Our Latvia Adventure-Book

Final Blog Post

2010-07-09T20:08:00.004-05:00

This post marks the conclusion of "Our Latvia Adventure-Book," which is appropriate since the family Ričardsoni are all back in the United States. Our intention is to focus on the talented trumpet students with whom Bill worked over the last 5.5 months. Bill taught four trumpet students at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music, two trumpet students at the Jazeps Medins Riga Music School, and a brass quintet from the Medins school. There were many other "one-time" students he met at the music academy, at various master classes throughout the country, and during the Riga International Brass Symposium. Being an applied music teacher with primarily one-to-one instruction really allows for great interaction, and it was really wonderful getting to know each student musically and personally.

Congratulations to Latvian trumpeter Janis Ivuskans, who just graduated with his bachelor's degree in trumpet from the J.V.L.M.A.! Janis became a full-time professional trumpeter in the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra this January, so we were able to meet for trumpet lessons only when he was back in Riga. He also plays in the professional wind orchestra RIGA and will begin working on his master's degree at the J.V.L.M.A. this academic year.

Guntis Supe is a fine trumpet player who just finished his third year at the music academy. In addition to playing professionally in Riga's City Jazz Big Band and working on his music degree, he is concurrently working on his law degree.

Viesturs Galenieks is a wind orchestra conducting student at the J.V.L.M.A. and an excellent trumpet player. Bill enjoyed playing in the University of Latvia Wind Orchestra trumpet section with Viesturs and under his direction with the Jurmala Youth Wind Orchestra, which he co-conducts.

Oskars Ozoliņš is a jazz trumpet student at the music academy. Although the jazz program is in its infant stages at the J.V.L.M.A., the students involved are quite talented and dedicated. In addition to his jazz trumpet playing, Oskars is very involved in the pop music scene in Latvia.

Bill taught two trumpet students at the Jazeps Medins Riga Music School this spring as well. Congratulations to recent graduate Jānis Auziņš, a very fine trumpeter who will begin studying music at the J.V.L.M.A. this academic year. He has also been "promoted" to the position of solo flugelhorn with the Latvian Brass Band.

Janis Grudinskis just finished his second year at the Medins school. He is an excellent trumpeter with amazing triple-tongue technique. This was a good hair-day for the young Grudinskis!

Kārlis Jēkabsons is a local trumpeter in Riga who plays professionally in many groups and teaches at the Darzins Riga Music School. Although he is not a student at the music academy anymore, Karlis met Bill regularly for trumpet lessons.

Bill was able to work with the talented Medins School Brass Quintet for the first three months of the semester. Here is a not-so-recent picture of Jānis Auziņš, trumpet; Kārlis Rērihs, horn; Kaspars Smits, tuba; Rūdolfs Kulbergs, trombone; and Janis Grudinskis, trumpet.

Many thanks to the teachers who so graciously shared their students during our stay in the Republic of Latvia - Edgars Bārzdiņš, Pēteris Kaldre, Janis Porietis, and Janis Retenais.

So we were able to edit some more videos of May and June performances. The first is the final performance of Bob Chilcott's Mass for Peace (part 1, part 2), and the final video is a flugelhorn solo Bill performed with the University of Latvia Wind Orchestra, Janis Purins conducting (Rodrigo, movement 2).

Our time in Latvia was filled with outstanding friendships and experiences that we will never forget. Honestly, there are too many people for us to thank individually...we would inadvertently leave somebody important out! Although this blog has come to a close, please feel free to visit the Northwest Missouri State University Trumpet Studio Blog (http://northwesttrumpets.blogspot.com/) which should be up and running in a few weeks.

The Fulbright program was named after Arkansas Senator William J. Fulbright, the longest serving chairman in the history of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Fulbright program was established in 1946 "to increase mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills. It is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs." (Liels Paldies, Wikipedia!). For more information, feel free to visit http://fulbright.state.gov/.

Last call for alcohol, folks. We have enjoyed sharing our experiences with you and sincerely hope that readers have enjoyed following our overseas exploits. Čau!

Happy Janis Day...it's party time!

2010-06-23T23:52:00.003-05:00

Annually, Latvians celebrate the summer solstice (the longest day of the year ), also called Janis Day, on June 23rd, leading into the 24th. Traditionally, it's a time where many Latvians go to the country and "party like it's 1999." With Bill arriving back home on Saturday, the Richardsons are now all back in the U.S., but we're staying in touch with our Baltic friends. Being so far north, Latvian daylight lasts a LONG TIME in June, and the darkness could hardly be called "pitch-black." We're sorry to have missed it...

Anyway, this gives us an excuse to discuss all the fun parties Bill experienced in the first few weeks of June. With school-related activity slowing down, there was a bit more free time, as you will see. There was a really fun get-together for U.S./Latvia cultural exchange programs at Ambassador Garber's residence in Jurmala on June 6.

Fulbrighters Michael Dozler, Ardyth Sohn, Ambassador Judith Garber, and Bill

While at the party, Bill met percussionist Rihards Fedotovs, who will be studying at the University for the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, this coming year.

By the way, U.S. taxpayers should be really proud of the Embassy and its staff in Latvia. The staff are friendly, extraordinarily helpful, and a positive presence. In addition, Madam Ambassador's residence is really beautiful. It is clear that the U.S. diplomatic mission in Latvia is, and continues to be, a success.

After this party, Bill performed as member of the trumpet section and as trumpet soloist with the Jurmala Youth Wind Orchestra, Janis Kagis and Viesturs Galanieks, conducting.

Graduation exercises at the J.V.L.M.A. were Friday, June 12. The Music Academy brass quintet performed for the processional and the national anthem, Dievs, svētī Latviju! (God Bless Latvia!). Bill performed for the 2 p.m. ceremony. Click (here) for video. Here's a picture of the 10 a.m. ceremony:

The Music Academy's official song is Gaismas Pils (Castle of Light). Click (here) to see and hear the J.V.L.M.A. Choir performing this beautiful piece.

There was a post-graduation celebration in J.V.L.M.A. Rector Artis Simanis' office immediately following the ceremony.

J.V.L.M.A. Brass Division Head Janis Retenais and Rector Artis Simanis

Later that evening, there was yet another party, this time in the Music Academy Student Club, a bar located in the basement of the music building that is large enough for live music and dancing.

On Saturday, June 13, Bill and several friends traveled to the Jelgava area for an outdoor concert and dance featuring some Latvian pop/rock music. The group had an outstanding "substitute" bass player named Janis Retenais. As you can see from the video (here), everyone had way too much fun!

On June 14, Carl and Becky Chaplin hosted a party at their apartment. A great time was had by all.

Several brass players from the Latvian Brass Band, the National Opera, and the National Symphony organized a party on Tuesday, June 16. We started by purchasing provisions at Maxima, a Wal-mart-ish kind of store that has everything.

Having purchased all the necessary food and beverages for a proper Latvian barbecue, we then traveled about 20 minutes outside Riga to an area of rental cabins for parties.

Then, of course, sauna. I promised no pictures, but extreme heat followed by jumping into cool water, then repeating the process several times, is pretty intense. Here's what we looked like afterward:

Fun times. To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, "Latvieski Alus is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

The next day we had a small gathering at the J.V.L.M.A. as kind of a send-off for Viljams. Between the Fulbright "book allowance" and a few extra Lats, we were able to donate a new flugelhorn and a boat-load of trumpet literature to the music academy for future students to use in their studies.

In return, we ended up with a ton of parting gifts in the process.

On Thursday the 16th, Bill watched World Cup Football with Caleb (a missionary from North Carolina), Ungars, and Gundega from the Riga Reformed Church. We had a great time watching the France-Mexico game.

Of course, Niki and the little ladies have had a few parties of their own, living with some of their American friends for a week, playdates, and the annual Maryville Young Players production. Great times had by all!

Professional Activities Calendar

2010-06-17T10:21:00.007-05:00

Bill has been going over the calendar to reminisce about the last 5.5 months of teaching, performing, interacting with people, and discovering Latvia. It has been a fun ride! No pictures this time, just lots of bulleted items. Throughout the spring, 2010, term Bill had the following "steady" assignment:

Taught four trumpet students at the J.V.L.M.A. - Janis Ivuskans (trumpet performance major), Guntes Supe (trumpet performance major), Viesturs Galanieks (wind conducting major), and Oskars Ozolins (jazz studies major)
Taught two trumpet students at the Jazeps Medins Riga Music College - Janis Auzins (trumpet performance major) and Janis Grudinskis (trumpet performance major). Coached the Medins College brass quintet in the months of January, February, and March.
Rehearsed weekly with the Latvian Brass Band as solo flugelhorn player and regularly with the J.V.L.M.A. Brass Ensemble.
Served as the English-language narrator for the J.V.L.M.A. promotional video (click here).

Individual professional activities of note (in the order they occurred):

January 29 - Adjudicated trumpet players for a Youth Brass Competition at the J.V.L.M.A.
January 29 - Brass.lv quintet and solo trumpet performance at Riga's Dome Cathedral (performed Alan Hovhaness' Prayer of Saint Gregory with organist Talivaldis Deksnis).
February 10 - Adjudicated brass and saxophone players for a Youth Music Competition (supported by the Latvian Ministry of Culture) in Riga, Latvia.
February 14 - Piccolo trumpet performance at St. Saviour's Anglican Church in Riga, Latvia (selected movements from Handel's Suite in D Major).
February 17 (10 a.m.) - J.V.L.M.A. Symphony Orchestra Childrens' Concert performing Pictures at an Exhibition by Moussorgsky/Ravel (3rd trumpet, solo piccolo trumpet).
February 17 (12 p.m.) - J.V.L.M.A. Symphony Orchestra Childrens' Concert performing Pictures at an Exhibition by Moussorgsky/Ravel (3rd trumpet, solo piccolo trumpet).
February 17 (2 p.m.) - J.V.L.M.A. Symphony Orchestra Childrens' Concert performing Pictures at an Exhibition by Moussorgsky/Ravel (3rd trumpet, solo piccolo trumpet).
February 19 - J.V.L.M.A. Symphony Orchestra Concert performing Migla (Evija Vecumniece), Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra (Chopin), and Pictures at an Exhibition by Moussorgsky/Ravel (principal trumpet).
March 9 - J.V.L.M.A. Woodwind, Brass, and Percussion Faculty Concert (performed Night Sun Journey by Meg Bowles).
March 10 - Adjudicated brass players for a Youth Music Competition (supported by the Latvian Ministry of Culture) in Ventspils, Latvia.
March 15 - Adjudicated brass players for a Youth Music Competition (supported by the Latvian Ministry of Culture) in Liepaja, Latvia.
March 17 - Adjudicated brass players for a Youth Music Competition (supported by the Latvian Ministry of Culture) in Jelgava, Latvia.
March 18 - Adjudicated brass players for a Youth Music Competition (supported by the Latvian Ministry of Culture) in Jurmala, Latvia.
March 21 - Riga's City Jazz Big Band performance (solo jazz trumpet).
March 24 - Adjudicated brass players for a Youth Music Competition (supported by the Latvian Ministry of Culture) in Rezekne, Latvia.
March 25 - Adjudicated brass players for a Youth Music Competition (supported by the Latvian Ministry of Culture) in Daugavpils, Latvia.
March 26 - J.V.L.M.A. Brass Ensemble performance (solo piccolo trumpet).
April 1 - Presented the "Trumpet" portion of Brass Master Classes for Teachers (supported by the Latvian Ministry of Culture) in Cesis, Latvia.
April 2 - Conductor/solo trumpet at the Riga Reformed Church (performed Mass for Peace by Bob Chilcott with musicians from the Riga Reformed Church).
April 9 - Presented the "Trumpet" portion of Brass Master Classes for Teachers (supported by the Latvian Ministry of Culture) in Ventspils, Latvia.
April 12 - Co-presented the "Trumpet" master class at the 2010 Riga International Brass Symposium.
April 12-15 - Taught trumpet lessons (with Dutch trumpeter Reijer Dorresteijn) at the 2010 Riga International Brass Symposium.
April 13 - 2010 Riga International Brass Symposium Teachers' Concert (performed Concerto in E-flat by Neruda, Enescu's Legende, and three movements of Ewazen's Elizabethan Songbook with pianists Ilze Dzerve, Ieva Dzerve, and tuba player Janis Retenais).
April 15 - 2010 Riga International Brass Symposium Wind Orchestra Concert solo trumpet performance (performed Dramatic Essay by Clifton Williams and Andante et Allegro by Ropartz with the Jazeps Medins Riga Music College Wind Orchestra).
April 17 - 2010 Riga International Brass Symposium Final Concert performance with the J.V.L.M.A. Brass Ensemble (solo piccolo trumpet) and the Latvian Brass Band (solo flugelhorn).
April 23 - Presented the "Trumpet" portion of Brass Master Classes for Teachers (supported by the Latvian Ministry of Culture) in Jurmala, Latvia.
April 23 - Live-Brass quintet performance (solo trumpet and flugelhorn) in Kandava, Latvia.
April 26 - Presented the "Trumpet" portion of Brass Master Classes for Teachers and Students (supported by the Latvian Ministry of Culture) in Rezekne, Latvia.
April 27 - Recorded Matt Holmquiest's Stevie R (section trumpet) and Mongo Santamaria's Afro Blue (jazz trumpet soloist) with Riga's City Jazz Big Band.
April 28 - Solo trumpet performance at Riga's Anglican Church "Wednesday Recital Series" (performed Handel's Suite in D Major, Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, and Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary with organist Kristine Adamaite).
May 8 - Solo trumpet performance at Jelgava's Lutheran Church (performed Handel's Suite in D Major, Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, and Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary with organist Kristine Adamaite).
May 17 - Presented the "Trumpet" portion of Brass Master Classes for Teachers and Students (supported by the Latvian Ministry of Culture) in Cesis, Latvia.
May 20 - Presented the "Trumpet" portion of Brass Master Classes for Teachers and Students (supported by the Latvian Ministry of Culture) in Rezekne, Latvia.
May 23 - Conductor/solo trumpet at Riga's Baptist Seminary Church (performed Mass for Peace by Bob Chilcott with musicians from the Riga Reformed Church).
May 25 - Presented the "Trumpet" portion of Brass Master Classes for Teachers and Students (supported by the Latvian Ministry of Culture) in Riga, Latvia.
May 27 - Presented the "Trumpet" portion of Brass Master Classes for Teachers and Students (supported by the Latvian Ministry of Culture) in Ventspils, Latvia.
May 29 - Concert performance with the Latvian Brass Band in Ventspils, Latvia (solo flugelhorn).
May 30 - Concert performance with Inga Meijere for her J.V.L.M.A. diploma exam (jazz trumpet and flugelhorn soloist).
June 5 - Wind Orchestra Concert solo trumpet performance (performed The Last Rose of Summer with the Jurmala Youth Wind Orchestra).
June 6 - Conductor/solo trumpet at Riga's Vilandes Baptist Church (performed Mass for Peace by Bob Chilcott with musicians from the Riga Reformed Church).
June 7 - Wind Orchestra Concert solo trumpet performance (performed movement two of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez with the University of Latvia Wind Orchestra).
June 13 - performed hymns at the Riga Reformed Church (solo flugelhorn).

Jazz, Mini-Vacation, and Final Performances

2010-06-14T03:34:00.002-05:00

Bill has had the opportunity to play with a variety of groups during his stay in Latvia, including Riga's City Jazz Big Band. He recorded two pieces with CJBB (click on the title to hear each composition), as trumpet soloist on an arrangement of Mongo Santamaria's Afro Blue and a new composition, minimalist-influenced Stevie-R by Swedish composer, arranger, and big-band leader Matt Holmquist. Here's a picture of the trumpet section at one of the recording sessions.

Moving on, the conductor of the Latvian Brass Band is Andis Karelis. He's married to Inga Meijere, a saxophone player who just graduated from the J.V.L.M.A. Here's their picture at the graduation ceremony this past Friday.

Anyway, Inga's saxophone and composition "Exam Concert" was Sunday, May 30th, and she asked Bill to play on some of the pieces. One her original compositions, K7, can be heard (here).

Last Wednesday and Thursday Bill was able to rearrange trumpet lessons to take a quick trip to Tallinn, Estonia, and Helsinki, Finland. In Tallin he met fellow Fulbrighter Eric Showalter, who has taught engineering this spring, and Eric's son Nathan. Nathan has been performing piano in some jazz groups and for a dance studio in town. Old Town Tallinn has really embraced the medieval part of their history. In comparison with Riga's Old Town, Tallinn has retained much more of the exterior wall surrounding the area and has many hills.

Later in the afternoon Bill met with Estonian jazz vocalist Maria Vali (the singer on Inga's piece, K7).

Here is the Estonian Prime Minister's residence.

An Estonian song festival is held every few years in this large amphitheater.

Here's the home of Estonia's President.

Later we ate dinner and listened to some really great music at a jazz club called Clazz, located right in the heart of Old Town Tallinn. Overall an excellent day!

On Thursday, June 10, Bill hopped on the Tallink Shuttle boat for a 2-hour trip to Helsinki, Finland.

That's right, you are seeing "big rigs" that were transported in the belly of the beast! While not a luxury cruise liner, this was a really impressive ferry with shops, restaurants, and plenty of interesting views.

With fewer than 5 hours in Finland, it seemed the best plan was to catch a 90-minute bus tour around the city. Here are some pictures taken from inside the bus.

The tour stopped at Helsinii's Church in the Rock, a Lutheran church and concert hall designed by architect brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainien. It's walls are granite and the entire ceiling is made from copper wire. One can only imagine the excellent acoustics for a brass performance in this place!

Our second and final stop on the tour was the Sibelius Park and Monument, a tribute to Finland's most famous composer, Jean Sibelius. The park is very "natural-looking" and the monument was designed by sculptor Eila Hiltunen. One section of the monument is an image of the composer.

The other section portrays an image of a Norwegian forest. It looks like the "trees" could also be organ pipes, which would make sense tying the whole music-thing together.

Very cool.

After an action-packed day it was time to take the ferry back to Tallinn, where Bill walked to the bus station and caught the EuroLines Luxury Express (with a coffee machine, wireless internet, and a bathroom!) for the trip back to Riga. An excellent trip all the way around.

Yesterday Bill played flugelhorn at the Riga Reformed Church. It was his last time to attend worship services here and is also his last scheduled performance in Latvia. Feel free to listen to Be Thou My Vision from yesterday. Becky and Carl Chaplin had a party at their apartment after church, and we all had a great time.

This is Bill's final week of teaching at the Music Academy. It has been a great experience meeting new people, sharing ideas, and experiencing a different culture. More blog posts to follow!

Restaurants and Shopping

2010-06-03T18:13:00.009-05:00

We haven't yet mentioned how bright it is outside at nighttime. Because Latvia is so far north, the days are quite long in the summer and rather short in the winter. As an example, here is a picture taken of the Latvian National Opera House last night (June 2, 2010) at 10:00 p.m.!

So this is the consumer-related portion of our blog. Our Latvia residence is on Merkela iela, and there is a large mall close by called Origo. The malls here have a variety of shops, including clothing, alterations, hair salon, grocery store, and restaurants. Although we have done a great deal of our own cooking, a great way to experience a new culture is to actually get-out and grab a meal somewhere. With this in mind, we offer some of our favorite restaurant chains for your enjoyment.

Lido - Latvian traditional food restaurants that is cafeteria-style. We are fond of kartupeli (potatoes), vistas (chicken) stroganoff, and pankukas ar sieru (crepe-like pancakes with cheese), in addition to other items. The prices at Lido are quite reasonable.
Cili Pica - This pizza joint has really good Italian-style thin-crust pizza. We decided early-on to purchase a "friends" discount card for this place, and we're hoping to learn how to replicate the thin, yet soft, crust on the pizza when we set-up the pizzeria at home in Marvyille. Card-holders can feed a family of 4 for quite cheap during the hours of 2-6 p.m.
Gan bei - A Chinese restaurant that is excellent. One is located in Origo.
Double Coffee - There are 80-million DCs in Riga alone! We like it because it is conveniently located close to our apartment and the JVLMA, and the kids enjoyed eating the crepes.

There are numerous cafes and mom-and-pop restaurants throughout Riga which are excellent as well.

Most eating establishments here have outdoor eating opportunities when the weather is nice. There are a variety of really great pubs (especially the outdoor beer gardens in Old-Town as seen in the pictures below), but Bill's favorite is Alus Ordenis, located close to the Music Academy. It's a basement establishment that serves Uzavas Tumsais, a really fantastic dark alus (beer). BTW, Bill's list of tasty barley-pop continues to grow, but here's the top-3 thus far: Valmiermuzias, Uzavas Tumsais, and Bauskas Alus.

We have enjoyed meeting with Mike Johnson, owner of the Patricia Tourist Office (http://www.rigaguide.com/). He is incredibly helpful with information, guidance, electrical equipment, linen items, and packing tape, among other things! His office is located at Elizabetes iela 22.

Several of our friends at the Riga Reformed Church work in a small handmade art and clothing shop called Pumpa. It's located at Brivibas iela 166 and a short description can be found here (Pumpa). They are open weekdays from 11:00-7:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 11:00-4:00 p.m. They have really interesting clothing, accessories, and hand-crafted items...Pumpa is highly recommended if you have a chance to visit Riga!

Riga's Central Market is basically a set of airplane-hangar buildings that is truly a one-of-a-kind experience. Here's a picture taken from the top of St. Peter's Church.

The Richardson ladies are back in the United States and have recovered from jet-lag, which is a good thing. Ciao for now!

Open-Air Ethnographic Museum and Good-Byes...

2010-05-30T02:39:00.001-05:00

This just in...Niki, Sarah, and Leah made it back to Maryville, Missouri, EARLY this morning! Things happen so quickly; it seems like yesterday that we arrived in freezing-cold Riga with no coats...

Happy Birthday to Ms. Sarah Richardson, who turned "devini-gadi" (9 years-old) today!

Last week we visited the Latvian Open-Air Ethnographic Museum with Becky and Carl Chaplin, American missionaries affiliated with the church we've been attending. The outdoor exhibition showcased the four main geographic regions of the country (Vidzeme, Latgale, Kurzeme, and Zemgale). It was really interesting to see the different buildings from each area, and everyone had fun wearing Bill's hat at some point in the day.

Here's a picture of the ladies in an historic chapel.

They REALLY know how to build a swing here!

Sunday, May 23, marked Niki, Sarah, and Leah's final service at the Riga Reformed Church, so the Sunday School threw them a party! Many thanks to Anete and all the other Sunday School teachers who have been so wonderful (and bilingual!) over the past several months. We have all enjoyed our time with this congregation!

Good friends!

Niki's cousin, Anna Nichols, joined us at the end of her Eastern-European vacation to help escort Niki and the girls home. There's nothing like having a seasoned world-traveler (plus a second pair of hands) to ease any anxieties about travel "details;" plus, she brought presents for the little ladies!

Of course, we said good-bye to Dzemma, the daytime security guard at our apartment. She (and the other guards) have been so helpful in so many ways.

We also traveled to the Music Academy for a last visit with Maija Sipola, Vice-Rector for International Relations. In addition to helping Bill out with TONS of details regarding his teaching at the JVLMA, Maija was a wonderful resource for keeping us "in the know" about childrens' concerts in Riga. With 4 ballets, 1 children's opera, and numerous other performances attended, we were most definitely not starved for artistic activity here!

Sarah's birthday actually occured today when she traveled back to Maryville, but we had to have a celebration with dad!

We also said good-bye to Liga, our favorite waitress at the Double Coffee next to the JVLMA.

Finally, here's a picture of Niki, Anna, Leah, and Sarah at the Riga airport. More to come in the next few days.

Springtime in Latvia!

2010-05-27T15:34:00.004-05:00

We have really enjoyed the warm, sunny weather here. It was especially nice as the family Ričardsoni took the train to the seaside city of Jurmala!

Our stay in Latvia has included many "firsts" for the little ladies, including seeing the first beach and lots of first public transportation experiences (tram, train, trolley bus, taxi...you name it). May 15 was the opening day of tourist season, complete with a parade and lots of activities at the beach.

We also took a fun trip to Bauska with the Retenais family (Iveta, Janis, and Krists) to see Bauska Castle and the automobile museum.

We also spent some time checking-out the Rundale Palace Garden, just a few kilometers away from Bauska.

For May, Bill's Fulbright-related activity included a trumpet/organ recital at the historic Lutheran Church in Jelgava with organist Kristine Adamaite, a repeat performance of Bob Chilcott's "Peace Mass" at a Baptist Church in Riga, a performance at the Anglican Church service, and brass-playing master classes (sponsored by the Latvian Ministry of Culture) in the towns of Cesis, Rezekne, Riga, and Ventspils. Of course, this is in addition to teaching trumpet students at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music and the Jazeps Medins Riga Music School. Congratulations to JVLMA trumpet student Janis Ivuskans, who successfully completed his trumpet exam this week!

Here are some pictures:

Kristine Adamaite and Viljams Ričardsons in Jelgava

Sarah's first game of Solitaire...SHE WON!!!!

Riga's Saint Peter's Cathedral

Stylin' and Profilin'

Visiting the Open-Air Ethnographic Museum with Becky and Carl Chaplin

Vacation!

2010-05-10T17:15:00.025-05:00

Because there were several Latvian holidays that conveniently lined-up at the end of April, the Richardsons decided to take a vacation to Austria!

We stayed with our "host family," longtime family friends Heidi and Wolfgang Roessler, in Vienna. Here are some pictures of our first outdoor picnic at their home:

The Roesslers' two children, Bettina and Bernie, are both physicians in Vienna. Bernie and his wife, Lucia, have a little boy named Moritz. Bettina and her husband, Herbert, have three children: Josh, Jekab, and Emma. They also have a trampoline!

Somehow we left Vienna without pictures of some Roessler extended family members, but here's Bettina hanging-out at her folks' house.

On Friday, April 30, we traveled downtown and, like tourists (it takes one to know one!) we took a horse-drawn carriage ride to check-out all the sights. Heidi and Emma joined us, and Helmut was our driver.

Each of the ladies (those under the age of 9) got to ride "up-top" for a brief time!

Big fun...

Heidi and Emma left us to our own devices that afternoon, so we toured the Vienna Hofburg, residence of the Habsburg ruling family for over six centuries. The location featured an extensive display of the Imperial Silver Collection, a museum exploring the life of Empress Elisabeth, and a tour of the 19 state and private rooms of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth.

The hand-held recordings were a big hit for the whole family, and we learned a LOT! Of course, it helped to sit and take some time to digest the material...

The Richardsons tend to take a bit more time than the average museum-goer. Afterward, we saw some street entertainers.

Next, we visited St. Stephan's Cathedral, including a nice elevator ride to the very top. One of us was almost ill from vertigo, but we'll never reveal her identity!

Our next adventure was experiencing Vienna's public transportation system (subway, train, and bus) to get back to the Roessler's home. With detailed written instructions from Heidi, we experienced no problems.

Saturday we traveled to Hallstatt, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the shadow of the Austrian Alps (http://www.hallstatt.net/). With historical artifacts dating back to 12,000 BCE, this is home to the first known salt mines in the world.

With Heidi, Jekab, and Emma, we traveled up a very steep lift on rails and put on some very stylish protective clothing, followed by a tour inside one of the mines. It was really interesting learning about the importance of salt from a historical perspective, and this was a very interactive way to do it!

On Sunday, we traveled to the the ice caves at Dachstein (http://www.dachsteinwelterbe.at). After taking a long cable-car ride through the clouds towards the top of the mountain, we took a short hike to the entrance of the cave.

We learned how limestone is more easily influenced by water and ice than other types of rock, which is one of the main reasons these caves exist. Spending time inside these natural structures certainly gives one a sense of something bigger than one's self! Honestly, pictures don't do it justice, but here's one anyway.

We had a great weekend in the Alps! On Monday, Leah joined Emma at her kindergarten class while Bill, Niki, and Sarah visited the "Haus der Musik" (http://www.hausdermusik.com). Monday afternoon Leah joined us as we visited the summer home of the Habsburgs, Schoenbrunn Palace (http://www.schoenbrunn.at/en/). While the palace itself was amazing, this site has the most incredible exterior, complete with numerous gardens, mazes, and pathways.

Monday evening we attended a performance by the "Schoenbrunn Palace Orchestra" performing music by Haydn, Mozart, and Strauss. The concert was outstanding and we had a great time.

Tuesday we visited an apartment house designed by Austrian artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who had some very original ideas about bold colors, non-symmetrical forms, and environmentalism in his designs and artwork.

We then visited his museum (http://www.kunsthauswien.com) and were impressed with his original ideas and use of color.

On Wednesday, Sarah joined Jekab at his school for a few hours while Leah attended kindergarten with Emma.

Bill attended a master class by Norwegian trumpeter Odd Lund at the University of Vienna and was reminded that the brass-playing world is incredibly small...

We left Vienna on Thursday, May 6, and made it back to Riga. Our vacation was fantastic and action-packed with lots of great company. Many thanks to the Roesslers and their family for a great time!

Riga International Brass Symposium

2010-04-24T08:19:00.004-05:00

Last week the JVLMA and Latvian Brass Association hosted the first annual Riga International Brass Symposium. Featured artists for the week included Swedish tuba player Michael Lind, Danish trombonist Mogens Andresen, Dutch trumpeter Reijer Dorrestein, Swiss horn player Olivier Darbellay, and American trumpeter William Richardson! Each morning was a 2.5-hour master class, with open lessons and performances in the afternoon and evening. Here's legendary tuba player and teacher Michael Lind demonstrating breathing exercises on Tuesday, April 13:

Bill's new friend Reijer Dorresteijn taught trumpet lessons and "tag-teamed" for the trumpet master class on April 12th. Reijer is a super-nice guy and a fantastic player and teacher.

Here is trombone player Mogens Andresen working with Dutch trumpet student and symposium participant Eline Beumer during his master class:

Here is the group of performers for the "Teacher's Recital" on Tuesday, April 14:

From left to right - Olivier Darbellay, Reijer Dorresteijn, pianist Herta Hansena, pianist Lauma Zutere, Janis Retenais, pianist Ieva Dzerve, pianist Ilze Dzerve, and William Richardson.

Here is a video of Bill and Ilze performing Legende by Georges Enescu (click here) at this recital.

Thursday, April 15, featured a concert of brass soloists with the Jazeps Medins Riga Music School Wind Orchestra. Here's a video of three trumpeters who traveled from the Netherlands (Jordi Lensink, Ruben van Schijndel, and Eline Beumer) performing Leroy Anderson's Buglers Holiday, Andis Karelis conducting (click here). Olivier Darbellay also played on this concert (click here).

Here is a video clip of Andante et Allegro by J.Guy Ropartz (arranged by David Marlatt) with Janis Retenais conducting (click here).

The Latvian Brass Band

The final concert for the Brass Symposium was on Saturday, April 17, featuring the JVLMA Brass Ensemble and the debut performance of the Latvian Brass Band. Here is a clip of the brass band performing Diogenes by Jacob de Haan, Andis Karelis conducting (click here). Bill's friend Edgars Svembergs plays trumpet in the Latvian National Opera and soprano cornet in the LBB (click here). Bill has played flugelhorn in the brass band since January and was featured on Black Velvet (click here). We're also "embracing the swing" here in Riga! (click here)

Of course, the party afterward is often an important part of these types of events. Big fun! Congratulations to event coordinator Janis Retenais, the JVLMA, and the Latvian Brass Association (website here) for an outstanding week of great brass playing and teaching. We know that this annual event will continue to amaze and inspire brass players in this corner of the world. Prieka!

Old-Riga Walking Tour (part viens)

2010-04-18T14:55:00.001-05:00

With the weather getting nicer, we finally got a chance to start checking-out Old-Town using the "Self-guided Walking Tour" from the magazine "Riga in Your Pocket." As instructed, the Richardsons started at the Freedom Monument and walked up the hill of Bastejkalns park for a good look at the city center and Old-Town.

Designed by Latvian architect Karlis Zale, the Freedom Monument was built in 1935. The woman at the top is named Milda. The two cute girls with matching jackets are named Sarah and Leah.

Next we walked across the street to see one of the important defensive structures of Riga, the Powder Tower. The Museum of War is right next door. If you look carefully, you can see Niki, Sarah, and Leah at the bottom right...this is a tall building!

Walking down Torna, the Jacobs Barracks are directly next to the Powder Tower. They were built in the mid to late-1700s after the Great Northern War between Sweden and Russia (Russia won that one, by the way). Painted yellow, it now features souvenir shops and cafes.

We then walked through the Swedish Gate, cut through an existing structure in 1698.

We then turned onto Troksnu iela, which is a really narrow street, probably much like streets existed in many European cities in the 16th-18th centuries. From our perspective today, it presents a very closed-in feeling!

We then ran into St. James Church and the Parliament building (Saeima).

We then meandered through a few streets (actually, we were a bit lost, but soon found our way with the help of a friendly person willing to show us to the next site) and found the "Three Brothers." Each of the three houses represents a different style of Middle Ages home construction.

From there, we walked to Riga Castle, now the home of the History Museum of Latvia and the official residence of the President of Latvia.

We continued onward to Doma laukums (Cathedral Square) and checked out the Dome Cathedral in warm/sunny conditions for a change! It was originally built in the early 13th century under the leadership of Albert of Riga and is the largest medieval church in the Baltics. Apparently Albert was a military leader whose primary mission in life was to lead military troops and convert people to Christianity, similar to a crusader. Anyway, he founded Riga in 1201 and established a military order, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword.

At this point, we took a break from the prescribed tour (suggested in the brochure) and checked-out the Daguva.

The Anglican Church is directly across the street from this river. Bill has a trumpet recital there with organist Kristine Adamaite on April 28th (beginning at 13:00, if you live in Latvia and are interested in attending!).

Everyone was quite tired by this point in our walking tour, so we began walking home. On the way, we ran into the "Cat's House," named for two black cat sculptures sitting high atop an old building.

Stay tuned for more walking tour adventures in a week or so!

Priecīgas Lieldienas!

2010-04-09T13:30:00.000-05:00

Happy Belated Easter everyone! As we mentioned briefly in a previous post, we have found a really nice place to worship, the Rīgas Reformātu Draudze (Riga Reformed Church). Sunday services are held at 4 p.m. in the Methodist Church building on Akas iela. Although the worship services are in Latvian, many in the congregation speak excellent English and the sermons/prayers are translated for us via headsets...it's kind of like a faith-based United Nations meeting!

With lyrics projected onto a wall, the music is sung by the congregation and led by a worship team of excellent musicians (a fantastic way to work on Latvian pronunciation, by the way!). Here's an example of their music, recorded at the Good Friday service last week (April 2 Hymns)

At the beginning of the service on Friday, the musicians performed Bob Chilcott's Peace Mass. Click here for the Kyrie. In addition to playing the trumpet, Bill conducted a few of the movements and sang a little, but not so loudly as to drown out the crystal-clear straight-tone singing of Anete, Liga, Kristine, Anete, and Gundega. We had a lot of fun preparing this music.

Of course, Sarah and Leah are excited to play with some Latvian friends at the church. We all enjoy our time there. Many thanks to Carl and Becky Chaplin (Carl and Becky's blog) for introducing us to pastor Ungars Gulbis and the congregation of the Riga Reformed Church!

As usual, we had fun Easter morning activities with a visit from everyone's favorite hare. We will say good-bye for now with some pictures!

Springtime in Riga

2010-03-27T16:18:00.109-05:00

With temperatures reaching the 50s today (F), it felt like a good time to update our blog. We have had a very busy couple of weeks. Bill was asked to serve as a member of the brass jury for school competitions throughout the country with fellow brass players and JVLMA teachers Arturs Berzins (trombone), Gatis Evelyons (horn), and Janis Retenais (euphonium and tuba). Together they have provided ratings and feedback to students of a wide variety of ages and ability levels in seven Latvian cities - Riga, Liepaja, Ventspils, Jelgava, Jurmala, Rezekne, and Daugavpils.

At present, instrumentalists begin taking lessons between the ages of 7 and 9, a little earlier than most band students would begin in the United States. Latvian students will often attend school from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., then take lessons and attend music theory class in the afternoon. It seems that the emphasis is on solo playing rather than large ensemble playing here...we haven't heard of many school bands that meet on a regular basis. It is interesting to note the differences between music education programs between our countries. As with most countries around the world (Latvia and the U.S. included), current economic conditions certainly present challenges and opportunities for innovative ways of doing things!

For Bill's most recent trip, an overnighter in Rezekne and Daugavpils, the Janis Retenais Autobus was completely full with seven people, a tuba, and two trumpets. Here are the three woodwind adjudicators (Ainars, Mareks, and Lara) chatting with Gatis.

While waiting for woodwind judges to finish their work (one location had 54 flute players!), the brass guys had a chance to do a little sightseeing. In Liepaja they celebrated the "Rock & Roll" heritage of the city...

visited a Russian Orthodox Cathedral (brass-players' sense of humor is the same on any continent, btw!)...

hung-out at the beach and were amazed at how icy the shoreline was...

then freaked-out when Bill put his foot through the ice!

Yep, that's a picture of the drying-off process which, if you notice at the top of the picture, included Janis placing Bill's shoe on the dashboard and cranking the heater! Too funny.

On to other things, Bill played a trumpet solo, Night Sun Journey by American composer Meg Bowles, on a March 16 recital featuring the JVLMA Wind and Percussion Faculty. It was really great to hear such talented musicians perform in the JVLMA "Great Hall."

Bill also performed two compositions with Riga's City Jazz Big Band for a kind of variety-show on Sunday, March 21. As a jazz ensemble director in the U.S., it was really fun for him to be "on the other end" and take a trumpet solo on Afro Blue. The ensemble is quite good with really fine players, and the concert was at the Mazā Gilde, a performance venue in Old-Town.

Friday, March 26, marked the beginning of the J. Jurjānu International Brass Competition, hosted by the JVLMA. The event began with a concert of the JVLMA Brass Ensemble under the direction of Janis Retenais. Bill played piccolo trumpet on Old French Dances which can be viewed here (Old French Dances, part 1, Old French Dances, part 2). We're still working out some issues with the camera tripod, but this will give you the idea! Two of Bill's trumpet students, Janis Ivuskans and Guntis Supe, are participating in the competition this week, for which we wish them luck.

Outside of Bill's work-related activity, our family has had some really fun experiences over the past few weeks. As Sarah mentioned in the previous blog post, we attended the Riga Cirks (Circus), right across the street from our apartment. On March 8 we celebrated "International Women's Day." We also attended a childrens' opera, Hansel and Gretl, presented by the JVLMA Opera Studio and recently attended a performance of the Prokofiev ballet Romeo and Juliet at the National Opera. They performed the "Rostropovic Version" with the orchestra on stage and dancers both behind and in-front of the orchestra, which was very effective. Upon explaining the plot to the girls, Leah's response was "Wow...there's a whole lot of dying in this area!" You've got that right, kiddo.

While at the ballet, Niki and the girls met some Americans from Houston, Texas, and began to chat. It turns out that one of them, Mary Ring, attended Northwest Missouri State University!

Mary works with "Julianna Poor Memorial Counseling Center" at Houston's First Baptist Church and has traveled to Latvia over the past several years to assist with counseling programs here. Now who would have thought that people with ties to Maryville, Missouri, would randomly meet in the 2nd Balcony of the Latvian National Opera house?! Unbelievable...

Last weekend we took the tram to go ice-skating at LIDO on Krasta iela. We're starting to get more used to public transportation here, which is a good thing. Sarah and Leah had never skated, so we had a great time with the penguins.

Because Sarah's class is studying penguins (btw, check out the Horace Mann 3rd level class blog here!), we're calling the penguin with the tie "Captain Cook."

The girls both did an excellent job and had a great time. We are really fortunate to have two daughters who actually like each other and, in general, play well together. Here are some pictures we took yesterday morning in the sunshine!

Here's a picture of money we use in Latvia. The "Lat" is worth roughly $2 U.S., depending on the exchange rate. A "Santim," similar to a penny, is worth about 2 cents. The following coins are found in the picture 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 Santims...plus 1 and 2 Lats. The paper bills are in 5, 10, and 20 Lat denominations.

Daylight-savings time actually begins today for us, two weeks later than in the U.S., so it's probably best to sign-off for now. More updates to come!

Posted by Sarah (with a little help from dad)

2010-03-13T06:35:00.006-06:00

Recently we went to see the Rigas Cirks (circus). It is on the other side of the street we live on and has been there for over 100 years. There were acrobats, animals, and some crazy clowns. We had a great time! My favorite part were the acrobats. There was an act where a lady tied 1 foot to a rope and a man held on to the other foot making the lady do the splits. Then the rope lifted them in the air about 30 feet!

Today we went to a children's opera production of Engleberts Humperdinks Ansitis un Grietina (Englebert Humperdink's Hansel and Gretl). It was at the Jazepa Vitola Latvijas Muzikas Akademijas and was presented by the Operstudija FIGARO. It was very nice, but the witch had a 3 inch-long nose! The singing, dancing, costumes, and scenery were all very, very good. Leah and I really liked it.

Here is a picture of me reading a Nancy Drew Notebook while my dad was practicing trumpet. All the different rooms at the music academy are very nice, but very different from each other. Some of them have beautiful views of the Opera House and the park. Here is another picture...

That's all for now. Visu labu!

Museums, Weather, and The Nutcracker

2010-03-03T13:05:00.001-06:00

We visited the Natural History Museum of Latvia on February 25. Since it's located at the corner of K. Barona iela and Merkela iela (just across from the Music Academy), we didn't have a long way to walk! There were Palaeontology, Geology, Zoology, Entomology, and Anthropology exhibits broken into two sections; those specific to Latvia and the Baltics, and those from around the world. The presentation of artifacts was very well put-together, and there were lots of fun interactive rooms for the kiddos...

Very interesting, and quite affordable!

In case this seems like a gigantic 6-month vacation, Bill must point out that most of his teaching and playing takes place in the late-afternoons and evenings. Since we're not into a lot of "night-on-the-town" activity, this works out pretty well for everybody.

We had a spell of warmer, above-freezing weather in which the temperature and light-rain melted a great deal of snow. When this happens, falling ice is a bit of an issue. We're taking care to watch for potential problem areas and trying to avoid them, if possible. Here's a picture to demonstrate.

We know that this happens in big cities around the globe, it's just that we don't see the following in Maryville, Missouri, U.S.A.

And here's the shot zoomed-out!

That's got to be a rough gig.

On Saturday, February 27, we attended a matinee performance of The Nutcracker at the National Opera house. The dancing, music, and scenery were amazing, and we had a fantastic time. Tickets were quite affordable for this as well!

Big fun.

Today, March 3, we walked through Central Market to look at various stuff and then visited the Dolls Art Museum in the Spikeru area, which is kind of like a newly-refurbished "warehouse district," much like the 18th and Vine area in Kansas City, Missouri (for you Kansas City jazz fans out there!). Although pictures weren't allowed in the actual museum, we took a few shots in the main lobby.

There were some fun interactive art games, mostly involving sand. We had a little bit of drama when, as we were just about ready to put on our coats and leave, some military police and a K-9 bomb-sniffing dog entered the museum! As they proceeded to perform a security sweep, we were informed that Valdis Zatlers, President of the Republic of Latvia, was taking a tour. We stayed an extra 20 minutes for an opportunity to meet him, but decided to leave and get home before dark! Anyway, his security guards (and dog) seemed friendly and business-like. All in all, a fun week for the Richardson family.

Symphony Orchestra and Sigulda

2010-02-24T02:08:00.011-06:00

Last week was quite busy with musical activity. Bill played 3rd trumpet and the muted piccolo trumpet solo on Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition for 3 Childrens' Concerts at the Liela Gilde (Large Hall...home of the Latvian National Symphony) on Wednesday, February 17.

Trumpeters Janis Ivuskans, Viljams Ricardsons, and Guntis Supe

The performance was broken into several parts, with a narrator discussing the music and other things about the orchestra and instruments. Niki, Sarah, and Leah attended the first performance, which featured students from the Art Academy painting on-stage while the orchestra performed. Although we didn't understand much of the conversation, the concept was very cool and we all had loads of fun.

On Friday, February 19, the J.V.L.M.A. Symphony Orchestra performed Pictures, a Latvian piece called Migla, and Chopin's Piano Concerto in E at the Great Hall on Barona iela. Janis Ivuskans was called away to perform with the symphony in Liepaja, so Bill stepped-in to play principal trumpet for the performance.

On Saturday, we took a train ride to Sigulda, Latvia, with fellow Fulbrighters Ardyth, Gabe, and Tom. This city features the luge/skeleton/bobsled track on which Latvian Olympic athletes train. We rode the "soft bobslejs" on the actual track. Here's a video we found that features our exact experience (minus sideways snow in near-blizzard conditions!): Sigulda Soft Bobslejs

It...was...AWESOME! Apparently, we reached speeds up to 70 Kilometers per hour, which is over 40 MPH, through 12 twists and turns. Gabe and Tom were the first brave souls to take the plunge.

Needless to say, we had fun. When we reached the bottom, two soft bobsleds were piled into a truck, along with the passengers.

Our truck passenger friends from Lithuania

When we reached the top again, we traveled to the men's start (starts a bit higher and has 4 extra turns before joining-up with the women's start). Here are some fun pics:

After we grabbed some lunch, we took a micro-bus to Turaida Castle, a 13th-century medieval structure. We took a short hike...

then found the Watch Tower, which was open to the public. Everyone walked all the way to the top through some steep, winding stairs and caught some neat scenery along the way.

Minus the castle and watch tower, the landscape looked a lot like Warsaw, Missouri, after a major snow.

There was a museum that we visited for a short time. We were a bit rushed because we didn't want to miss the early train home. Sarah and Leah had never ridden a train before, so this was a fun experience on many different levels.

We arrived back in Riga and are still talking about our trip to Sigulda. Although there are many other places we will likely visit while in Latvia, it's likely that we will return to this beautiful place.

Valentine's Day, Music, School, Ballet, Church, and the Olympics

2010-02-15T13:39:00.004-06:00

Priecīgu Valentīna dienu everybody! We hope that everyone had a fantastic Valentine's Day. Here's our "Valentine Story:" Niki and Bill started dating in the summer of 1987 when we were both students at Lee's Summit (MO) High School. We were married December 19, 1992, and now have two beautiful daughters, Sarah and Leah. We now live in Riga, Latvia, and have later bed-times than in Maryville, MO, U.S.A.

This is Liva Kalnina, our Latvian language teacher. We have been meeting with her about once a week, and she has been very helpful teaching us basic pronounciation, vocabulary, and important history and traditions of the country. The Latvian language has several sounds that English simply doesn't share, so Liva has had her work cut-out for her! We feel lucky to have found her (thanks Irene!) and Liva has been a big help.

Bill played trumpet at St. Saviour's Anglican Church in Old Town yesterday morning. The organist is Kristine Adamaite, an outstanding musician and graduate of the J.V.L.M.A. Here's a link (warning, the mp3 recorder was acting-up a bit and there are some funny sounds at the beginning):

"Allegro" from "Suite in D Major" by G. F. Handel

We've had a few inquiries about the home-schooling adventure. We've settled-in to what seems to be a workable morning routine for everybody. On weekday mornings, Sarah and Bill walk to the Music Academy, find a room from one of the nice "key-ladies," and hang-out for a couple of hours, during which time she works on assignments (spelling, mathematics, hand-writing, reading, journaling, piano practice) and he practices trumpet. During this time, Leah stays with Niki and they work on things here at the apartment. The late-morning and afternoon are filled with lots of other educational activities, so everyone is getting a lot done. We feel very fortunate to have the help of Mrs. Farlow and Mrs. Rogers from the Horace Mann Laboratory School at Northwest Missouri State University.

The educational system is a bit different here, and many of the applied teachers at the Music Academy don't actually have an office...they check-out a key from one of the ladies at the entrance of the building, then proceed to practice or teach in that room. There is a master schedule, but many of the lessons get moved around because of schedule conflicts. No complaints, by the way; it's just a different system to which one adjusts. Anyway, the really interesting part of this is that Sarah and Bill have actually spent quality time in several different, and quite unique, rooms at the JVLMA.

When Sarah and Bill are finished, they come home and Bill takes Leah to run errands!

Leah has really begun to love elevators. Since we don't have a lot of those in Maryville, the world is her oyster!

We're having some fun with this...

Leah's class back in Maryville has been doing a "Healthy Foods" unit, so Niki and the little ladies made-up a board game called "Eat Right" that looks like this:

From the Fulbright side of things, Bill has been busy teaching applied lessons to the trumpet students at the Jāzepa Vītola Latvijas Mūzikas akadēmijas. He also teaches trumpet players and co-coaches (with Janis Retenais) an excellent brass quintet from the Jāzepa Mediņa Mūzikas Skolas. He continues as the flugelhorn player in the Latvian Brass Band and is playing in the J.V.L.M.A. Symphony Orchestra for 4 performances of Pictures at an Exhibition this week. Schmuyle...every trumpet player's favorite muted piccolo trumpet excerpt!

Latvia Fulbrighters "Night on the Town!"

(left to right - Irene Geisler, Gabriel Burkett, William Richardson, Leah Richardson, Thomas Rotnem, Sarah Richardson, Niki Richardson, Michael Dozler, and Ardyth Sohn)

Bill's primary contact at the J.V.L.M.A. is brass coordinator and tuba/euphonium teacher Janis Retenais. In addition to Bill's teaching duties, Janis has kept him busy with adjudicating responsibilities. Last Wednesday was the first "Youth Music Competition" on which Bill served as a member of the official jury. These events are kind of like "Solo and Ensemble Contest" in Missouri, except the players are from a greater age range (probably ages 9-17 or so), play 2-3 memorized solos with piano, and perform in a larger room (often on a stage). The jury this last week had four members, and they heard 16 saxophone players and 15 brass players. If he didn't get it right the first time, Bill is scheduled to serve as an official adjudicator for six more of these events, taking him outside of Riga to see how music schools operate in places other than "the big city." Hmm..."Rural Music Education in Latvia," - sounds like a Fulbright proposal! I wonder if I know anyone who would be interested in researching along these lines?

Latvia is well-known for its National Opera, which features outstanding opera and ballet productions. We attended our first performance at the opera house this past Wednesday evening for a "children's rock ballet" of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This was a collaborative production between the Rīga Choreography School, the Kristiansund School of Ballet from Norway, Denmark's Emīls Dārziņš School of Music, and the Copenhagen Music College. The hall is amazing, and the performance was excellent!

From a church perspective, we have lots of "needs" including, but not limited to, active youth program, worship in English, etc. We visited St. Saviour's Anglican Church last week (and Bill returned to play there this morning), which is an English-language church in Old Town. We also visited the Riga Reformed Church yesterday afternoon at 4 p.m. While the service was in Latvian, English translation was provided through headsets. We felt really good about it, especially since Sarah and Leah ran-off with the rest of the children for the entire service! We've come a long way, baby. It was a more contemporary style of worship with guitarists and microphoned singing, something that felt familiar. Countryside Christian Church-goers will be pleased to know that "Here I am to Worship" sounds even more beautiful in Latvian! Special thanks to Mission to the World missionaries Becky and Carl Chaplin for informing us about this church...we will be back!

We will admit that living here in Latvia has given us a bit more of a global perspective than we formerly had regarding cooperation and understanding which is, of course, one of the primary reasons for the existence of the Fulbright program. Now we would never encourage anyone to cheer against their own country (unless they wanted to, of course!), but feel free to consider following the Olympic exploits of some Latvian athletes.

Latvians Martins Dukurs (skeleton), Jānis Miņins (bobsled captain), Roberts Rode (men's alpine skiing), the Latvian hockey team, and many others are definitely worth watching!

Our final picture is with Dzemma, the primary daytime security guard in our apartment. She has been very helpful and even knitted wool socks for the girls. A very nice lady...

Okay, that's it for now. Visu labu!

Visitors, School, Embassy, Dome Cathedral

2010-02-01T15:27:00.002-06:00

We've had a LOT happen in the last 2 weeks, so we'll try to fit it all in. Our apartment is newly-refurbished and our landlady has done a fantastic job purchasing items for us. Since we've been here, we have acquired two living room chairs, a desk, a bookshelf, a living room rug, and a ton of appliances and accessories for cooking and everything. We're really pleased with our Latvia home, especially that it's comfortable, safe, and close to the JVLMA. Leah and Sarah have been busy decorating their bedroom with artwork!

As a matter of fact, these pictures were taken about a week ago and there are now so many more colorful drawings and watercolors on the wall that the girls have named it "Pixie Hollow." Here's another from last week:

We had some visitors on January 23-24...Northwest graduate Ben Mendenhall and his friend Meghan Benegar flew to Riga from London, where they have served as interns (he's with Deutsche Bank Group) since August, 2009 and are working on graduate certificates in International Business Practice at St. Mary's University College. Murphy's Law helped them to pick the coldest weekend of the year to visit our fair city, but we had a fantastic time hanging-out.

Ben is a Phi Mu Alpha-Upsilon Chi Chapter alum, and we were the first people "from home" he had seen since August. Once a Sinfonian, Always a Sinfonian...

Whilst showing Meghan and Ben the area around the Freedom Monument, we found the "Lock-Bridge" we had been reading about. In an adjoining park, married couples place padlocks onto this bridge and throw the key in the water as a symbol of their devotion...pretty sweet!

The two above pictures were stolen from Ben's facebook site and the images got a bit fuzzy...sorry.

School officially began at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music on Monday, January 25, 2010. Bill's started teaching and played flugelhorn with the Latvian Brass Band for their weekly rehearsal. On Wednesday, he met with the extraordinarily helpful folks at the U.S. Embassy here in Riga. Since we're here longer than 90 days, Fulbrighters must apply for a Temporary Residence permit, a procedure that apparently takes quite a bit of paper-pushing. Luckily (for us, at least), the Embassy staff do most of the actual work making things happen! Paperwork is NOT Viljam's strong point, on ANY continent.

Friday, January 29, was quite eventful for the whole family. Bill was invited to participate in a Fulbright M.O.U. signing ceremony at the Latvian Ministry of Education and Science. Here is their web-site: U.S. Embassy in Riga, Latvia. It was fun, but he learned that people walking are supposed to obey traffic signals here. On the way home, Viljams Ricardson received a written warning from a Latvian police officer...we will now wait for the signal to turn green before crossing the street! BTW, some of us seriously considered scanning the official citation to post on this blog, but cooler heads prevailed!

Friday afternoon Bill helped adjudicate the 15th annual Youth Music Competition for young Latvian musicians. He served on the jury with adjudicators from Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia.

Friday night we experienced living history at Riga's Dome Cathedral, a Lutheran church that is almost 800 years old. We weren't able to get a good outdoor picture of this amazing structure, but here is a good starting place: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riga_Cathedral BTW, my apologies to those who don't "like" wikipedia. Believe it or not, the Cathedral and it's enormous pipe organ are amongst the most widely-regarded in all of Europe. Janvaris 29 marked Bill's first performance in Latvia! He performed with the group Brass.lv (Richardson and Guntis Supe on trumpet; Arvydas Valatkjavicus, horn; Rudolfs Kulbergs, trombone; and Kaspars Smits, tuba) and with the JVLMA Organ Professor and Cathedral Concert Organist Talivaldis Deksnis. Niki and the little ladies hiked to Old Town from our apartment for the 7 p.m. performance. It was really a fun experience, with great music, a beautiful medieval cathedral, a communal bathroom, 8-second reverberation, and COMPLETE audience silence (no applause) until the end of the performance. Here are two podcasts from the concert: Contrapunctus I by J. S. Bach - Hallejulah Chorus by G. F. Handel. Here is a picture of the performers in the lobby after the gig:

(Bill, Guntis, Arvydas, Kaspars, Rudolfs, tympanist)

Sarah and Leah have been busy doing school-work during the weekdays. The remainder of educational materials arrived on Friday the 29th as well, so we're off and running with activities. In addition to school-work, the weather warmed-up enough for us to get outside a bit this weekend. Interestingly, we seem to get more snow when it's +20F than when it's -18F! Go figure...

Anyway, Bill's checking to see whether he can get some video posted soon. We shall see. Until then, Uz redzēšanos!

Happy Birthday Leah Richardson!!!!!!

2010-01-17T12:45:00.002-06:00

Well, our little 5 year-old is now a big-girl 6 year-old! We had a ton of fun Saturday, January 16, 2010, visiting LIDO-Centre with our new friend Mike Johnson (an American gentleman who's lived in Latvia for 9 years and runs the Patricia Tourist Office - www.rigalatvia.net). LIDO is by far our favorite restaurant in Riga, and this one featured an ice-skating rink and lots of fun activities for the kiddos. In the following picture, Niki and Bill (on the left) are being tourists and taking a picture of the girls in front of this massive eating establishment.

With the ability to seat 1,000 people, this is supposedly Europe's largest log-cabin structure, and it's made completely out of Latvian timber. As with our first visit to the LIDO restaurant close to our apartment, the food was cheesy, rich, and awesome, making us more appreciative of all the walking we're doing to counter-balance the excessive calorie intake! This was our first experience with public transportation as well; we rode the tram to get there, necessitating our first etalons purchase. Here's a picture of the family bundled-up after a warm meal:

We all enjoyed our trip and made it home in time to have Skype birthday parties with both sets of grandparents and with friends. This was a VERY action-packed day! We bought a beautiful Sokolade Torte from a pastry store nearby for the festivities!

Lots of tasty layers in this cake (which we're told is "par for the course" here), the contents of which elicited mixed reactions from some of those more-picky Richardsons. No worries, however, the chocolate roses on the top went over BIG!

On Friday January 15, we met our friend Irene Geisler (a student Fulbrighter from Western Michigan University researching WW-II history of Latvia) for a lunch-date. Irene was kind enough to check-out our apartment for us this fall. It was exceptionally cold, so we all took a quick walking tour of Old Town and ate lunch at Rozengrals, a medieval candle-lit restaurant that was mentioned in 1293 Riga City Council records as a festival place and wine-vault. Good food and good company...HUZZAH!

Irene also set us up with Latvian language lessons with Liva Kalnina, a law student who goes to school just down the street from our apartment. Liva seemed very nice and we're looking forward to learning how to pronounce these words more correctly (as well as what words to pronounce!).

Other items...the girls have started to sleep through the night in their rooms this week. Bill visited the Central Market today and discovered MAXIMA, a Dollar General-type store that had cheap clothes hangers and other items that seemed way too expensive at the mall (as they are in the U.S. as well...maybe we're not so different after all!). The market environment (inside several buildings that look like airplane hangars, plus the outside tables) is pretty amazing and fast-paced. We think that there are some decent deals, but Bill was moving too fast to catch everything. He met with several of the trumpet students at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music and will start teaching tomorrow, January 18, a week early. He has been appointed the flugelhorn player in the Latvian Brass Band and will attend his first rehearsal with them on Monday.

We have had a couple of questions about our apartment. The way things are set-up, we actually don't live in a flat overlooking the street, as opposed to the ones you see in this picture. Instead, there is a password-protected gate we enter from the busy sidewalk, then walk through a small courtyard to get to our building. With this arrangement, we really don't hear much street-noise. All-in-all, we certainly can't complain. With the weather, we're looking forward to reaching 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) to do some serious outdoor play with the kiddos.

There are lots of great things happening here. Of course, we keep up with many of you via e-mail and facebook. The plan at this point is to post a blog entry each week...we'll see how long that lasts!

Our Sunday in Riga

2010-01-10T15:47:00.003-06:00

Okay, LOTS to talk about (sorry...about which to talk!). We just dumped pictures onto the computer, so here is a shot of the ladies on one of our plane flights. Sarah and Leah brought their American Girl dolls (Emily and Rebecca) and got to join in watching "Scooby Doo" to help pass the time. The old ones are the best ones!

I had a good meeting with Janis Retenais (tuba teacher and chair of the brass area at JVLMA) and Janis Purins (wind orchestra conducting teacher at JVLMA and a well-known band director in Latvia) on Friday afternoon. They were actually at the airport Thursday to greet us, but a luggage issue made us an hour late and we weren't able to chat. For the Friday meeting, we were able to iron-out a few details about my teaching assignment and other musical things. While at the JVLMA I met Rector Artis Simanis and Vice-Rector for International Relations Maija Sipola. They were very gracious hosts and offered me tickets to the Academy's 90th anniversary concert the next night.

On Saturday we met Ryan Roberts, the Public Affairs Officer for the U.S. Embassy here in Riga. He took us to lunch at a restaurant called Lido, which has traditional Latvian food, cafeteria-style. Everybody liked it, and that's saying a LOT!

Saturday night I went to the JVLMA 90th anniversary concert at the "Large Hall" in Old Town, home of the Latvian National Symphony. There were many fine performances from the student choir, orchestra, and brass quintet. Several recent graduates performed as soloists with the orchestra, and it was fantastic.

The above picture is of Niki and the girls (all 4 of them!) in front of the Freedom Monument, one of the more important landmarks in the country. This was taken around 16:00 (4 p.m.) and it was getting quite cold after the 6 blocks or so. I think that we'll be much better at mid/long-distance walking in a couple of weeks!

Right next to the Freedom Monument is the Laima Clock, a common gathering place for people meeting to visit Old Town, and a park with gigantic snowmen. On the way home, we stopped for a quick picture of the Latvian National Opera house, which is a beautiful and massive facility right on the river (and quite close to our home!). Finally, we have some pictures of our apartment, which includes a locked gate, locked main door, security guard, and dozens of other important safety-related elements. We are living in a big city with a population of over 700,000 people after all, so it's good to be careful.

Hello from Latvia

2010-01-07T23:06:00.001-06:00

It's official, we made it! The Richardsons are missing 5 pieces of luggage (apparently left in Frankfurt), but those are to be delivered today. Just trying to figure things out and get acclimated. Pictures included in the next post!

How do you pack for a 6 month trip?

2010-01-05T20:16:00.001-06:00

The answer is...I'll let you know in a couple of days. We leave from DFW tomorrow and arrive in Riga Thursday afternoon. It sounds like several friends from the JVLMA will be at the airport, as well as some very helpful folks from the U.S. Embassy, complete with a large vehicle for our baggage (boy, do we have baggage!).

We hope to have some pictures in a couple of days. Until then, Uz redzēšanos!

Details, details, details...

2009-09-27T23:33:00.004-05:00

So I just received the "official" Fulbright Grant Packet which looks like a contract (I guess it IS, actually). Once copies of this material travel to the head-honchos at the Administration Building of Northwest Missouri State University we've cleared another hurdle.

Now we gather all the paperwork like birth certificates, marriage license, Grant Packet, etc. for notarization followed by sending to Jefferson City, MO, for apostille. After that we've got to: 1) continue to learn Latvian, 2) find an apartment, 3) look into overseas insurance, 4) figure out what & how much/little we should take, 5) work on travel arrangements, 6) practice trumpet for a February trumpet recital, and much, much more.

Anyway, we're happy for the opportunity and I know that this will be an experience that "the ladies" and I will remember for the rest of our lives...kind of like those canoe trips down the Missouri River with my old man, except MUCH safer!