The sound of trumpets blared through the Shaffer Art Building as Ludo Coudert prepared for a crucial audition. His chipper smile and passion for music made one thing apparent: nothing will stop Coudert from pursuing his dreams in the music industry. Not even a language barrier.

“I came here with a bad English level, but I tried since the beginning to do things I would do in France, even if sometimes I was afraid because I wasn’t sure how to say something, how to explain or understand,” Coudert said.

Coudert is a French exchange student with a passion for jazz and funk. After playing classical trombone for 10 years, he became fascinated with jazz.

“It was my dream, in France, to play jazz. It comes from blues.” Coudert said. “Everything from rock, funk to hip-hop comes from the same base of music.”

Coudert trained in performance at the conservatories of Colmar and Strasbourg while simultaneously studying theory in the Department of Musicology at the University of Strasbourg.

“In France, we learn the American jazz, and in the United States, we learn the European classical music,” he said.

While the Setnor School of Music does not have a jazz major, Coudert decided to come to Syracuse University in August. The biggest challenge so far has been language, but it’s something he’s looking to improve as well.

Coudert said culture shock has a way of intimidating many exchange students from accomplishing their aspirations. However, he’s been actively involved around the school, playing in SU’s Morton B. Schiff Jazz Ensemble and in the orchestral pit of What Theatre’s production of the musical “Hair.” Music has helped him make all of these connections.

“Even if I didn’t understand everything the teachers or the students were saying, we still play music the same way between our countries,” he said.

When words run short, Coudert and his peers get lost in the music, rather than in translation.

Said Coudert: “It was funny to see that sometimes we understood each other better while playing than when speaking.”

Published on January 24, 2016 at 10:34 pm

Contact: ghhughes@syr.edu