Home from the South Caucasus

Last week, I left on a trip for the Republic of Georgia and Azerbaijan. Best.Trip.Ever.

It was a work trip; there were 11 of us, split into a woodwind quintet, and brass quintet, and a photographer. The point of this Army-sponsored trip was to do and say things that would help bridge the gap between the US and that part of the country. (That's supposed to be our official answer.) ;-) We try to put a face on the idea of an American soldier, showing other parts of the world that we're just regular people, like them, and that we are interested in doing what we can to help them in any way they may need us. That's especially what our job as bandsmen is, since showing up in our fancy uniforms and being entertaining and non-threatening is what we do best!

We played at a few schools, hoping to introduce music to kids, and gave some workshops to show them what we do, and answer questions. We also worked with some older students (college-aged at a conservatory), some professionals from the National Opera in Tbilisi, and spent a really touching day with children at an orphanage in Baku. I'll post pictures as soon as I get them; I'll really bad about remembering to get out my camera, so I'm expecting a CD of everyone else's pics.

Now, I'm rested up (we got back yesterday) and it's back to work tomorrow.