Zora PattilloGLOMUS, a bi-annual camp that targets music and performing arts students, sparked the interest of Thomas Taylor, a lecturer and percussionist at N.C. Central University.
Eager to share the experience with some students in the Jazz Studies graduate program, Taylor encouraged Debbie Long, David Wintermute and Noah Combs, to participate in the October 2024 camp.
Occurring every two years, GLOMUS creates a space for 31 institutions from 21 different countries with the goal to bring students, teachers, managers and artists together. This year, NCCU was one of few institutions that represented the U.S.
Although Taylor has been a part of four different camps, he acknowledged that this camp was different from others.
“Each camp has certain elements that are the same from camp to camp, but so much of the camp is different every time you go someplace different,” Taylor said.
“It has so much inclusivity and it is so freeing in the opportunities that you get, that you didn’t even know you needed.”
Since this camp occurred right before the Harris-Trump election, Taylor described the welcoming space as one of “serenity, beauty, peace and tranquility.”
“[It was] so nice to be away from all of that chaos,” he said.
Each of the three students had their own point of view, which included specific things that excited them during their travels:
Wintermute stated that he enjoyed the “in between” that existed throughout rehearsals.
“After we were done with everything we had to do, we got to just play with the students from Ali or the students from France or from Greenland,” Wintermute said, adding that it was his first time in Asia.
“[It] opened your possibilities, not only what you could do with them, but you realize what you do is quite valuable. It’s quite unique.”
Combs, whose wind instrument focus made him a “drop in a bucket of water” in the U.S., made him unique in Nepal.
“I may have been one of five saxophones in the entire country, just because of how percussion and string oriented the music is and how little they use those European based instruments. It was really interesting to play this instrument,” he said.
“Everybody was super excited about hearing the saxophone, so that gave me this energy and this want to just do even more and be even better than I’ve ever been.”
Building close connections with the people there, Combs referred to them as his “Nepalese brothers and sisters.”
Long described the experience as fun and overwhelming.
“I had a great time exploring, meeting different people, the culture, the food,” Long said.
She added that the schedule was tight and the application process was tough.
“I really didn’t expect it to be that much,” Long said. “I didn’t know what I was getting into. And not so much in a bad way, I think that there were so many offerings.”
Long also mentioned that one of the activities throughout the camp was that all of the countries performed and there were different nights such as “American Night,” “Africa Night” and “Europe Night,” where each country had representatives, performers from different institutions, showcasing their skills, talents and enthusiasm.
Long, Wintermute and Combs all had similar ideas as to how they would respond if someone were to approach them with an interest in utilizing travel opportunities:
Combs said he would encourage someone to “go for it.”
“Do as much as you can, try your hardest to get into it. Bring an adapter,” he joked. “I think it’s so worth it. My worldview has just completely changed. I feel like I’m seeing the world through different lenses just because of just having the opportunity to travel over there, let alone all of the opportunities we had because of the camp.”
“Oh yeah I support experience,” Long said. “People should explore and experience things like this, especially if you love music, if you love people, if you love building, creating, it’s the perfect place or opportunity, rather, to do that. I had no idea what I was getting into, but I feel immensely grateful that I had that opportunity, honestly … It was incredible.”
Wintermute also enjoyed the experience, adding that it was one of the most “miraculous” things that has ever happened to him.
“Professor Taylor gave me the miracle, the blessing, the honor, the privilege and everything it is. If anyone gets that privilege and honor, that miracle to happen to them, cherish it forever. It’s gonna change your life forever,” he said.
“When you do travel a lot, talk to everyone you can, listen to everyone you can and hopefully collaborate with everyone, every single person you can no matter if it’s intimidating.”
