Northwestern students perform in Italy

ITALY—Ministry through the universal language of music allowed three college students from the Sibley area to experience the culture of Italy.

Sophomore Morgan Huls, freshman Kyra Visser and senior Timothy Jenson traveled with the Northwestern College Symphonic Band from Orange City March 1-11 as the band toured the country to present five musical mission concerts in Salerno, Rome, Florence, Santa Maria degli Angeli and Padua.

While there, the ensemble also visited sites of historical, spiritual and cultural significance, such as the ruins of Pompeii, St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City, the Colosseum in Rome, the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, the Accademia Gallery in Florence, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and St. Mark’s Square in Venice.

Angela Carlson, conductor of the Symphonic Band, shared the goal of the tour for the audiences and the band.

“Our prayer is that the good news of Jesus Christ would be made known and that we all would be enriched by our performances offered for the glory of God,” Carlson said.

Trip memories

Huls, a sophomore oboe player, music major and 2023 Sibley-Ocheyedan High School graduate, reflected on the impact that the music program at Northwestern College has already made on her education.

“There are many opportunities to express yourself and your musical talent. We travel every year and so you get to experience the thrill of performing for people that have never seen or heard of you before,” Huls said. “As a music major with an emphasis on performance, I don’t think I learn and grow more musically anywhere else than when I am traveling with an ensemble.”

Her favorite parts of the trip included the tour of Pompeii, visiting Venice and the Italian food.

“One aspect of the trip that really stuck out to me was Italy’s deep appreciation for everything around them — their efforts to preserve both religious and secular historical sites, their family recipes and even their traditions,” Huls said. “I find it so amazing that they realize the significance of their land.”

With visits to other European countries already stamped in her passport while participating in an Iowa Ambassadors of Music tour in 2023, Huls noticed a shared love across the continent for Nutella and gelato.

Tendencies unique to Italy that Huls observed were eating the evening meal later, usually sometime between 7:30-9 p.m., and their pace of life.

“They are relaxed, and especially the more south you travel in Italy, the more you find people taking their time and not rushing to get anywhere,” Huls said.

Visser ventured off with an open mind, saying she went without a whole lot of expectations going into it.

The rural Sibley resident attended Western Christian High School in Hull until starting her freshman year at Northwestern College in the fall as a humanities major and member of the band’s percussion section.

“I just trusted that everyone involved in the planning knew what they were doing and went along with it,” Visser said.

Special memories for Visser came from simply exploring the cafés and cities when students had free time, especially away from the typical tourist parts.

“It was so fun to walk about and see where people lived and the coziness of it all,” Visser said. “A group of us went to a cat café in Florence and that was definitely a highlight of my trip.”

The chance to connect with other band members and relax during the nightly group meals — which usually included pasta — also made the list of favorite activities.

“Lastly, I definitely also loved performing,” Visser said. “Whether we had a large audience or only a few people, everyone seemed to respond very positively to the music, and I loved being able to share the love of Christ with them in that way.”

Jenson, a senior majoring in accounting and business management who plays trombone, graduated from Sibley-Ocheyedan High School in 2021.

Of the five performances held at two churches, an auditorium and two hotels, the one most memorable to him took place at a hotel in Santa Maria degli Angeli.

“At the third performance, there were a lot of kids that had flown in from Sicily, and they had been up since 3 a.m., but they still came to the concert scheduled for 8:30 p.m. — arriving at 9:15 p.m. — and were super into it,” Jenson said. “Dr. Carlson invited one of them up to conduct the most intricate song we had, but he did a good job and had fun. That was fun to watch as he navigated the piece and was then mobbed by his peers afterward.”

Also a newbie to international travel, he noticed the stark contrast and unique beauty in the landscape compared to the flatter, more open spaces of N’West Iowa.

“The countryside was a prime example of God’s creative goodness, and even all the houses on the hillsides showcased the creative capability of human beings given to us by God,” Jenson said.

One noticeable difference from the United States included the public drinking fountains. Small wells and springs throughout the cities connected to spouts pouring out clean water, which band members were encouraged to drink and use to refill bottles.

“If there was just water flowing out of a random pipe in a street here, I don’t think I’d drink it,” Jenson said.

His favorite sites were St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and the landscape views from the hilltops in Assisi. The only change he said he would make to the trip would be more time at a few of the locations, especially in Venice to take a gondola ride.

‘Made it work’

Aside from a few schedule changes and minor inconveniences, all three agreed the trip overall went smoothly.

“Though there were times when our schedule would change or be up in the air;all of us students were reminded to ‘pack your flexibility’ and to just go with the flow and take things almost hour by hour,” Huls said.

Jenson added the group lost something in Rome not crucial to continuing with the itinerary, and one person wandered off in Siena but soon returned to the group.

Visser’s main stressors revolved around percussion equipment from the host sites, especially when time restrictions made for a speedy set up.

Anyone who has attended a Symphonic Band concert at Northwestern College may have noticed the hustle of percussion section members as they often move to different instruments within the same piece.

Situations in Italy demanded for even further movement.

“The suspended cymbal they gave us had too much of a low sound, so what we ended up doing was having someone hold one of the crash cymbals instead to use as a suspended cymbal,” Visser said. “Basically, I became the suspended cymbal stand a lot, so that was pretty fun. Sometimes I would have to hold the cymbal with one hand and play my part with my other hand. Our snare drum was also super short — we’re pretty sure it was meant for a drum set — so it was very awkward to play sometimes, but they made it work.”

Return to Iowa

The 48-member band concluded its tour experience with a home concert in Christ Chapel on Northwestern College’s campus Friday, playing selections from the repertoire performed throughout Italy.

Pieces related to the tour’s location included “Vesuvius” by Frank Ticheli and an arrangement from Italian composer Giacomo Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” from his unfinished opera “Turandot.”

“Nessun Dorma is very well known and popular in Italy, so it was so fun to be able to play it for the country that knows it so well. It almost felt like their anthem at some points. Phones would come out to record and it seemed like the applause didn’t want to stop once we were done,” said Katie TeStroete, a French horn player from Sioux Center as she read an introduction to the song during the concert.

Several students shared their trip experiences as they announced upcoming numbers on the concert list. The department also prepared a handout of responses from the band members on how they experienced and saw God’s goodness throughout the music mission tour.

“These are incredible people to travel with,” Carlson said. “I am so honored to be able to be here with them and to be able to travel with them, around the United States and this year, to Italy.

“I consider it a great honor to be able to serve and worship our Lord with these incredible young adults on stage. Most importantly, we want to acknowledge our Creator and our God, who made us to glorify himself. To Him we give great thanks and testify to His goodness.”