The Department of Classical Music and Music Education has an ongoing research project on how to develop intercultural musical encounters between music performing students and between music students and their audiences. The student group at the department represents different nationalities, and I am from the United States. I served in the United State Marine Corps Band for four years, then studied music at Montclair State University in New Jersey, USA for three years. Following a successful semester exchange at the University of Agder, I transferred to UiA to complete my Bachelors Degree in Classical Music. I am now a second year Masters student in the Department of Classical Music (flute).
In October the music department had an exciting visit from Palestine through the collaborative project Sound of History. The Palestinian guests visited UiA for two reasons: both as points of contact for the faculty’s Erasmus+ Global Mobility Student Exchange project and as contributors to Sound of History. The project included lectures, workshops, and concerts for bachelor and master students. For the event, the project leader and music pedagogy researcher Randi Margrethe Eidsaa requested student assistance to establish effective communication lines between the student ensembles and the workshop leaders from Palestine, to develop new repertoires, and to collect students’ reflections after participating in the event. I did all three tasks.
We had two great recitals in the new concert venue PAN at the Grimstad Cultural Hall. Our audience came from the Center for Norwegian Language and Culture Training for Adult Immigrants in Grimstad. The Palestinian visitors assisted the ensemble when working with the Arabic repertoire. After the event, I carried out the last research tasks which was to investigate how students experienced working with new genres. I quoted some of the answers:
“Playing with the Palestinian musicians was a fascinating experience. We explored scales and ornamentations unfamiliar to Western music, which gave the melodies a unique character…”
“I really enjoyed collaborating with musicians from Palestine. The music from their country uses a different scale system and it was a good experience to play music I was not familiar with. I have a greater interest in listening to folk music from Palestine on my own!”
“Hearing about how the music conservatory in Gaza was destroyed really made me appreciate music more and reminded me not to take anything for granted.”
I had never played Arabic or Palestinian music before, let alone in an ensemble with musicians from Palestine playing traditional instruments. I found the experience inspiring, and it connected me to a whole new musical world. I also enjoyed the organizing of ensembles for the concert events, and I felt I could use my experiences from previous work as a musician in the Marine Corps Band. It was interesting to see what my fellow students experienced from the project. Overall, it was a positive experience that benefitted the students, the guest collaborators, and the adult immigrants coming to Norway.