The primary, stated purpose of these annual Windiana China concert tours is Cultural Exchange. This year was exceptionally successful (at least compared to the last time I went, in 2007).

We had 3 opportunities (out of our total of 6 concerts) to perform and interact directly with students: Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Changzhou College of Information Technology, and Northern China Electric Power University.

Shanghai Conservatory of Music is a rather elite school - obviously for the best and brightest music students (in Chinese culture - even today - professional music education tends to be granted to the higher-class students). We had the pleasure of being conducted by Master Yu on 3 pieces; 2 of the pieces that he wrote or arranged that Windiana has played for a number of years (”Romantic Charm of Pentatonism” and “Eulogize the Yangtze”) plus a piece written by Windiana’s composer-in-residence Mike Boo (”The Golden Mustangs March” - commissioned by a Lansing middle school). For those three pieces, plus another new piece written by Mike Boo (”Dragon Dance”, inspired by the Dragon Boat Festival - held during the first week of this tour), we had members of the Conservatory join us (including drummers from the Conservatory, who had to learn about doing “rides” for “Dragon Dance”!! They don’t learn improvisation in their formal schooling). We also got to experience the Girls Drumming Group perform a traditional Chinese piece, which was a visual and auditory delight!

Changzhou College of Information Technology (CCIT) is a different story. This would be the equivalent of a vocational college here, and the students do not have formal musical training prior to attending. We discovered a number of things about these students: 1) most of them had only been playing their instruments for 2 or 3 months; 2) their instruments belong to CCIT; 3) These students are very talented in spite of the poor condition of their instruments; 4) these instruments were universally in very sad condition (obtaining sound from them was difficult, pads were rotting, etc. In one case, we found that the tuning slide on one French horn had been soldered in place - probably because it must have been falling out). Regardless, these students were dedicated and enthusiastic! Working with the English majors as our interpretors, we held sectionals with the students and worked up the one piece that they know: “Jingle Bells”. Then we got to rehearse the piece with them. Mike Boo (not just composer, but also our percussionist) rehearsed the English majors to sing “We Will Rock You” with him. After a snack break, we got on stage for our performance to a full house (in the gym). We played several pieces, then had the band students join us for “Jingle Bells” (they performed wonderfully!), then we played “We Will Rock You” with the Boo Chorus - VERY VERY enthusiastic! In fact, Boo had set his camera on my stand when he came to the front, so I shot some photos (from my seat amid the student “chorus”) on his camera (wonder what he’ll think when he finds them??).

More about CCIT: when we arrived, our bus was met by a large group of English majors - they were all volunteers and they all wore red vests to make them easy to find. I got off the bus and immediately had 2 young women greet me - their English names were Michelle and Annie. What delightful people these kids are! They made sure we were comfortable and could find the bathrooms and everything - plus they took full advantage to sit down with us to “practice their English” (which is VERY good, by the way) and ask us about America and talk about themselves, too.

Michelle and Annie

Michelle & me

After the concert, we had supper… and when we found out that our Volunteers were going to be seated elsewhere, we insisted that they join us!!

Northern China Electric Power University was the 3rd of our school performances. We were again matched up with English-speaking student volunteers to take us through the local marketplace. Our little group started out with Minnie, but she had to leave early to prepare for the performance, so she was replaced by a last-minute call-in (not an English major, but a freshman Electrical Engineering student who has been learning English since his 4th year of school). Liu spoke near-perfect English; when we finished going thru the markets (I don’t care for shopping, and found what I was looking for), we returned to the bus to escape the dust storm and just sat and talked - about America, about his goals and studies, etc., until the rest of the group returned.

The students have performing arts groups or clubs at Northern China Electric Power University, and they put on a performance for us before we provided them with an informal performance of our own.

Chinese harp (Konghou)

Chinese flute

Yangko Dancer

“Blue Power” chorus

2 Pipas and Chinese harp (Konghou)

Dance of the Terra Cotta Warriors

OK, think this post has gone long enough! There is so much more I want to say about our time with the students, but that will have to come at another time! Next post will cover another topic!! Xie xie!!