Robert Rockabrand– Choir Member During the 1956-1957 Westminster Choir World Tour

Eric Hung interviews Robert Rockabrand, Westminster Choir member during the 1956-1957 world tour. Rockabrand later went on to become a faculty member at Westminster Choir College, working closely with Warren Martin. He reflects on his sight-seeing adventures, how the tour influenced him personally, and his later conducting career.

• 0:21 Musical training, overview of academic career from graduation to the present
• 7:17: Upbringing and early musical memories
• 10:07: Choral music at Principia College, outbreak of Korean War, relationship with Warren Martin
• 15:03: Lack of vocal training before Westminster, trajectory from student to faculty member at WCC
• 18:19: Finding out about the world tour
• 19:52: Preparation for the tour, beginning tour in U.S.
• 25:18: About the tour programs
• 26:30: Leaving Princeton, contact with State Department
• 27:33: U.S. leg of the tour
• 28:43: First impressions overseas
• 34:49: Food while on tour
• 36:41: Communicating without a shared language
• 40:45: Thanksgiving in Japan
• 42:28: Sight-seeing and people in Japan and Korea
• 45:42: Reconnecting with former friends while abroad
• 46:21: Other countries visited, Christmas in Vietnam, New Years Eve in Malaya (now Malaysia)
• 51:18: Change in plans– trip to Singapore instead of Indonesia
• 52:23: Experiences in the Philippines, meeting royalty
• 54:55: Watching movies on tour, Indian movies
• 57:17: Free time activities
• 59:50: Favorite sights and souvenir shopping
• 1:05:30: Sights in Japan, India, Burma, and Laos, tales of travel
• 1:18:10: Visiting a tea plantation with Dr. Williamson, Indian dancing in New Delhi
• 1:21:27: Observing English colonial influence in India
• 1:22:33: Performances in Iran and Iraq
• 1:23:37: Multiculturalism in Lebanon
• 1:25:06: Importance of his faith during the tour
• 1:30:00: Encountering communism in Yugoslavia
• 1:31:52: Being welcomed back onto campus
• 1:35:28: Reflecting on the experiences he had
• 1:37:06: Effects of the tour on his conducting career
• 1:41:35: Return trips to India
• 1:55:24: The lasting impact of the tour on his life, documents in Westminster archives, pictures from the tour
• 2:04:05: Story about Dr. Williamson, picture of Rockabrand with von Karajan