“I’m a strong believer in experiencing other cultures,” Associate Professor of Music Dr. Matthew Fritz said. “I like to go to places students will likely never go on their own.” Fritz has taken the Concert Choir to Ireland, Salvador, Brazil and soon, South Africa. From May 19 to 29, the Elizabethtown College Concert Choir and Jazz Band will tour Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban and Soweto, forming connections to those who differ from them in nearly every way, but who share an abiding love of music.
He sees these international tours as a good opportunity for students who do not have the option of studying abroad, due to factors such as transferring or switching majors, to get a taste of another culture, as well as giving students the chance to act as ambassadors for the College. “I really hope to inspire a lifelong desire to travel,” Fritz said.
Fritz believes the less insulated people are, the more they will be able to understand the perspectives of others; much of the misunderstanding and mistrust in the world comes from limited experiences.
The music they plan to perform includes songs from the American Civil War era, partly because of the 150-year anniversary of the end of the American conflict, and partly because of the parallels of oppression, spirituals and songs from the United States civil rights movement. The choir also will perform freedom songs from South Africa because “tons of parallels” exist between the two experiences, Fritz said. “We’re trying to get students to see history through a musical lens.”
He remembers seeing news coverage of apartheid in high school and even as a child, so he is interested to see how things have changed after 20 years of democracy. He also will take the students to the Apartheid Museum and the Mandela House.
I like to go to places students will likely never go on their own.”
Associate Professor of Music Dr. Justin Badgerow and Assistant Professor of Music Dr. Anne Gross will accompany the choir and offer master classes. Grant Moore is bringing the Jazz Band along, as well.
Dr. Michael Roy, assistant professor of psychology at Elizabethtown and part of a group from the College that created music programs at two schools in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, plans to travel with the group. His previous experiences in the country led to a new line of research in the psychology of music, specifically “how differences in personality predict the role that music plays in people’s lives,” noted his faculty biography. Fritz hopes that Roy’s involvement with this trip provides the students with some background knowledge and history of the region.
Roy’s presence brings an element of the peace and conflict studies that the College provides to the students, said Fritz. This trip, in his, is an “opportunity to bring home” the College’s values of educating for service and peace and non-conflict. As an additional learning and service experience, Elizabethtown students will have one-on-one time to teach South African children about music through the University of South Africa’s (UNISA) music foundation. The foundation aims to bring music to children living in poverty, a mission about which Fritz is excited.
He hopes this music tour exposes students to a way of life different from their own but, mostly, to what he calls, “the unquenchable human desire to express.”
Read a related story on Elizabethtown College’s music groups and spring events.