Washingtonians meet Estonians.

In September 2004, five music teachers from Washington State traveled to Estonia, Russia and Finland to share and experience music with colleagues and students. Here is their story...

When John Pickett, professor of piano at Central Washington University, performed in a concert in Moses Lake Washington in 2001, Moses Lake MTA chapter member, Marina Aur, asked if he'd like to play a similar concert in her native country, Estonia. Pickett was thrilled about the invitation, "Sure!" he answered. So began the tentative plans for a nine-day journey to not only Estonia, but also Russia and Finland, which were added to the itinerary.

Three years later on September 19, 2004, Pickett and Aur, along with three other music teachers--Mary Merrell, Harriet West and Elizabeth Grunst--left Seattle, Washington for Tallinn, Estonia's capital. From there the group traveled three hours to Narva--a border town separated from Russia by the Narva River with a population of 63,000 and Aur's hometown. During their six-day stay in Narva, Pickett, gave a master class and lecture-recital at the Narva School of Music, which has a staff of more than 60 and more than 400 students studying piano, accordion, strings, percussion, brass, woodwinds and voice--Pickett even had the opportunity to work directly with seven of the students, ages 10-15. The following day, Pickett presented his lecture, Gershwin: The Bridge Between Jazz and Classical (interpreted by Aur) and concluded with a performance of Rhapsody in Blue.

The Russian music teachers shared their impressions and experiences in the October 14, 2004 edition of Narva's newspaper, Narvaleht. The following are excerpts from the article:

"John Pickett with ease grasped the content of unfamiliar repertoire and exactly caught the composer's intent. This musician has a special relationship with the piano. He gave special attention to the left hand where he found surprising melodic lines and content. His imaginative ideas were easily understood by the young pianists. The students produced sound miracles to the point that their teachers did not recognize their own students' playing. The teachers very much liked Pickett's imagery such as hands in the water, icy crystals and bird's wings. Pickett possesses an immense musical breadth of knowledge of music. He showed a special affinity for the understanding and performance of the music of Rachmaninoff. He also readily grasped the harmonic language of the Estonian composers and also desired to acquire their compositions. After an image filled lecture, Pickett gave a virtuoso performance of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue that evoked the life of the great New York City. The audience applauded with ovations. We hope that pianist John Pickett will return in the future."

Later, during an interview with an Estonia radio station, Pickett said, "I'm very impressed by the dedication of the Russian teachers and the high level of preparation and performance of their students."

While in Estonia, Pickett also performed concerts in Rakvere and Tallinn, playing Brahms' Quartet in A Major with a chamber group: Katrin Nachtigall (Estonia, violin), Mihhail Slobodjanuk (Russia, viola) and Elina Sipila (Finland, cello). He also played Chopin's Ballade in F Minor.

Before the entire group left Tallin for Helsinki, Finland, three of the teachers spent a day in St. Petersburg, Russia. Grunst, one of the three, remembers spending one long day there, "We left Narva at 6:30 A.M. and returned at midnight. Marina's brother, Misha, drove us in his van for the three-hour trip. He took us to many of the famous historic sights: Church on Spilled Blood, St. Isaac's Cathedral, Fortress of Peter and Paul and the famous Hermitage Museum with over three million objects displayed. The city has been spruced up in the last three years and is incredibly rich in history and beauty."

Merrell, another member of the trio, remembers her experiences of the trip: "There is so much history in these countries. It was a privilege to walk the streets of countries devastated by wars, to be awed by the many stately, majestic buildings, to hear the beautiful music of their composers and to view their exquisite works of art."

After St. Petersburg, the entire group rejoined and left Tallinn for Helsinki, Finland. In Helsinki, the group spent time with music teachers Collin and Margareta Hansen. Longtime friend of Collin Hansen, West, shares her impressions:

"Because of my love of and for music, it was exciting to be part of this trip with music teacher friends. I discovered first-hand the exciting music opportunities that children and people have in Europe--from visiting a large children's music school in Narva, Estonia, to being present, along with Pickett, at an intimate evening of music at the home of Collin and Margareta Hansen. Collin is a Moses Lake native living in Helsinki, teaching as a tenured professor of piano at the Sibelius Academy, lecturing and performing throughout Europe. Margareta is a vivacious, well-known opera singer, lecturer and teacher. It was also great to experience ballet performances of Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty near the country of the composer! How wonderful it would be if America would place as much emphasis on music as Estonia and Finland!"

Since coming to America in 1995, Aur's dream was that American music teachers would meet their Russian colleagues at Narva's Music School where she had been a student and teacher. It took Aur more than seven years to acquire a green card and a year's worth of planning before her dream could be fulfilled. "I am blessed by my friends and music family in America along with my natural and music families in Estonia. I am glad that these families were able to meet, share music and daily life together."

Marina Aur, NCTM, is an independent piano teacher and a graduate student in piano performance/pedagogy at Central Washington University.

Harriet West, has taught private and group piano for 30 years and accompanies the choirs at Moses Lake High School.