A short report on Banja Luka

Irma Kort, oboist and soloist in the NBE (Netherlands Wind Ensemble) was in Bosnia-Herzegovina from 18th – 25th November working on behalf of Musicians without Borders. Since 2006 Irma has been closely involved in MwB’s project to give wind music in BiH a fresh impulse. Now, several times a year, she gives master classes in oboe and wind ensemble playing in the Music Academies in Sarajevo and Banja Luka, the capital city of Republika Srpska, the Serb entity within Bosnia-Herzegovina. Here is her report.

I left for Sarajevo from Schiphol airport on Sunday morning. The sheet music had already been sent by email. But I had several things to discuss with the staff of the MwB office in Sarajevo.

When I arrived at the office, the Winds of Change, the new wind ensemble with which [NBE saxophonist] Willem van Merwijk is also involved, was already downstairs in the building rehearsing for their tour in December. It was great to reconnect with all the students who participated in the Sarajevo Summer Festival concert with the Netherlands Wind Ensemble [July 2006].

After a short meeting, we had to press on to Banja Luka. The weather forecast was not so good. The journey took about 5 hours and some of the roads were impassable. The last descent into the valley in which Banja Luka lies was like a skating rink – more sliding than driving. I just went to sleep, eyes closed, and waited for it all to be over.

Few resources
The next day we had a working meeting in the Music Academy that is housed in an old army barracks. The director is working to organize additional master-classes and workshops as well as an international summer course. This will attract more students and increase the size of the class. The Academy only started 8 years ago and they are struggling with a shortage of instruments, teachers and money. They really want to expand but the means are often unavailable. There are still no regular classes for double bass, accordion, bassoon, percussion, oboe and saxophone.

Body percussion
After this meeting, it was time to meet the students and for the first rehearsal. I did not know who would participate or what instrument they played. The parts I had brought with me were not specific to particular instruments. One of the concert pieces called for percussion, but there were no percussionists or percussion instruments. I had the students do the last part of the composition as ‘body percussion’. They were great and really enjoyed this improvisation.

We enjoyed the rehearsals a lot. The repertoire was modern and rather unfamiliar, but much of it was appealing since it was composed by people of their own age. On Tuesday evening, the lights went out during the rehearsal. We continued by the light of our mobile phones! It was very special. The lights came back on after an hour. We just carried on.

The rehearsals
Wednesday was a day off; all institutions were closed, including the Academy. But the children wanted to continue their rehearsals so they had arranged to obtain the keys to their secondary school and we were able to rehearse again.

Many of the students cannot speak English well, so that gave me the chance to improve my Serbian, which was sometimes quite hilarious.

Giving lessons with heart and soul
On Wednesday, oboist Veronika Antunovic joined us from Novi Sad. She had come on the night bus and arrived at 7 o’clock in the morning. After a planning meeting, we rehearsed the whole day. Veronika then went home on the night bus again since she had a rehearsal for the Novi Sad Orchestra the next day. It was great to see her. She is devoted to her students and knows all about their families and what aspects of their music they need to improve. It is wonderful to work with her. She puts heart and soul into her teaching, travelling by bus once a fortnight from Novi Sad to Banja Luka to teach – that’s a journey of about 7 hours if you get the fast bus!

Tension builds
The students worked very hard to get our performance together – they had only a week and the program exposed them to techniques and other features that they had never experienced before. And, of course, the tension increased as the concert approached! What would the public think? Could everyone keep up? Would the right notes come at the right time?!!

On Friday, the day of the concert, the players from Lukavica and Sarajevo arrived only after the rehearsal was finished. That made it extra tense for that evening! They had encountered thick fog on the road and there was no time to rehearse together. The players all had teachers, friends and family in the auditorium.

First up was a speech and a thank you by me in my ‘quaint’ Serbian. I had rehearsed the pronunciation until deep in the night with Dejan, a clarinet student, in return for all the free time I had spent with him to help with the Weber clarinet concerto - something I really wanted to do.

Resounding success
The concert was a resounding success! All the students were radiant. We were asked for an encore!

And then off we went to the car to return to Sarajevo. On the way to Banja Luka a week earlier, I had mentioned the author Ivo Andric to Baya. Two hours into our trip back to Sarajevo, Baya said that we were going for a meal – at at restaurant that had been Andric’s house! The restaurant served us the most delicious cheese and salted sausage and meats, with garlic bread, other yummies and beer. The restaurant owner loves music and promised us a round of drinks if Adnan and Vladimir played something – a great idea! Just a while later, the restaurant was full (this was one o’clock in the morning). People had heard our music and brought their instruments play and sing along. It was a wonderful party. At about 3 a.m. the chauffeur said we really should think about driving on, so at 3.30 a.m. we were back in the car.

The old city
I arrived at the hotel near five o’clock in the morning. I could not sleep and went out to walk around the old town. As the morning wore on, I bought some CDs by the Mostar Sevdah Reunion and some other things, then enjoyed a Turkish coffee in one of the old cafes.
Sarajevo feels like coming home, the rush of the cars, the view of the mountains, the sound of the mosques in the morning, the delicious coffee, tea and baklava, tarts and sirnica [pastries with cheese], the copper smiths and the smell of cevapi [beef and lamb sausages on the grill] all around the old town. My coat still smells of it and my scarf and the rest of my clothes.
There are always tears once in the plane, so tired from all the work and so little sleep.

Together on the podium
The students have stolen my heart, in Sarajevo and now in Banja Luka. Despite all the politics and all the divisions and borders, they stand together on the stage to give a concert. They are greeted so warmly everywhere whatever the audience! I always want to take all of them home with me. They are the reason I so want to do this work; they give my work and my art meaning.

Greetings from Irma