Wind Ensemble in China

It's been very 'eye opening' to meet and hear many of the young musicians in the People’s Republic of China & Hong Kong. The good news is that the interest in a musical world is huge. Additionally, I have played on a china built trumpet and found it to be quite in-tune and free-playing for an instrument that only costs $ 200. That’s the good news. The bad news is the limited space available to practice is a common problem. Most urban areas of Asia use limited space very efficiently. This leaves very little tolerance for venues to practice a musical instrument.

I graduated college on May 17, 2008 and not 24 hours later I was on a 13 hour plane ride to China with the SUNY Fredonia Wind Ensemble. An amazing group of talented students, who by the end of the trip I was a little sick of, but at the same time couldn't have chose anyone else who I would've rather shared this experience with. There will be no way that in this blog I will be able to recap the entire trip because there will be moments that you simply not understand unless you were there (mosquito squatting with Dana... ;) ). So here are a few highlights --->

Wow, by far the greatest trip I have ever taken so far. I've really gotten to know so many more people, and gotten to see some things that are just breathtaking. The Great Wall of China was just fantastic (even though it did really mess up my ankles)! And Guanzhou, with it's ridiculous humidity, did have our one amazing day as rock stars; that was so cool! Well now the long flight back is over, and I'm sure all of us will have a trip that we can all look back and remember for years to come.

Fredonia brass students in GuangzhouGuangzhou TheaterDr. Paula Holcomb conducts at the Beijing ConservatoryHong Kong Music SchoolPearl River Boat TripStreet ShotCombined BandsCommon Street VendorWaiting for DinnerTemple Museum