From Parkland to Pangrati

Over the past week I have noticed several differences between my house on Yakima Avenue to my apartment on Pangrati. One key difference I have noticed is the music and sounds that fill the city, and as a music education major, I am happy to share my musical experience while in Athens.

As you know, Athens is a very crowded city, filled with busy roads and vocal drivers. Drivers in Athens express every sense of displeasure with a car horn. I swear there isn't thirty seconds that go by without hearing someone honking their horn. Sometimes, when drivers are very angry three or four horns will go off at once and create either diminished or crunchy cluster chords. What? Don't judge me for using my ear training skills. Athens is a very loud city, you can always hear a dog parking or someone yelling. I don't mind it though. Its nice to hear something other than cars without mufflers or booming bass systems that rattle windows.In order to be prepared for upcoming recitals, concerts and juries my new practice room has become our kitchen. When I play, the birds play with me. Sometimes I feel bad for my neighbors because if I'm not loud enough, the neighborhood birds sure seem to make up for it. Like all of Athens the kitchen has great acoustics. Because marble makes up most streets, sidewalks and buildings, street musicians can be heard for blocks. I have seen everything from talented violin players to an equally talented one-man-band extraordinaire. As you can see, Greece is filled with sounds that preserve its culture.

In class, while learning about religion, I've also learned about correlating musical aspects of Greece. Yesterday, while on the island of Corfu, I saw the Corfu Conservatory, one of the best music schools in Greece. The conservatory is located on the island's old fortress and overlooks the Ionian Sea; perfect for all you music nerds out there. I also saw statues of Greek muses including the goddess of music. Its interesting to note how long the Greeks have valued music and still play culturally defining instruments in festivals throughout the year. Maybe I should bring that up in my next fight for music advocacy...

Last but not least, I saw one of the first musical instruments ever made at the Delphi museum. This flute is one of the first instruments that music majors learn about in their music history courses, and I walked on the cite of where it was recovered. SO COOL!!!

In order wrap up this very nerdy and geeky blog post, Greece has a very extensive musical history. In the past week I have been able to appreciate the music surrounding me by making connections to what I learn in Mary Baker Russell Music Center to my trip here in Athens.