Final Concert and Hidden Dream by Olivia Callanta
When I was a little girl living in the Philippines, I loved to draw, color and sketch. I vividly remember sketching coconut trees with nipa huts by the seaside, and columns and altar of the church. I liked drawing the profile of a woman. I did all these but never seriously had a desire to be an artist nor an architect.
My parents were both doctors, so I was surrounded by medical books and medical supplies. I saw patients coming and going in their clinics and I was determined to be a doctor just like them. I went through kindergarten, grade school, high school and my dream never changed. My parents were thrilled and were busy preparing for my college.
In the last semester of high school, I had a complete turnaround. OH NO! Medicine will take twelve years or more of studying! ABSOLUTELY NOT! I will do four or five more years of college and I’m done.
My parents were devastated but offered alternatives. I had to make a quick decision as I was two months away from graduation. I offered, “How about architecture?” Oh no, there’s no money there, my mom reiterated. She said, “How about this?” pointing to an article in a magazine. “It’s new and it’s also in the medical field, Nutrition & Dietetics.”
In the Philippines parents pay for your college education so you like to follow what your parents say. I made a deal with them. If my grades were good, then I would continue with the course. My grades were excellent the first year until I got to all the chemistry classes. By the second year, I had a different branch of chemistry every semester: organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, quantitative chemistry, qualitative chemistry, nutritional chemistry, biochemistry, etc. etc. etc.
MY HEAVENS! This was just like medicine! I was trapped! I don’t know how, but I actually made it. I received my bachelor’s degree in four years followed by a one-year hospital internship. I immediately took my board exams after the internship and passed it with flying colors. I then flew to the U.S., earned my master’s degree and worked for three years as assistant nutritionist for the Heart Research Program.
After marriage and four kids, I worked for the Chicago Department of Health as Public Health Nutritionist. SUDDENLY COVID HIT! Working for the Health Department, we still had to report for work, COVID or not. The pandemic panicked my children. They were worried for me and insisted I stop working. I found out from the pension board that I have had thirty years of service. I did love my job, didn’t I? Good timing! A perfect time to retire!
When things started easing up my children encouraged me to go out and exercise. I eventually found gym classes and schedule that was to my liking. I went to the gym five days a week for two hours but somehow still felt empty. My exercises were food for the body, but I needed food for my soul.
THE ARTS! I thought. I researched everywhere but couldn’t find any classes due to COVID. When things started opening up, I enrolled at Lill Street. I registered for the fall, winter, and then spring sessions. I still felt the emptiness and I was unhappy. I was not learning anything. At the same time, the park district started offering classes.
And there it was: OIL PAINTING. I dove in and found myself swimming in its beauty. I started in
January of 2022. I was a complete neophyte, not knowing “the what, the how and the why.” The seniors in the class were already advanced but they were all welcoming, and my instructor started me solo on color theory.
I cannot believe what I have learned and what I have accomplished. Our instructor is just marvelous, and she brings out the best in everyone. Our senior group is such fun -- all very talented. I am slowly learning, and I just love it.
On June 15, we had a citywide art showcase where we displayed our art at Horner Park. It was well attended, fun, and exciting. The variety of art classes offered by the Chicago Park District was in full display and I was happy to show mine. We have more to look forward to and I can say, “I finally found my niche!”
Copyright © 2024, Olivia Callanta
The Final Concert By Olivia Callanta
On February 18, my four children received an invitation from the Betty Haag Academy to attend the 49th Annual Orchestra Hall Reunion Concert at the Chicago Symphony Center set for May 25. Mrs. Betty Haag-Kuhnke is director of the Betty Haag Academy (BHA) and was my children’s violin teacher for 20 years.
When we first came to see Mrs. Haag, she was already a much sought after violin teacher for children in the classical music industry. She was a soft-spoken woman of grace — very kind, very professional. And she was pleasantly commanding and impeccably dressed in her two-inch heels.
At age 92, Mrs. Haag has decided to turn her school over to her granddaughter. She will now spend her time writing a teacher’s pedagogy manual. For the concert, she wanted current students and past alumni to come together and play. According to her granddaughter, the concert was to be a heartfelt dedication to Mrs. Haag and to Mrs. Robert Galvin, wife of Motorola CEO Robert Galvin, who has been the most generous benefactor of the BHA for over three decades.
Within the Academy, Mrs. Haag has the Magical Strings of Youth (MSY), comprised of 35 violinists who perform in the U.S. and abroad as musical ambassadors. Children auditioned to be part of the MSY, and my children were part of the group until they graduated high school.
With the anticipation of the momentous event, my mind reverted to when my children first started with Mrs. Haag. My oldest daughter began when she was eight years old, my middle daughter at six, my youngest daughter at three and a half, and my son at 20 months.
When I was pregnant with my son, he was already listening to the children’s music while in my belly. At a year old, he wondered why his three sisters were having lessons and playing the violin, but he was not. We let him walk around and carry his baby violin in his violin case. Meanwhile, he had been observing and learning the feet positioning, bowing with the violin tucked under his arm, various parts of the violin, and the various rhythms of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”
At 15 months, we told Mrs. Haag of his desire to play, but she felt he was too young. At 20 months, she agreed to test his readiness, and he started to have 15-minute lessons. He began to develop his neck muscles so that he could hold the violin under his chin. My son was not a child prodigy nor a musical genius. He just wanted to play the violin just like his three sisters.
Rain or shine, we were constantly traveling by car or train to the Mt. Prospect school three times a week for private and group lessons. It was a prerequisite that a parent be present during lessons. It was hard work for my children and me, but a beautiful experience that enabled them to get scholarships to private high schools and universities.
As I reminisce and look at what I call my “Huge Wall of Fame” of photographs and posters in my living room, my heart just swells with pride. They have played for presidents, dignitaries, royalties and world-renowned musicians. With the Magical Strings of Youth, my children played all over Italy, France, Austria, Portugal, Australia, Russia, China, Korea, and Singapore.
I am most proud of my youngest daughter’s picture with Pope John Paul II in Rome. The group had just finished playing for the pope when he started to approach the children. The tip of my 5-year-old daughter’s bow got caught in the arm of his cassock and he stopped, smiled, blessed, and gently touched her left cheek. THAT WAS A TRULY UNFORGETTABLE, BLESSED MOMENT!
The audience just adored my son too. They couldn’t believe that such an itty bitty three-year-old could play folk songs with ease. In our travels I brought my mother along to help me with my four young children. The picture of Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth, with my three girls is magnificently stunning. In the U.S., the MSY has played at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, and The White House. They have played a few times for Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls during their championship run, and my son was lucky enough to hug four of their championship trophies. These experiences were all because of Mrs. Haag and Mrs. Galvin.
As the May 25 concert got closer, we were all met with anticipation. There had been three reunions since they graduated, and years since they had probably picked up their violins, plucked their strings and run their bows through the strings. Yet, when they did, it all started coming back. What started out as screeching out-of-tune sounds, ended in smooth, soothing, beautiful music, a real testament to Mrs. Haag’s method of teaching.
May 25 came and there was a rush of excitement to see everyone, especially Mrs. Haag. At age 92, she has not aged a bit. The years have not caught up with her and she is still as elegant as ever with her sweet smile, and as usual, impeccably dressed in her two-inch heels. It felt good to see the mothers of the alumni and at the same time, see the alumni with their own children taking lessons from Mrs. Haag.
The concert started and as the alumni took their turn to play “Concerto for Two Violins” by Johann Sebastian Bach, I looked at my children as they raised their violins in position and started playing in unison. I was beaming with pride as they continued playing other classics and at the end, played their crowd-pleasing “Hoedown.” There was resounding applause and clamor for more. They took the final bow and went to the reception hall where they playfully continued playing their violins. They tried to catch up as much with everyone, took pictures, and eventually said their goodbyes.
Looking back, those were the exquisite good, old days and that day was just as spectacular except for the fact that this was it. Now, I am just left with listening to my four children’s classical recording with the Magical Strings of Youth from years ago when they were young.
Copyright © 2024, Olivia Callanta