Lowell's Russian Tour Page! |
||||||||
|
|
After arriving in Vladivostok the guys met our first host of the trip (Marianne stayed elsewhere). Anatoli is a successful business man, speaks fluent English, and is an accomplished piano player. |  |
He told us the story of his baby grand piano - it was too large for the elevator in his apartment building, so he hired a dozen men to deliver it to his 14th floor apartment - using the stairs! We stayed up late one night jamming to western rock tunes, and Anatoli new plenty of them! |
 |
||||
| "Grunge" is not "in" in Russia. We met these stylish kids at the school in Khabarovsk where we performed. |  |
|||||||
| The younger generations tend to dress very
elegantly and take great pride in their personal appearance. By comparison, their Alaskan guests were frequently underdressed, though one could argue that denim and khaki are Alaskan "folk costumes". Perhaps we should have been wearing Carharts and Bunny boots? We quickly learned that Russian children are very polite and well behaved. So we started engaging in various antics to warm up our audiences. I would choose some likely looking subjects and dash into the audience for a quick arms length photo of myself and my victims. |
The technique was always good for a few
chuckles, and I got some great photos, too. The kids seemed to love the mischief, while
the initial reactions of the grownups varied from bemusement to dismay! Once the music started, folks would invariably realize that Bluegrass music was about having fun. Music is indeed the universal language! |
|||||||
 These girls were students at the Conservatory in Novosibirsk, a school famous for producing world class musicians. While the students where familiar with the guitar, bass and fiddle, they were especially enamored with the banjo, dobro, and the mandolin, which were new to them. (I suspect there are now a number of budding dobroists playing high-strung guitars in the communities we visited.) |
Several groups of students performed for us after we finished - they were all quite extraordinary! During Tea with the director he proudly showed us posters and the awards his students had won at major international competitions around the world! | |||||||
| Russian culinary delights on
the table - traditional pastries and treats of every description. Russians are
passionate about Tea. Invariably we had tea and treats with our hosts wherever we
traveled. At this school in Tomsk the faculty invited us to this celebration after the
performances. These teachers not only laid out this astonishing spread for us, but
they sang for us while we ate! After the wonderful experiences of our trip, it's hard to believe that our two countries once stood on the brink of war. We have so much in common. We share in the same toils of daily life, working to improve our lives and make decent homes for our families. During these times of political and social turmoil in Russia, my thoughts and prayers go out daily to all the wonderful people who shared their lives with us and made our tour possible. TOUR HOME | DICK'S | DAVID'S | LOWELL'S | MARIANNE'S | CHUCK'S | MAPS
|
||||||||
