Peach of Mind.

After Roche Continents I don’t feel like posting anymore, hahaha. Everything was too ovewhelming! leaving lovely Regensburg teary-eyed, arriving in Salzburg and leaving Salzburg again teary-eyed.

Roche Continents, I should try not to reveal too much details for next year’s participants… Intense: I was in my room just for sleeping (which duration decreased sharply every night). Amazing, how we spend days “creating” with our groups, listening to workshops, or having conversation over lunch with professionals ranging from visual artists, musicologists, opera experts, to pharmacists, chemists and medicine students… and spend nights watching great performances in the Salzburg festival and meeting important people behind it. Not a single hour spent doing nothing. Funny, just how much time we spent twisting our brain to define creativity while I saw sparks of it coming from just about everything we all did.

I felt intimidated when I read the list of 100 participants and found out that most of them are PhD students and fricking scientists… the feeling was proved unnecessary cos they were all amicable, witty and wonderful. As someone coming from a developing country and who’s only 2 years into the bachelor’s degree, I really look up to the professionals I met: young scientists and artists, musicologists, composers—all of whom are really passionate about what they do, and pursue their interests to the highest level possible. It is a pool of brilliant people where you can pick any random person and be inspired by a simple conversation with him/her; my brain was exploited from every exchange. Of course after some rounds of wine/prosecco you all end up singing and dancing together to “YMCA” and “Thriller”. Gossiped and slept late, woke up early as a zombie the next morning for the workshops (that is what red bulls and the coffee machines are for).

It was also a wake up call for me, living in cultures that endorse “instant” information and entertainment, where meanings are spoon-fed and generic… where you try to be what the society wants you to, where people have to like what they hear in concerts (and you have to play what they like), where you are as good as how much your job pays you. This experience changes my whole view of arts and science and shows me a higher intensity of professionalism and musicianship. And then there’s Wolfgang Rihm.

Oh Europe. You are STILL the center of everything, aren’t you. For the Roche Continents 2010 Alumni (we are now alumni!), you are awesome. I am very honored to be part of you. Keep in touch.