Obrigada

We don’t need a common language, religion or background to collaborate in the arts. Culture transcends our differences and brings people together.

I spent last week in Porto, Portugal to prepare and perform in recital with a Brazilian pianist for a weeklong festival. I had not played any of the pieces on our agenda before and had never collaborated with the pianist. For a few months, I studied the program and memorized my parts.

Pianist Marco Brescia and I started to rehearse immediately upon my arrival. Even though Marco spoke English fairly well, our communication suffered since we didn’t share complete fluency in one language. But we didn’t have to speak. We understood each other through the universal language of music!

Rosana Orsini, the international singer and musicologist, is the Executive Director of the In Spiritum International Festival that hosted us. This festival brought artists from around the world together who all had different backgrounds, languages, and cultures.

But the performances came together in perfect harmony through the love of music shown by each performer. Culture has the power to connect people from around the world and to rise above boundaries, politics and religion. It was great to use the arts to communicate with such diverse and talented people!

#InSpiritumInternationalFestival #RosanaOrsini #Portugal #Oporto #Porto #MarcoBrescia #MichelleKim #CultureSaves