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On stage in Spain

Southwest Minnesota State University Touring Ensemble plays three concerts in central Spain

Beautiful towns, lots of great food, appreciative audiences and churches dating back to the 1300s were just a part of the itinerary for the contingent from Southwest Minnesota State University during its trip to Spain.

From May 11-20, SMSU students, faculty, alumni and community members visited central Spain. The tour included three instrumental concerts by the SMSU Touring Ensemble.

“I started planning this trip two years ago,” said John Ginocchio, SMSU director of bands. Ginocchio said he used Concept Tours out of New York, which works with a Spanish company called Oros Travel and Tours.

When Ginocchio took his first trip with Concept three-and-a-half years ago, the group he went with were taken to several villages, giving him a chance to see the villages and possible performance venues.

“I had a sense of which areas I would like to perform in,” Ginocchio said.

Some of the spots worked and some didn’t, he said, so alternate locations would be found. One such alternate location had to found as the original venue for one of the concerts had an issue with its roof.

“They lined up another location for us,” Ginocchio said.

The tour included several cities in the central part of Spain. Ginocchio said the first stop was in Madrid. Other cities the group visited were Toledo, Segovia, Burgos, Salamanca and Avila.

SMSU student Maxx Louwagie said he went to have a whole new experience and see something new. He said Toledo was one of the highlights.

“It was such a really cool town,” Louwagie said of Toledo, adding that everything was so close. Louwagie also noted the cathedral.

A typical day included touring some of the major sites of the cities. Ginocchio said each day had a little bit of free time where the students and others could shop, eat and explore things further. Each city had its own highlights, he said. For example, there was the Royal Palace and the Prado Museum in Madrid; the cathedral and swordsmith’s shop in Toledo; Titirimundi, an international puppet festival, and Alcazar, the king’s castle in Segovia; a cathedral and castle in Burgos, the city wall in Avila and a university celebrating its 800th year in Salamanca.

For the concerts, the band of 12 performed at Escuela Musical Tres Cantos, a music school; the Church of Santa Maria in Aranda De Duero and the church of the Monastery de San Blas in Lerma. The Church of the Monastery de San Blas in Lerma holds a convent of Dominican nuns, Ginocchio said.

“We were hosted by the sisters of that convent,” Ginocchio said. “We were allowed to perform from within their cloister, which is usually off-limits to everyone.”

Afterward, some of the sisters tried playing some of the instruments, Ginocchio said.

“It was actually interesting,” Ginocchio said.

Louwagie said the theater was a fun place to play and the church was beautiful and the convent was also fun.

“A nun played my trombone after we were done,” Louwagie said about the concert at the monastery. “It was really entertaining.”

Ginocchio said the band didn’t rehearse during the trip, but it had four three-hour-long rehearsals before leaving.

Ginocchio said the pieces the band performed in Spain was selected from music written for flexible instrumentation.

“So we can adjust for the players that we had,” Ginocchio said.

Ginocchio said the band did one small performance before the trip at the Christ United Presbyterian Church.

Almost all of the cities the group toured had been around for a long time, Ginocchio said, and some date back to the 700s and 800s.

Ginocchio said the places the band performed tended to be very live venues, very resonant. The band had to make adjustments as to how to perform the music.

“Some of the pieces we played were very ideal for that location,” Ginocchio said. Some of the pieces the ensemble performed included “Fanfare and Flourishes,” “Salvation Is Created,” a Greek Orthodox piece, “My Favorite Things,” and the “Liberty Bell March.”

All the concerts were open to the community. There was a packed house at the venue in Lerma, Ginocchio said, with standing room only.

Ginocchio said European audiences were appreciative.

“They love to hear live music,” he said. “They’re fun to play for.”

Louwagie said traveling to Spain was a good experience.

“I would go again in a heartbeat,” Louwagie said.

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