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!