Sigma Alpha Iota

12 Summer 2022 • sai-national.org W hen I le for Newark airport in August 2021, I remember feeling ambivalent about my move to Finland. I had just finished my Master of Music in piano at Syracuse University three months prior, moving out of my apartment and temporarily into my parents' two-bedroom apartment. My life was consolidated into three suitcases, which was then packed into my parents' minivan along with my family and me. As my dad and sister waved goodbye and drove away, my mom (who was accompanying me on my move to Finland) and I headed towards security. Within 12 hours, we were in another apartment in Lauttasaari, a small island in Helsinki, the Finnish capital. A new place, with a new language and new culture, for this new chapter of my life. Fast forward a few weeks to the middle of September, when I started working at the university. I was in Finland on a creative-arts fellowship with the American-Scandinavian Foundation. As an exchange for Finnish affiliation, I was to complete a traineeship at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. I also served as a collaborative pianist at the Sibelius Academy. I worked primarily with the voice departments, as my fellowship project revolved around Finnish and Filipino lieder that invoked nationalism and played a role in the independence of both nations. As excited as I was to start working in this trainee capacity, I was overwhelmed aer my first week of work. If I remember correctly, I sight-read about 40 songs and arias, at lessons and rehearsals, in about four days. For someone who felt their prima vista was strong, I was absolutely humbled. I hadn't even started any work on my own fellowship project at this point, but could not imagine how I was going to handle everything. I felt that I was in-over-my-head, and I was not meant to do this. But I was here, in Helsinki. I had moved my life across an ocean. I spent months working on the project proposal and even more time dreaming about this opportunity. I couldn't leave. As the weeks went on, the workload became easier to handle. My sight reading skills grew exponentially, meaning less time spent practicing and more time spent preparing lectures and creating materials like diction guides and translations. Part of my role in this project was to share the musical traditions of Filipino kundiman, a love song in the style of 19th-century art song. e other major part was soaking up all the knowledge that the faculty and singers shared with me on Finnish song tradition. At the end of the fellowship, we presented a recital program of these songs, representative of the work we did throughout the year. However, as time went on, the days also became shorter and much darker. I sometimes did not see the sun for weeks at a time. ere were also feet of snow and ice that seemed to cover the ground from December through April. is was all really difficult, not only for staying motivated to complete work, but really to do anything at all. It did help that I lived near the forest and the sea, where I could walk along the water and recharge in the tranquil landscape. Still, I struggled with Wen in Music A Fellowship in Finland A photo from Hannah Comia's (left) fellowship recital with her singers (middle) and advisors (right). A photo from Hannah Comia's (left) fellowship recital with her singers (middle) and advisors (right). Visit Hannah Comia's website at: www.hannahcomia.com

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