Prague Journal

Monday, May 9, 2005

The American Embassy and Fulbright folks had asked Karen and me to give a presentation at the Woodrow Wilson Center, which is scheduled for next week. Karen and I do very different things, but we think alike, so we agreed to turn our forced-fit two-some into a panel, with Alena and Marcela at the Sociology Institute to bridge the gap. The four of us met this afternoon to coordinate our presentations and plan the format.
Later in the afternoon I spoke with Alena’s Gender Studies class, an interesting contrast to the Entrepreneurship class I had taught for Martin. These women clearly were not interested in starting businesses, fully understanding the time commitment and fearful of the risks. We had an interesting discussion about women’s versus men’s goals and priorities, including gender stereotypes and social pressures.
The American Embassy invited all the Fulbrighters to a “Gala Concert on the 60th Anniversary of the Liberation of Czechoslovakia” this evening at the Rudolfinum. The invitation said “dinner jacket,” which we interpreted to mean “formal.” There were a few tuxes, and most people were in typical theater-formal dress, but there were also a lot of men and women in full-dress military uniforms. The first part of the program was performed by the Band of the Armed forced of the Czech Republic, conducted by LTC Viliam Bereš, and the second half by the 76th Army Band, conducted by SFC Kevin G. Reibel, a man who, despite the trim and well-decorated uniform, looks more like a weight-lifter or breast-stroker than a bandleader.
http://www.imms-online.org/html/united_states.html
Before the program started, there were several awards given to several Czech officers. The Czech part of the program then started with the 4th movement of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, and included familiar works by Smetana, Khachaturian, Mácha, and last, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. After an intermission, the American musicians came on the stage, at first with some of the Czechs to round out a full orchestra – sans strings of course, but with a full concert grand piano – to play Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, with a masterful piano performance by a woman who is a Czech émigré in the US army. Then the stage was cleared for the 20 men in the jazz band – 17 on brass and a string bass and piano and, for one number, a clarinet. There were also two vocal soloists for “It don’t mean a thing,” and “Almost like being in love.” It goes without saying that the tenor of the music changed. The whole demeanor of the American band was different, more relaxed and upbeat, than the Czech band, with lots of improv and saxophone, trombone, drum and piano solos. After two encores, the full American-band contingency came out and performed Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever. Wow.

posted by JWinn @ 10:52 PM