PLNU Music Professor Directs Cuban National Band During Visitation
Point Loma Nazarene University professor of music Dan Nelson was granted the unexpected privilege of conducting the Cuban National Band during his visit last month to the island nation.
Nelson and his 20-student Jazz Band were personally invited by the Cuban government to perform in the biannual Havana Jazz Fest from December 16-23 as the only big band, university group, and Americans on the ticket. The chance to practice with and direct the government music group of one of the world?fs most closed nations came after the festival.
"It was an eye-opening experience for both me and the students who participated in the rehearsal" said Nelson.
He said he was struck at the dedication of the Cuban musicians, who are faced with a severe lack of equipment, such as only handmade racks in place of music stands.
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We left them our music racks,?h said Nelson, about 20 of them.
The Point Loma students also left behind $300 in reeds--since on average the Cuban musicians must play on the same reed for a year--and instrument valve oil, another rarity.
PLNU's Jazz Band, which performed three times during the festival, was invited by Cuba's minister of arts and culture. The trip was arranged by Global Missions Project, a Georgia-based nonprofit organization that focuses on music as a means to cross-cultural experience and ministry. While PLNU is a Christian liberal arts institution, the Cuban trip was a cultural venture only.
However, on Sunday they attended a service in the Iglesia Metodista de Universitaria in downtown Havana. During a part of the service called "family time," a woman came up to Nelson and said with a hug, "In our church everybody's family."
"We experienced that sort of warmth over and over," said Nelson. "We didn't want to leave."
