TROUBLE IN “PARADISE” I played on the August/September 1982 Philharmonic South American tour as a substitute in the double bass section. For me, having spent the month before teaching bass at the Festival do Inverno in Campos do Jordão , it was familiar turf. At the Festival the previous month, I had been teaching bass to twelve Brazilian high school students.
Here are six of them- Clovis, Fausto, Orley and Adail (photo on left) and Sergio and Flaviana on the right I learned an important lesson from Orley. One night at the Festival, I attended a concert. While I was talking with another American teacher, I noticed something strange. Orley and Fausto were seated to my left. Every time I spoke, Orley would start saying, “Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah” to Fausto. At first I couldn’t figure it out but I soon realized that my English was mere gibberish to Orley! Truly, thinking that English is universally understandable and predominant is a misconception for many Americans. Communication with my students was diƯicult at first. Only one kid spoke English. So that I could eƯectively teach, I learned the Portuguese words that pertained to
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