in different styles. It helps you learn. For instance the Stravinski piece has a very reduced instrumentation due to the Great Depression. Since there were few musicians during this time, the music reflects this. There’s a lot of subdivision with changing meters to reflect the style and emotion experienced during that day.”

Something that bothered me with the performance was the initial interpretation of the pieces. According to Boja, and I happen to agree fully, the conductor was very careful with the interpretation. This carefulness often causes a bit of strain on the instruments and the musicians. The conductor and the instrumentalists often have different interpretations of the piece and therefore play differently. Beethoven has a very periodic interpretation and for Boja, this meant paying close attention to the clarinet that is built for a contemporary orchestra verses the smaller Beethoven era clarinet which would use a different sort of articulation, breathing, and technique.

In closing the interview with Boja, I asked her about the success she’s made in her career. She replied smartly, “whatever your career is, you need to think outside the box of what you think you can do. Success means more than being good in school. How can you implement things and how can you make them better? This is ultimately what makes you better and makes you successful.”

A special evening with Yo-yo ma

On Monday, October 26th, 2009 My parents and I were three of the 2,400 guests attending Guilford College's Bryan Music and Lecture series for a night of Yo-yo Ma. The special guest Lecturer and solo-performer Yo-yo Ma is a world renown cellist who has single-handedly overtaken the whole of the classical cello forum by storm.

His website says this about the cellist:

The many faceted career of cellist Yo-yo ma is testament to his continual search for new ways to communicate with audiences and to his personal desire for artistic growth and renewal. Ma maintains a balance between his engagements as a soloist worldwide and his recital and chamber music activities. His discovery includes over 75 albums including 16 Emmy award winners. One of Ma's goals is the investigation of music as a means of communication and as a vehicle for the migration of ideas; in 1998 he established the sillk-road project to promote study of artisitic and intellectual traditions along the silk-road trade routes. Ma was born in Paris to chinese parents who later moved to New York. He began to study cello at the age of 4. Attended Julliard school and graduated from Harvard University in 1976. He has recieved numerous awards including the 1978 Fisher prize, the 1999 Glenn Gould prize, the 2001 National medal of Arts, the 2006 Sonning award. In 2006 he was designated the United Nations' messenger of peace by Secretary-general Kofi Annan. In 2007, secretary-general Bankai-moon extended his appointment. In January 2009 at the invitation of President elect Barack Obama, Ma played in the quartet performance of John Williams "Air and Simple Gifts" at the 56th Inaugural ceremony. (yo-yoma.com)

The program began with Ty Buckner the Associate vice President for Communications and Marketing who introduced the Bryan series followed by Yo-yo Ma's introduction given by Kent Chaborot the President and professor of Political Science.

When the cellist came onto the stage, he was greeted by a resounding applause. He stood for a moment. Thanked the crowd. And began to play.

As my parents and I were entering the auditorium, I couldn't help but lament that I hoped Yo-yo ma would play something I've not heard and give me a chance to hear something outside of my normal repertoire. As a cellist, it's very easy to become too familiar with Bach's cello suites: essentially the most well-known, overplayed cello pieces in the history of cello repertoire. So, as one can imagine, I would have been rather upset if he had started off the evening with Prelude from Suite No. 1. Which he did.

His playing was absolutely astounding, he had a very clean tone, very crisp notes, and a very clear sense of expressionism. Though I was disappointed that he had in fact played the very last thing I wanted to hear, I was contented in the fact that he gave a wonderful performance. He did not, however, just play it once, but rather multiple times throughout the evening. Throughout his lecture, he related his life as a musician back to this piece. As a 4 year old starting out on the cello, he began his training playing the prelude. Every day he was taught one measure. Until after playing every measure, he could play the entire piece. "There was nothing that was unplayable for a 4 year old," he stated, "but some days were much harder than others." As he aged and advanced, so did the Prelude.

Once Ma was in college, studying every aspect of music and cello playing, a teacher gave him a rude awakening stating, "You play the instrument very well, but you haven't found your voice." This began Ma's journey to finding his voice. Up until that time, Ma would play the notes and express them as he saw fit, but after the confrontation with his teacher, he realized that his job as a musician was not so much to play for himself, but to play for the composer. He realized that to become a great musician, it wasn't his duty to showcase his talent, but to use music as a way of communicating a thought, a feeling, and a way of life that was written on a page centuries ago.



It was after this realization that he began the silk-road project. The silk road project sent Yo-yo Ma around the world, finding artists in every corner of the globe. By interacting with them, he began to understand different techniques such as the importance of a drone or pedal note, and this is what he says keeps music fresh even after 50 years.
Despite the fact that Yo-yo ma has essentially taken the fame of many cellists, and despite that he had performed that night a piece of music that is so overdone, I was thankful that I was given the opportunity to hear his lecture. It opened my eyes to the world of music making and even gave me a new found appreciation for my own work as a cellist.

Spooktacular: a night of creepy organ playing

With the semester well underway, the UNCG Organ studio decided to put on a recital. This organ recital was not just any organ recital consisting of the "cliche churchy" music, but instead was comprised of some of the eerie and frightening music ever composed.
The evening began with the traditional Bach prelude performed by a student dressed as the Phantom of the Opera accompanied by his Einstein professor and continued with a slew of ghastly gouls playing horrific organ music.

Halfway through the program, in place of an intermission, the audience was engaged in singing Halloween carols dedicated to the awesomeness of the Great Pumpkin!
The costumes were phenominal and the performances were just what was expected from one of the best music schools.

An immigration Story

Joseph Orso 1932

In the late 1920s the majority of vineyards in southern Italy had dried up leaving 1000s of owners, managers, and workers to be displaced from their work, their homes, but never their families. During this time, my great-grandfather Michael Orso left Italy in search of a way to keep his family fed and healthy. With strong family ties that are almost a staple of being an Italian, he brought his wife, 3 sons, and 1 daughter to the United States from Reggio di Calabria Italy to stay with his extended family in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. With this tie, they were carried through both cultures and managed to not only live in this new world, but thrive. World Culture in the early 20th century was founded on a strong back bone, a loyalty to one’s family, and a dedication to God. With this mentality being a part of every individual’s life back then, amalgamation or assimilation wasn’t as hard as people would have thought.

Upon his arrival in the United States he promptly started a family business called “Joe’s Lunch” that served sandwiches and beer to the factory workers that worked across the street. As with everything in Italian life, a love of food played a central part in the workplace and in the home. At the house, Pasta was served at every meal. Sandwiches and Pasta, Hamburgers and Pasta, Soup and Pasta, everything came with pasta. Even on Christmas the meal consisted of meats, cheeses, fish, and pasta. On Fridays, since the family was Roman Catholic, fish was always eaten in place of red meats.

Roman Catholicism played a very important role in the home. There was no belief in birth control so Michael’s family was fairly large just like his sister Kathrin’s who when she came over had brought 9 children from Italy. Holidays were centered mostly among the American Holidays, but also included St. Nicholas’ day, St. Anthony’s day, St. Joseph’s day, and All Kings’ day. At every age and at every holiday, wine was the only thing that the family would drink. Along with the assimilation into American culture came the marriages of the children. In the first generation, they intentionally married non-Italians, and each child was permitted to choose whom they would marry on the grounds that their betrothed was Roman Catholic.

Michael Orso and Flora Schmilafski 1930

My grandfather Joseph, Michael’s youngest son married a catholic German girl named Patricia, my grandmother, whose mother, Flora Schmilafski, came from Germany. Her name was changed when she came off the boat. Originally Flora’s last name was Hammer, but since the boat she was on contained mostly Poles, she was meshed in with them. Not too much is known about Flora. She spoke little to no English throughout her whole life and hadn’t adapted so quickly to American society as the Orsos had, but she had a daughter who married Joseph and the two did make a beautiful pair.

Some 50 years later, I was born. My German and Italian heritage plays a significant role in my life and my family’s. Holidays in my family are still grounded on the traditions that Michael and Flora brought to this country and are not quite spent the same way as the typical American teenager’s. Faith still plays a very large role in the play that is my life, and understanding this helps me to understand where I am going, who I am, and what God expects from me.

Knowing where you come from and who you are is important. Maybe not every family is able to trace their heritage or their family, but starting and keeping traditions and remembering the past is an integral part of what you stand for. The United States is a melting pot. In this melting pot, there’s a little bit of everything for everyone, and all the thanks go out to people like Michael and Flora who when their lives seemed dark and empty, dared to look for something new.

Whispers of Heavenly Death

An evening of music by Frank Vulpi.

On Thurday September 3rd, 2009, a poetry reading was hosted by the UNCG dance department. The readings were taken from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass and were read by R. Mitchell Fore who was accompanied by Frank Vulpi on the piano.

The 12 poems that comprise Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass (1891-92 edition) were read and following each poem, a musical interlude followed. Frank Vulpi, Lecturer and Music Coordinator of the Department of Dance at UNCG, composed and performed pieces reflecting the mood and setting of each poem.

I found the performance to be absolutely astounding. I had not planned on going to the performance, and had it not been for a few friends of mine, I would not have known to have gone at all. In a desperate attempt to take a break from the countless hours of study that are required to do well in school (as I am all too often reminded), I decided to take a ride on this whimsical train to the show. After a quick stop by the box office for our FREE tickets, our cohort made it's way into the Theatre. The theatre with it's dark and shrouded stage wasn't too entirely full despite the decent sized crowd, so we were able to sit in the third row with a clear view of the performers. After a quick introduction of the instrumentalist and the reader, the lights dimmed and the show began.

Through the selected poetry the performance ran. The piano pieces were so relaxing that at times I found myself on the edge of sleep. Yet, at other times, the pieces were so schocking and violent that the whole room seemed to have been thrown into an odd state of panic. The reflection of each poem in the music so perfectly resembled the thoughts and feelings going through my mind during the readings.

All in all, the performance was great and I would reccomend for anyone interested in going to go every chance they get.