Student Orchestra Sets Noteworthy Trip
January 18, 2016
By: Taylor Dungjen, Toledo Blade
January 18, 2016
This summer, the Toledo International Youth Orchestra will be the first youth orchestra to travel to Cuba.
Language barriers might challenge the experience, but the Toledo students expect they will still be able to communicate freely with their Cuban counterparts.
“It’s really neat to be able to communicate through music,” said Pilar Athaide-Victor, 17, a violinist from Swanton. “It’s really incredible to communicate with people who are so vastly different from you and come from cultures vastly different from yours. Music is always music no matter where you’re at.”
The goal is for all 50 of the musicians to make the June trip to the Caribbean country, which has largely been off limits to Americans since 1961. Diplomatic relations were restored in July, 2015.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Jay Welenc, a conductor. “We have the opportunity to see Cuba as it has been for the last 50 years.”
The trip south started during a trip up north. The orchestra was in Toronto last year for a competition when a bus, with a side-panel advertisement for Cuba, passed by.
Liz Athaide-Victor, president of TIYO, recalled a conductor as saying, “That would be great. Let’s go to Cuba.” On the train ride home, the conductor again suggested the orchestra, which often travels internationally, find a way to perform in Cuba.
Making plans for the trip wasn’t quite as easy as making the decision to go. Travel to Cuba still involves a lot of red tape and bureaucracy. The youth orchestra turned to U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) for help. Miss Kaptur’s office worked with the orchestra and government officials in Washington to secure visas for everyone traveling in the group.
Participants had to prove the purpose of their visit met certain criteria so the trip could be qualified as cultural travel, which is allowed. Performing music in Cuba met the requirements for cultural travel visas.
“They’re pioneering ambassadors,” Miss Kaptur said. “They’re highly educated, very talented, very open. I find that the best ambassadors for our country are our youth.”
Details of the trip are still being worked out. No firm dates have been scheduled because the orchestra must work around various graduation dates and school calendars. Finding and booking a flight and transporting instruments such as cellos and tubas, which are so large they can require their own seats on a plane, present their own challenges.
The cost of the trip, which could be more than $75,000, also is a hurdle.
“I want to put every kid on the bus and on the plane,” Mr. Welenc said. “That’s really something that’s kind of personal to me. I don’t want to leave anyone at home.”
The musicians, who range in age from 12 to 22, are from all over the Toledo area. Some might be able to afford the expense of the trip, but others not.
Supporters set up a website for donations, which, as of Sunday afternoon, totaled $450.
The crowdfunding site is available through the orchestra tiyo.us.