If you have read any of my blogs, you should know by now that I am a HUGE advocate for studying abroad! (75% of my blog entries talk about it.) And if you are a first-time reader of my work, I will tell you now, I am OBSESSED with studying abroad.
I am very grateful that I got a chance to study abroad for a second time this winter term. My first time studying abroad was during winter term 2024 (you can read about that here), and I knew it could not be my last time. There was a stark contrast between my last project and this one, though, as my last one was organized through Oberlin, and this one I planned on my own. At first I had no idea what I wanted to do, just where I wanted to go. Hungary.
Fun fact about me: my first language was Hungarian and my entire maternal family lives in Hungary. I have visited them before, but the one thing I have never been able to do for them is perform. My main priority quickly became putting together a lecture recital of music I loved, and wanted to share with my family. I slowly started to research more about Hungary (Budapest mostly) and figured out what my other two objectives could be. One was to see as many opera/operetta performances as I could, both translated into Hungarian and in their original languages. From that experience, I was going to write an essay on audience accessibility of opera relating to language. My third goal was to fully immerse myself into the cultural and historical aspects of the country, visiting as many things as I could.
So, let’s break down how these 3 goals ended up!
Goal #1: Recital
This part of my experience definitely meant the most to me. I put together a program consisting of songs in 5 different languages (English, French, German, Italian, and Hungarian), and also spoke about the research I had done on each relating to the composer, the context, and the audience’s initial perception of the song (or work the song was from). The process was wonderful because I was collaborating with a Hungarian pianist, who gave me lots of insight into the Hungarian pieces and composers that I was singing. I got to pick his brain about classical music’s role in Hungary’s culture and history, and what music stuff is going on in Hungary right now. When it came to the actual performance, it meant the world to me to be able to perform for my family, who had never seen me perform live. It was also really cool to have audience members that I didn’t know, and a local news station and photographer come!
Goal #2: Watching performances + essay on audience accessibility
I was fortunate enough to see 8 performances: 4 operas at the Hungarian State Opera House, 2 operettas at the Hungarian Operett House, 1 opera at the Vienna Folk Opera, and 1 musical at the Raimund Theater. It was so special getting to see pieces translated into Hungarian (or German) to reach their general public in a meaningful way. The thing was, though, I realized I wouldn’t really be able to do my original essay topic, as every single performance received the same amount of audience engagement. Whether the audience spoke the language of the performance or not, almost every performance was a sold-out house, and there were the same amount of laughs, sobs, and applause. So I ended up writing an essay on the differences between audience engagement in Europe vs. the U.S.!
Goal #3: Cultural + historical immersion
I did not waste even one day that could be used for exploration! Some of my favorite sites were: Parliament Building, Budai Var/Fisherman’s Bastion, Hero's Square, St. Stephen’s Basilica, and taking a weekend trip to explore all of Vienna. I had been to many of these places before, but never as an adult, and never on my own, so it was definitely a different and very special experience!
I am just so happy that I was able to experience studying abroad again. I don’t know if it will be in the cards for the remainder of my time at Oberlin, but if YOU have the chance to study abroad, DO IT!
