Stellae Boreales – An Ottawa Suzuki Strings Violin Ensemble

We started off the day with a wonderful tour of beautiful Washington. We visited many brilliant monuments, such as the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean War Memorial and the Washington Monument. We took many pictures, as there were so many impressive sculptures!

After sight-seeing, we went to the prestigious Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. It was quite intimidating to see the gorgeous architecture of the building, especially the stunning library. J-WS, SP-S and ER participated in an inspiring master class with Rebecca Henry, director of the strings department. I’m sure she has helped them improve their violin skills!

We rehearsed in a very hot room with the Preparatory and Violin Choir of the Peabody school. It was so tiring, but extremely beneficial. It was great to meet students with similar interests. We took a ten minute break, and then continued, but solely with Stellae Boreales students.

Following the long rehearsal, we ate dinner in the Peabody cafeteria. AK received a pleasant surprise: a birthday cake! We sang “happy birthday” to her twice! She was very embarrassed.

After devouring the cake, we changed into our concert blacks, and entered the stellar Griswold Hall. The stage was a bit small for the combined efforts of both Stellae Boreales and the Peabody students, but we made do. To make up for the small hall, the acoustics embellished our sound.

At the end of the day, we were exhausted! I bet most of us slept through the two hour drive from Baltimore to Virginia. It was a jam-packed day, but we enjoyed it immensely!
~BF, SK and UM

A Musical Experience

J-WS and ER were practising outside to prepare for their masterclass with Rebecceca Henry. All of them were great successes, and none of us were bored although it got very hot. We then practised together with the Peabody violinists. Although our styles were very different, the rehearsals still went well.The final concert at the end of the day was amazing, with a grand finale of both Stellae Boreales and the Peabody violinists performing together. Our ride back to the hotel was not as slow as the voyage in the morning, and we played a word game to end the day. Actually, to end the day we had to write this blog.trololololololoololl

 in lulu empire=trululululululululu...
~EB and ER

Today has been an amazing day, it was an honour for stellae and I to hear the Pea-Body students perform, and it was very fun to also play for them. I found that the Pea-Body students were absolutely fantastic, and I hope Stellae Boreales could someday gain as much talent and knowledge. Also, today was my birthday, and it was very nice of the parents to bring out a cake for me :D Above all, it has been a wonderful experience to perform with the Washington students, and it has been a great day!
~AK