A cultural ambassador beyond the grant year

7 July 2021
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Serving as an informal cultural ambassador is an integral part of the Fulbright experience, and for many, that ambassadorial work continues long past the end of the program year. In this article, 2018–19 US Fulbright student Theodora Nestorova discusses the impact her Fulbright had on her and what it has inspired her to do beyond her year in Vienna.

My study/research grant year in Vienna was only the beginning of my Fulbright story. In 2018–19, I studied in the MA Lied und Oratorium program at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (MDW) and conducted research entitled “Modern Austrian Vocal Pedagogy in a Global Context.” In 2019, I returned to the US to complete my master’s and will now be heading to Canada this fall to begin my PhD. While I have pursued each of these degrees at separate institutions in different countries, I feel that all of them are woven with the same Fulbright thread of international exchange.

During my Fulbright year, I attributed the magical feeling of performing and studying in this city to the fact that Vienna is like Disneyland for musicians. By the end of my Fulbright year, however, I realized that my transformative experience was all thanks to the international people, musical culture, and artistic history that make Vienna the colorful city it is. I never could have imagined that my Fulbright experience would be so impactful that it would inevitably continue to affect my daily life and work years after I had returned to the US.

Matriculating into my master’s degree in vocal pedagogy at the New England Conservatory (NEC) in Boston, Massachusetts, gave me the unique opportunity to directly continue my Fulbright work. From a study program perspective, I shared stories of the unique classes—such as Atem- und Körperschulung (breath and body training) and Feldenkrais—that the MDW voice curriculum had. Many of my professors and colleagues at NEC were interested in experiencing MDW’s different offerings firsthand. As president of the Student National Association of Teachers of Singing NEC Chapter, I planned guest lecturers and viewing parties of the productions at MDW to encourage institutional exchange. Several professors and colleagues with whom I worked closely during my Fulbright year gave presentations at NEC, including my own voice professor at MDW, Martin Vácha, and Markus Kupferblum, an Austrian opera director who came to NEC to give an acting master class as a master teacher on commedia dell’arte.

Photo of Theodora Nestorova

From a research perspective, it was a natural progression for me to continue the vibrato research in Boston that I had begun in Austria. I was grateful to forge collaboration on the under-researched topic of vocal vibrato with renowned Austrian voice scientist Dr. Christian Herbst and with Dr. Ian Howell, my advisor at NEC. With sources that I had gathered in Vienna, I worked to include several Austrian musical traditions and genres that had not been previously represented in voice science research, such as Austrian Schlager and operetta. This work has allowed me to connect with singers and researchers from around the world as I’ve been able to present my research originated in my Fulbright year at international conferences.

Though I deepened my understanding of Austrian culture and language while in my Fulbright year, it wasn’t until I returned to the US that I really acknowledged it. I continued practicing my German-language skills by getting involved with the local Goethe-Institut Boston and becoming a German tutor and German-diction teaching assistant at NEC. I also attended many events from the local Austro-American Association of Boston, where I met and exchanged experiences with former and current Fulbrighters. After my Fulbright year and back in the US, it has been a joy for me to broadly share my Fulbright story, not only in English but also in German.

Despite the challenges of community connections during the COVID-19 pandemic, engaging in online platforms such as online webinars and the new Fulbrighter app made my engagement with the robust network of Fulbright alums stronger. Several times this past year, I served on informational virtual panels hosted by varied institutions and spoke one-on-one with prospective Fulbright music discipline applicants. I began my role as an app ambassador during the Fulbrighter app’s prelaunch phase in the summer after my Fulbright grant. Especially during COVID-19, this app opened the boundaries of Fulbright exchange to include international Fulbright alum connections across many Fulbright chapters. Through interest groups formed on the Fulbrighter app, I connected online with students not only in Fulbright Austria’s network, but also in Fulbright Bulgaria’s, as I am originally Bulgarian. Similar to the Fulbright Berlin Seminar that I attended in March 2019, I was invited to perform at the Fulbright Nashville Enrichment Seminar in March 2020. While this was unfortunately canceled due to the outset of the pandemic, the Fulbright network from these events remained strong, as did the network via Fulbrighter, where I met so many people from both seminars with whom I still keep in touch.

Photo of Theodora Nestorova

I am writing this while in Vienna for the first time since my Fulbright year, reflecting on all that I have experienced as a Fulbrighter. My Fulbright year enabled me to think differently about intercultural exchange in my field. But my Fulbright experience has continued well beyond the bounds of that one year in Vienna. Since my Fulbright year, I have been continually inspired to act in the spirit of international ambassadorship. On a personal level, I have forged international connections lasting into my Fulbright alum years. On an academic level, I have pursued my Fulbright research with cross-continental elements as I now begin an interdisciplinary PhD at McGill University. On an artistic level, I have made it my mission to facilitate vocal education exchange across institutions. With every year that passes after my seminal Fulbright year, I am reminded: once a Fulbrighter, always a Fulbrighter.