In October of 2024, we received the news. Our CAS Senior Symphony Orchestra was invited to the 73rd edition of the European Music Festival for Young People (Europees Muziekfestival voor the Jeugd), in Neerpelt, Belgium. For us, as members of the school orchestra, this meant a new opportunity to grow as musicians and a once in a lifetime experience that we took full advantage of.
Our process before the trip
Our conductor, Andrés Martínez, was clear when telling us that we had to make some changes to our daily life to achieve our best potential when representing our country and our school in another continent. Although we were fully excited, we didn’t know what to expect about the trip, however, our music teacher’s advice and support gave us the strength and confidence for being ready for anything that could come along.
As a gift from our school, we received our distinguished uniform. On April 28th we received our blue orchestra jackets, which became a very important piece during our journey, as they made us recognizable in every city we visited among all the other groups. Wearing this jacket, made us remember where we were from, feel proud of our school and country, and secure during difficult moments. This jacket allowed us to take a piece of our home with us.
Beginning our trip
The past 29th of April, some members of the orchestra, accompanied by our music teachers and two school companions boarded the flight that took us directly to Europe. Firstly, after a one-hour flight, we made a quick stopover in Cartagena, and we took off again for a 10-hour flight, across the ocean. We landed in Amsterdam after long and tiring hours. Unfortunately, we only stayed there to wait for the plane that would take us to Brussels. After we landed, we went to “Vakantiehuis Fabiola” by bus, near Neerpelt. Our new home for the next five days.
Our first concert in Europe
We took the bus to our first concert in Maastricht, Netherlands on May the 1st. A beautiful city that we visited also as tourists. This was our first preparation for the jury concert. We played our whole repertoire and shared the stage with the school band of Colegio San Bartolomé from Bogotá. We were one of the three invited Colombian groups, and as a fun fact, we were the only Latin American Orchestras in the whole festival. The concert was great. Some of us were a little bit nervous, but it was a crucial experience for what was coming next. It was a sunny day, and the group energy was the best. We played at 7 p.m., and the sun was still shining. In Belgium, for this season, sunset is at 9 p.m. approximately. We were excited for what was coming next. That night we realized that the people we shared with would become our family during the next days, and that we had each other’s support.
Bad days make strong ones
The next day, we had another preparation concert. We woke up early in the morning and got our uniforms ready for a performance at a cultural center in Budel, Belgium. We left the accommodation by bus. Through the ride, we noticed the streets were beautiful, full of nature and vibrant colors. We were very excited and confident about the concert, but we were not prepared for what was about to happen. We arrived at the place, and after hearing a beautiful percussion orchestra, the person in charge called us to enter the stage. Everything was ready, and we started playing as usual, but there was something wrong. The acoustics of the place were completely different from what we were used to, and we felt that everything we played was going wrong, destroying our confidence. Many of us were panicked after the concert, and we surely believed that we could have done it better. We were only thinking about the jury concert, which was happening next, and that summarized all our hard work across the days.
We were crushed after the performance, but our conductor took the lead as we arrived again to the place where we were staying. He called all the orchestra members for a meeting and explained to us that every orchestra has its own process, and that this was just a new outcome to us. He realized that the impact that this concert had on us was negative, but we could turn it into motivation. This experience united us as an orchestra. We knew we could trust that everyone was going to do their best. We realized everyone in the room was aiming at the same goal: leaving our country and school name as high as we could. This helped us to regain our self-confidence, making us stronger for the jury concert. This moment was crucial for our success in the trip and in the upcoming concert in front of the jury.
The jury concert
Very early in the morning, everyone was already in their uniforms and prepared for the jury concert. We arrived at a place where we could buy souvenirs and we met our host, a lady that guided us through the festival. After the group picture at the venue, we moved to have lunch, and we were transported to the waiting room before entering the stage. During that time, the room was full of joy, excitement and confidence. We knew what we had to do. The scenario was located on a beautiful very tall cathedral and was full of people that were following the festival. We waited some time, and they finally called us to go on stage. The moment we were waiting for came, and all the months we worked on were going to be reflected on that presentation. The conductor gave the first instruction with his hands, and our horn and trumpet started playing to begin our performance. Everything sounded much better than it ever did. The first three songs projected the best version of us, and sounded better than we thought we could play. Nerves were gone before our final act. The conductor, Andrés, smiled at us, and that was the sign that made us see we were doing great. He opened his arms and percussion started playing for “Yo me llamo cumbia”, the song that finally left Colombia’s footprint on Neerpelt’s cathedral.
We played it, as we felt it. Those 5 minutes that the song took moved the audience and moved our hearts. We knew this was our best concert ever, and everyone in the place was feeling the music in unexpected levels for us. Andrés wouldn’t stop smiling, and after the final chord, the public was clearly surprised. The jury started clapping and people from the public stood up to gave us a standing ovation. After a long round of applause, we celebrated with our partners without caring about what our result was. We knew this was the best version of ourselves, and the best version of our orchestra. We had to leave the stage and return to the waiting room. Everyone congratulated us, including the judges, that highlighted our attitude, and our smiles during the performance.
We had to go to the proclamation, and we did it by touring Neerpelt’s streets in a parade with all the other orchestras. When we arrived at the huge coliseum, a person assigned us a place to sit, and after long minutes of tension, we were finally announced. The jury decided to give us the Second Prize in our category, and this concluded the feat we achieved for our school, and our music program. For the rest of the days, we celebrated by visiting different cities, like Ghent, Brugge, and for our final days in Europe, Paris.
An opportunity to keep growing
This trip to Europe meant a lot for the ones that had the opportunity to experience it. We are very thankful to everyone that allowed us to live this experience, because it was something that opened our minds and changed our lives. After this wonderful experience and the conversations, we had along the way with our teachers, we can say we couldn’t be prouder of being part of the orchestra and we hope this project never stops growing. This was the perfect gift for celebrating our 9th anniversary for the CAS Senior Symphony Orchestra, and a great opening for our upcoming first decade creating new musical experiences. This trip means a new beginning for the school orchestra, and a step that will help it to keep going further.
We thank our music teachers: Andrés Martinez, Jhonny Julian Misnaza, Juan Carlos Espinoza, Steve André Lopez, Wilson Rodríguez.
Our two supportive teachers: Andrea Leguizamón, Andrea Huertas.
Claudia Melo, Claudia González, Diana Ariza.
And everyone that was part of this project, and made it possible.
