Arrival in LA

We have arrived safely in LA and will be taking a 7:30 am flight cross-country to St. Louis, arriving about 12:30 pm. A great trip and a great result. Here are some more pictures from the concert.

Tamsui and the National Palace Museum

We spent the late afternoon and evening at Tamsui (Damshui), a port town outside of Taipei and on the river mouth into the Taiwan Strait. Our first stop was the old Fort Santo Domingo. This was originally a wooden fort built by the Spanish in 1629 at Tamsui on the northwestern coast of Taiwan. In 1642, the Dutch expelled the Spaniards from nearby Keelung, and the Dutch built a new fort on the site, called Fort Anthonio. In 1644, they replaced it by the structure still standing today, also called Fort Anthonio. From 1683 to 1867 the Qing Dynasty Chinese government controlled the fort and during this time (1724) built a stone wall with four gates around it, of which only one (main) gate survives. Following the opium wars in 1868 the British took over the fort, made it their trade consulate, and painted it red (it was previously white).This was a terrific way to spend out last evening in Taiwan. After visiting the fort we strolled over to the waterfront where we mingled with the local crowd. The sunset was beautiful. A long walk down the "old street" completed the evening. The attached video gives one a feeling of the craziness: like a carnival on steroids.

We are visiting the National Palace Museum today. Some background is in order (taken from Wikipedia.....). In 1931, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese Nationalist Government ordered the Palace Museum in Beijing to quickly move its most valuable pieces out of the city to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army. Select pieces from the Palace Museum in Beijing and the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum were selected for removal, as well as rare books of the Central Library. After WWII, the Chinese Civil War resumed ultimately resulting in Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's decision in evacuating the art to Taiwan. When the fighting worsened in 1948 between the Chinese Communist and Chinese Nationalist armies, the Directors of the Palace Museum made the decision to send some of the most prized items in the Museum's collection to Taiwan. A total of 2,972 crates were shipped in three groups and arrived in Keelung, Taiwan, in February 1948. By the time the items arrived in Taiwan, the Mao Zedong's Communist army had already seized control of the Beijing Palace Museum collection so not all of the collection could be sent to Taiwan. The 2,972 crates of artifacts moved to Taiwan only accounted for a quarter of the items originally transported South from Beijing, although the pieces represented some of the very best of the collection. The Peoples Republic of China government has long said that the collection was stolen and that it legitimately belongs in China, but Taiwan has defended its collection as a necessary act to protect the pieces from destruction, especially during the Cultural Revolution. However, relations regarding this treasure have warmed in recent years and the Palace Museum in Beijing has agreed to lend relics to the National Palace Museum for exhibitions and Palace Museum curator Zheng Xinmiao have said that the artifacts in both mainland and Taiwan museums are "China's cultural heritage jointly owned by people across the Taiwan Strait."

The pictures are: The Wind Symphony outside the National Palace Museum, Ft. Santo Domingo, local gentleman relaxing, Dr. Korak enjoying the fresh air on the waterfront, a scene looking up river at sunset and various food choices from street vendors....grilled squid....YUM!

Back in Taipei

We are back in Taipei. On the way we stopped at an ancient Taoist temple and had lunch in a wonderful carnival-like atmosphere. Today we have spent the day at the Taipei Zoo and gondola. The gondola takes one up the mountain to many tea houses from which one has a beautiful view of the Taipei Basin. Many students had tea prepared the traditional way. This was a beautiful way to spend couple of hours. This evening we will be traveling to Tamsui, which is one of the first ports to which foreigners had access. The Dutch East India Company being one in the early 17th century. There is an "old street" night market there and we will eat dinner on our own. The review of our concert has been posted on the WASBE web site: www.wasbe.org.

More Pics

Concert

The concert day arrived. We departed the hotel at 10:30 am for the Chiayi City Cultural Center. On arrival the student stood on stage, snapped pictures and I think pinched themselves to see if the moment was real. We have been planning for this day for the past 18 months and now was the time. Subway sandwiches were provided for lunch, following which was an hour and a half rehearsal and sound check. The hall had about 1000 seats and was just completed in time for the WASBE conference. The concert was well attended and the audience was warm and receptive. Our performance was one of the finest that I have been associated with in my 21 year tenure as Director of Bands. Following the concert one American WASBE member said, "There are not many Americans here at the conference this year but those that are are extremely proud of you and the SIUE Wind Symphony." This made all of us feel as though we represented our country with honor. I think that many people now know of SIUE.

We depart for Taipei today and on the way stop at the ancient city of Lugang, including a visit to the Matsu Temple (the Taoist sea goddess). Tomorrow is a full day with a visit to the Taiwan Zoo and cable car then sunset and the evening at the town of Tamsui, located on the Taiwan Strait. The Spanish established a colony there in the early 17th century. More on this later.

Many photos. Thanks to Dr. John Korak for providing many of these!

Amazing Concert

AMAZING CONCERT

More to come!

Sax Repair

Lagniappe

Additional bits and pieces. Dan and Mac at the dinner after the concert in Tianan. Exit sign on the bus that no one caught until yesterday....funny how one's mind works! Adam contemplates a career move.....Leah thinks he should stick to tuba.

Poster from the Tianan Concert

This is the poster plastered all over the walls at the University of Tianan.

The Last Two Days

The last two days have been very busy for the band. Wednesday morning we had a 7 am wake up and a 9 am departure to Tianan, a city about a one hour bus ride south of Chiayi City. Tianan is an ancient city and an important one in the history of Tiawan. The Dutch had a trading post there (the Dutch East India Company). Our first stop was the 1665 Confucian Temple. This was the first in Taiwan and was established in 1665. Confucius (traditionally 28 September 551 BCE – 479 BCE) was a philosopher and teacher in what is now part of Shandong Province of mainland China. The philosophy of Confucius emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. Many still read his works and try to follow his moral and ethical model.


We then went to the National University of Tianan to spend the day presenting masterclasses and sharing rehearsals with the band from NUT as well as the Symphonic Winds of Macau. Dr. Chih-Cheng Hou was our host...and what a magnificent host he was. Drs. Hinson and Korak and Professor Smithiger presented masterclasses to students from Taiwan and Macau, and Drs. Bell and Hinson presented a seminar on the new clarinet concerto, Concerto Scion, by Kevin Walczyk. We will be presenting the work in a world premiere on Friday at WASBE. Here is a picture of Drs. Bell and Hinson with the Wind Symphony in the National University of Tianan concert hall at the seminar.
Following the seminar, all conductors as well as Drs. Hinson and Korak and Professor Smithiger had a meeting with the President of the University, Dr. Hsiu-Shuang Huang. She was obviously proud of her institution and was pleased to have us on her campus. She mentioned the possibility of a collaboration between SIUE and NUT.....We will forward that information to Dean Romero. After dinner all three bands performed for each other. It was a great treat to hear some fine music being performed by our colleagues from Asia. Here are a couple of pictures. One of Korak, Bell and Hinson with a bunch of new friends from Macau, and one of Collin Galvin one of our trumpet players also with several new friends.

Thursday, was a late start for the band as we met at 1:30 pm to attend the concert by the Tiawan Wind Ensemble, a band made up of professors and band directors from across Taiwan. This was a very interesting concert as it featured a new violin and wind band concerto. Following the concert we had a two hour rehearsal with guest conductor Dennis Johnson, Director of Bands from Murray State University and the Immediate Past President of WASBE, participating. Here's a pic of Maestro Johnson conducting the band in rehearsal.
All is well. The band had a terrific rehearsal and hopefully that will translate to an amazing performance. Our time slot is 1:30 am Edwardsville time....so think of us as you head to bed this evening (Thursday). More tomorrow!

More Food Choices

Food Choices

Arrived in Chiayi City

We have arrived in Chiayi City, a "small" town of 280,000 people located in the southwest of Taiwan. The train ride was amazing....250 mile an hour and a 1 hour and 20 minute trip. We've got to get these things in the US! We registered at WASBE and were warmly greated by the WASBE President, Leon Bly and Phoebe Liu, the Local Organizing Committee chair. The remainder of the day will be a two hour rehearsal, some Subway for dinner and then a concert by the Uniao Filhamonica do Troviscal, Portugal. We are in for a treat!

The pics included on this post are a shot of the hotel in Taipei, "Fun on a Train" and a shot of the high speed train.

We Are Here!

We arrived this morning one hour early (5:15 am)....heck of a tail wind. The luggage collection went well and all but one instrument made the trek without incident. The day was spent seeing several sights: the Longshan Budist Temple, the Chiang Kai-shek memorial as well as the National Concert Hall and National Theater. In between we exchanged money and had two wonderful traditional Chinese meals. The food just kept coming! We are (most of us) having an early evening as tomorrow starts at 6:30 am wake-up followed by breakfast then load the truck and go to the high speed train for our journey to Chiayi City. More tomorrow but for now all made the trip well and all are healthy.

Ready to go

Camp rehearsals have been completed, instruments and luggage are packed and well wishes for safe travels have been received. We will be meeting at 2 pm today at Lambert then flying to LAX on Southwest (gotta love the free bag policy) at @ 4:30. Malaysian Air is our next leg at 12:30 am tomorrow arriving in Taipei at about 6:15 am on July 4th. We'll post some pictures while we wait for the flight in LA.