Students in the Wind Symphony Performed in Four Cities While Volunteering and Teaching Music Lessons to Locals
The BYU Wind Symphony recently embarked on a three-week tour across Brazil, with students performing in four different cities including São Paulo, Fortaleza, Manaus and Rio de Janeiro.
Students took on new experiences while performing in major concert halls, feeling the Spirit and uplifting others. Visiting temples, seeing the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, performing on the Amazon River and volunteering were highlights of the trip.
Joining the tour was Shawn Smith, director of BYU’s School of Music and of the BYU Wind Symphony. Smith enjoyed the unique experience students had to perform on the Amazon River.
“There was a little community right on the river, where their houses and school just float on the river banks. We then sent our ferry to the school, so that all the kids could get on the ferry and come over to the barge,” Smith said. “They joined us, and we did a concert for them right on the Amazon River.”
Students also interacted with Brazilian culture by swimming with pink dolphins and watching an Amazonian tribe dance.
For student Emma Hogge, the most meaningful aspect of the trip was the opportunity to serve.
Hogge recalls feeling the Savior's love through the people of Brazil.
“I think the wonderful thing about the people of Brazil is how vibrantly they live life and how willing they are to share that love for life with others,” Hogge said. “Being Christlike is lifting each other, having fun with one another and enjoying this beautiful world that God created for us.”
Students had the opportunity to volunteer alongside a group from Amigos do Bem, a program in Brazil that brings education, water and food resources to rural areas. Members of the Wind Symphony worked to clean toys for children.
“We were repurposing and washing old dolls so children could have clean and nice toys,” Hogge said. “It was just so meaningful, because not only were we able to make a difference but we sang along while doing it.”
Wind Symphony members also served others by leading music lessons and teaching school children in Brazil how to play different instruments.
Students were able to make a difference through service while sharing their musical talent. Hogge discovered that serving others extends beyond actions and that the Savior's love can be expressed through musical performance.
“Even though I don't personally speak Portuguese, I've been able to communicate with these people through music, the Spirit and community,” Hogge said.
The students also took on a service project cleaning a health center for children with cancer. Caden Randolph, a student who attended the trip, felt the Saviors' love through serving others.
“As we were sweeping and moving furniture, the children were still around, so now and then we got them playing and dancing,” Randolph said.“It reminded me of the love that I felt for people during my mission. Serving and loving has brought me closer to my Savior and has brought others closer to their Savior.”
For one student who attended the trip, Elisia Hellwig, the tour was an opportunity to perform, sing and prepare for her mission. Before embarking on the tour, she was called to serve in the Brazil Fortaleza East Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Meeting people during institute classes in Fortaleza was especially meaningful for the trombone player, as she will be reunited with many of those people when she begins her mission later this year.
Seeing how people from other faiths find strength in Christ was spiritually strengthening for Hellwig.
“It made me more eager to teach the gospel and to bring Jesus to everyone, because I’ve seen how much light it brings to people's lives,” Hellwig said.
For Hellwig, the opportunity to share her testimony through music has strengthened her love for the art and helped her understand how to connect with others beyond words.
“I love the idea that music is the universal language,” Hellwig said, “and the way it connects us all in a way that can't be said with words.”
Also in attendance on the tour was Diane Reich, who serves as dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications. Spending time with students and watching their performances was meaningful for her.
“When you see students perform and sort of share their souls with the audience, it's really inspiring,” Reich said. “It’s sometimes overwhelming when you see how much good and how much talent our students have, and how generous they are with that.”
Reich also spoke on the benefits experiential learning opportunities provide for students.
“Having experiences to explore, and specifically in your discipline or in your performance genre, and sharing around the world impacts who you're performing for, but it has a bigger impact on the students,” Reich said.
Visit this link to learn more about the BYU Wind Symphony.