From Amherst to Quito, Ecuador: Wind Studies Director Matthew Westgate Recounts the Making of Juntos En La Mitad Del Mundo
Content
By Chloe Borgida '25
In May 2024, the UMass Wind Ensemble—a group of 56 student musicians led by Matthew Westgate, chair of the Department of Music and Dance and Director of Wind Studies—and eight faculty traveled to Quito, Ecuador on a nine-day trip.
There, UMass students and faculty performed a number of concerts with musicians from Casa de la Musica's La Banda Sinfónica Metropolitana de Quito, La Banda de los Bomberos, and the big band from the Universidad Central de Ecuador (ECE). UMass faculty also led masterclasses, collaborated on chamber music with musicians from the symphonic bands and the Quito Symphony, and formed new friendships and partnerships. It culminated in a festival concert called Juntos En La Mitad Del Mundo.
This trip was funded entirely through fundraising efforts from students and faculty who worked together to raise funds by holding a silent auction--where local businesses provided baskets and gift certificates--and by providing music and conducting lessons for donations. They received monetary support from UMass Gives, the UMass Department of Music and Dance, and the College of Humanities and Fine Arts Dean’s Office.
An Immersive Experience
To prepare for the trip, the group worked to remove the word “tourist” from their vocabulary, aiming to create a true collaboration and exchange of music.
“This would not be a tour where they would be purely sightseeing and ‘taking.’ We would be bringing something to share and offering back to the community,” Westgate explains. “This was an immersive experience. [Our students] had some moments alone, but for a large majority of the trip, the Ecuadorian and American students were side by side.”
The same was true of faculty.
“Our faculty was teaching [their students], their faculty was teaching our students. We were going there as partners,” he says.
The trip was born of an ongoing partnership between the UMass Wind Ensemble and Banda Sinfonica Metropolitana de Quito. In 2019, Westgate traveled to Quito on his own to meet the members of the professional ensemble and their conductor, Luis Castro. The two formed a partnership and decided to develop a musical exchange between these highly-trained professional musicians and our UMass students.
Their plans were put on hold by the emergence of COVID.
Yet, the pandemic offered a unique opportunity for connection when Castro and Westgate realized their ensemble rehearsals were taking place on the same days and at the same time as one of the wind ensemble groups. They met online every week for the duration of that semester.
Despite a language barrier, musicians from different parts of the world created friendships before the 2024 trip even began. They supported each other beyond music. With the help of Google Translate, the groups were able to share what they were experiencing during the pandemic.
“They knew each other for about four years,” Westgate says. “So, when we went [to Ecuador in spring 2024], they got to meet those people and play with them in person.”
Building Connection Across Distance
In the years leading up to the trip, Westgate and Castro spent time traveling back and forth to meet each other’s players in the ensembles. Westgate says he and Castro grew especially close as they traveled to each other’s home countries and relied on each other for support. They even began to call each other "hermanos de padres diferentes"—brothers from different parents.
During Westgate’s first trip to Ecuador, he says, “I really had to trust him that he would take care of me, and he did. It was really a beautiful brotherhood we shared.”
Their friendship set the precedent for connection and collaboration among students from both groups.
“All of these pieces had been put in place so that when we went down there, everybody already knew Luis,” Westgate says. “There was a lot of trust built up over five years, so when we all got to sitting on that stage for the first time, we all got pretty emotional. Standing in front of 130 people that are already friends is incredible.”
Westgate says the trip to Ecuador also provided a meaningful experience to the UMass Wind Ensemble students, some of whom had not yet traveled out of the country or even the state.
The students were eager to explore Ecuadorian culture, creating connections over shared experiences. It allows the groups to really bond.
“They were trying new things together,” Westgate says.
Music Meets Culture in Quito
The trip offered a balance between music and culture.
“Luis and I, over the course of a year or more, put together what we thought would be a good itinerary” for the students, Westgate explains.
The group saw the Quito’s downtown area, Centro Historico; Papallacta hot springs; held a concert at La Iglesia De La Compañía and La Casa de la Música Quito; and rode the TelefériQo to high part of the city, where they were able to look out across Quito. They went to Otavalo, the small mountain side town and explored Ciudad Mitad del Mundo, known as the “Center of the Earth”. There, they learned about the equator and its connections to ancient Ecuadorian culture. On top of their excursions and concerts, they held daily rehearsals with La Banda Sinfónica Metropolitana de Quito.
The culmination of friendship, culture, practice, and meaning shone brightest at the Gala concert they performed, Juntos en La Mitad del Mundo.
“The musical product was very good, but maybe even more important than that was our students could really make meaningful connections and friends with these people that they probably would not have normally met,” Westgate says. “It is arguably the most meaningful thing I have done in my career.”
A Meaningful, Shared Experience
Following the success of the trip, other universities have begun consulting with Westgate to recreate the same trip on their campuses. He has thought about doing this trip again with multiple groups from the Department of Music and Dance.
“This trip didn't make any money for the university. It didn't increase our rankings in any sort of poll. Nevertheless, I stand behind experiences like this for our students. They are so important. It's not just about the music... it's about the cross-cultural experience,” Westgate says. “So much of what we do in the HFA and the arts, in general, is give meaning and purpose to knowledge. Music and the arts are vital to helping our students become complete humans. This was a really meaningful experience and I am so thankful we were able to share it together.”
To further support the UMass Wind Ensemble, please consider donating to Friends of the Music Center: Minute Fund.