May Music in Moldova

I have enjoyed music in Moldova this month. It is the month of examinations plus a month of great concerts. Here is a photo of some students performing their folklore examination. They wrote the script and selected songs for acting out a Șezatoarea, a visiting event in Moldovan village life. The songs were quite beautiful with some solos and some group songs accompanied by cobza and violin.

Tonight I bought ten tickets for some American and Moldovan friends to attend a concert by Valy Boghean (in the photo) and his band at the Eminescu Theater. My Russian translator and my Romanian translator were there along with some special musical friends from Cricova.

The concert was extremely interesting and moving. Valy Boghean performed with a band of țimbal, bass, percussion, and electric guitar for the first half. They performed music with a strong basis in Moldovan village and folklore music. Valy himself played alto and soprano saxophones, caval, fluier, tylinka, some kind of reed instrument from central Asia, guitar, and flugelhorn. He sang several doinas (sad songs in rubato style) along with fabulous dance tunes.

In the second part of the concert he brought out a group of backup singers along with electric bass, keyboards, and auxiliary percussion to perform a long set of his popular songs.

The first time I met Valy was in October following a violin competition in Ialoveni, a nearby village. It was late and there were not enough seats in the cars we had used to drive out there so Valy was asked to take me back to Chișinău. Several of us packed into his very small car and chatted on the way to the city. He was friendly and a very happy person who was obviously crazy about music. I had not idea that he was actually quite famous and on his way to being a big star.

My Romanian translator has already planned an interview with him. We hope to catch him sometime next week. The most interesting question in my interviews so far has been about what Moldovan music and musicians can offer to the world. Valy Boghean is certainly one person with a very special set of sounds to offer.

The Day of Europe in Moldova

I am going to post some photos from today. This was The Day of Europe in Moldova and there was plenty of action in the center of the city. It was cold and windy, but everyone was enjoying the sunshine.

 These young people were out in support of Igor Dodon, the Communist Party candidate for mayor of Chișinău. They stood near the statue of Ștefan cel mare.

 Across the street the Romania booth had many visitors.

This booth was set up to promote study of European languages. The poster says - Europa este mai aproape! - Europe is very near!

 There were many police walking through the exhibits. You can see that they were dressed in very fashionable uniforms. Appearance is important!

This photo shows police footwear in Moldova. Very nice shoes!

A week of vacation

I am going to post some photos from the past week and give each a caption. As always, I am never sure what is going to happen day to day in my life in Chișinău. This week was full of delightful surprises.

I attended a paște (Easter) celebration at a Romanian orthodox church that lasted all Saturday night. For me it was a moving and beautiful time of celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This photo was taken at about 4 a.m. and shows families with candles preparing to eat the special foods they have brought to celebrate.

On Sunday, after about three hours of sleep, I took the bus to a nearby village to participate in the music making to celebrate Easter at a Baptist church. The first photo shows the sign at the front of the church that celebrates the Biblical idea that God is Love. One of the wonderful pastors from the church plays a seven stringed Russian style guitar. He was imprisoned for two years under Soviet rule for refusing to close his church and now obviously loves being alive to enjoy every day.

On Tuesday my great friends Bob and Beth and I rented a car to drive to Giurgiulești in the farthest southern tip of Moldova, where the Prut River joins the Danube as it makes its way out into the Danube Delta and eventually the Black Sea. Being a smart American I documented the missing tail light, broken bumper, and other scrapes and scratches with a photo before we left. The rental company never mentioned anything and I think they were just happy to get the car back after our trip on the crazy Moldovan highways. We encountered wonderful families with great home made food and wine, and great music.

I took these two photos in the center of Chișinău today. The first one shows one of my favorite city attractions - the old trolleibuses. The city received a lot of brand new buses this week with assistance from many international agencies from both Russia and Western Europe. This is one of the old buses which I love so much, and you can see that sometimes the doors do not open and need the passengers to give some assistance.
The second photo shows the way many Moldovans read the newspapers. They are posted in these display cases in one of the city parks each day.

Today was a day for remembering lost loved ones. The first photo shows wreaths and flowers for sale at one of the large cemeteries in Chișinău. The second photo shows the main entrance to that cemetery with many thousands of visitors and a police presence to help maintain an orderly process of coming and going.

The last photo shows the front of one of the special buses lined up to take people to the largest cemetery in Chișinău. As I waited for my bus to Cricova I saw dozens of these buses headed for the cimitrul Sf. Lazăr, described by a friend at that stop as the "doina" buses - for remembrance and sadness.