This past June I had the opportunity to travel to Norway with the Field Band Foundation to film their 2008 Norwegian tour and participation in Spilleglede, the annual Norwegian Band Festival. The tour covered several cities along the western coast of Norway and was a special opportunity for the National Field Band, a group selected from top students around the country. Over the course of 10 days, they performed 17 times, held several teaching workshops for young Norwegians and managed to see the highlights of one of the most beautiful parts of Norway. It was an exhilarating experience for everyone and I felt lucky to be there and to be able to enjoy the energy of the Field Band Foundation at its finest.
The Norwegian Band Federation and the Norwegian Peace Corps (Fredskorpset) have done a lot for the Field Band Foundation. Every year they send six Norwegian musicians to South Africa to teach music, discipline and organization to the field bands. The Field Band Foundation also sends several of their members to Norway to teach South African music and culture. It is a unique learning experience and has produced many great results for the FBF and the Norwegians as well. The program is funded by the Norwegian government and the 2008 Field Band tour served as a showcase of the success of the exchange, as well as a very entertaining international highlight to the festival.
Whereas the Field Band Foundation prides itself on its energy, spontaneity and (for lack of a better term) “African-ness”, Norwegian marching bands tend to be much more formal, disciplined and militaristic. In fact, the country’s most highly regarded marching band, the King’s Guard, is a military band through and through. But, this stark contrast between the Norwegians and the South Africans was really wonderful to see and audiences at every stop were blown away by the energy and warmth of the field band. In one scene from my video (posted below), you’ll see the Kings Guard followed immediately by the field band, and I think you’ll see what I mean about this contrast.
Though the performances were spectacular and beyond all my expectations, perhaps the most memorable moments of the tour for me were the many fun and often hilarious events that happened in between the performances. Wherever we went, there was a constant flow of energy and enthusiasm though the band. Whether they were rapping in Zulu, cracking jokes, singing traditional songs or playing pick-up soccer, every moment seemed to be filled with activity and fun. I got to know the group quite well and really enjoyed spending time with them as a friend and not just a teacher. I generally only see my students in South Africa during the scheduled times that I teach, so this opportunity was really special for me and definitely one of the highlights of my year with the Field Band Foundation.
Though I joined the tour as an innocent cameraman, I got conscripted into driving the instrument truck, then shuttling people around in a beat-up van after our bus broke down, and even acting as tour director for a couple of days when the person in charge got sick! So the tour was definitely pretty eventful for me too and though it got a bit stressful at times, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would gladly do it again. In fact, I would love more than anything to organize a field band tour to the US. Perhaps I will set myself to that task when I get back home…
Take a look at the video below and let me know what you think. It’s the longest video I’ve made so far on the Field Band Foundation, but anything shorter just wouldn’t have done justice to the tour. I think mostly everything in the video is self-explanatory. But, if you are wondering how the band wound up singing and dancing along to a Romanian folk band, well I’m still a bit shocked about that myself! The Romanians were another international guest at the festival and apparently what started off as an impromptu drum competition between the South Africans and the Romanians turned into one of the most bizarre and amazing cross-cultural displays I could imagine. I hope you enjoy!
