The newspaper where my daughter's choir is based printed this article yesterday about her trip.
Posted on Mon, Jun. 13, 2005
By Marina Takahashi
Beacon Journal staff writer
Standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the muggy attic of Steinway Hall, 52 members of the Touring Choir of the Summit Choral Society held a steady note last Tuesday.
They have been rehearsing like this for months, and the time has finally come.
Today, they are en route to Beijing to perform in the China Children's Choir Festival on Saturday.
"In some ways, even more than a musical experience, I think it'll be an intercultural experience,'' said Summit Choral Society artistic director Frank Jacobs.
But this tour is not the choir's first abroad. The Touring Choir, with members ages 13 to 18, has performed in England, Hawaii, and Italy, led by their conductor Arlene Jacobs.
"The kids will have an opportunity to visit (the famous sites) that they've heard about,'' Jacobs said. "I'm excited for this chance to go, and for them to be a part of this intercultural relationship, a real hands-on experience with these children.''
At the festival, the teens will sing alongside choirs from Indianapolis, Chicago, and Honolulu, as well as the Children and Young Women Chorus of the China National Symphony, founded by Yang Hongnian of the Central Conservatory of Music.
The Jacobses met Hongnian after visiting Beijing last year to survey the concert venues.
To their surprise, Hongnian's graduate class at the Conservatory was rehearsing Bach's Mass in B Minor. Back in Akron, their adult choir was too.
This coincidence led to the proposal of a joint concert, aside from the children's festival, with the Summit Choral Society's 40 adult singers and Hongnian's 60 graduate students at the Forbidden City Concert Hall on Thursday.
"I guarantee you, this has never been done before,'' said Frank Jacobs, who will be conducting the concert. "I broke out into sobs.''
In addition to the festival of more than 250 singers at the Tianqiao Theater in Beijing, Akron's choir will perform in three other concerts. Their debut will be on Friday at the Great Wall of China, where they will join the Indianapolis Children's Choir and a Chinese youth drum corps.
After the festival the next day, the Akron group will perform independent concerts on June 20 and 22 in Shanghai and Hangzhou.
The festival will host the world premiere of Someday Soon, a piece written by David Pettit, who has worked with the choir several times.
The song was commissioned by the Jacobses and Paul Lam, CEO of Kingsway International, the organizer of the festival. Dedicated to Lam's mother, Nora, who was a Christian missionary in China, the song promotes peace and cooperation.
"I wanted (the children) to feel the warmth and friendship of each other,'' Pettit said.
On top of rehearsing the songs, choir members have also familiarized themselves with Chinese culture and food.
"(Arlene Jacobs) gave us a pair of chopsticks. They're square so it's a little hard to eat with, but I've been practicing with those in case we have them in China,'' said Grace Beaseley, 15, who will be flying for the first time.
Beaseley's grandparents, who live in Beijing, will attend the concert.
"Musically, it's going to be a superlative experience because (the Chinese) choir is one of the finest choirs these kids will ever hear,'' Frank Jacobs said. "For them to be invited means that they can have a sense of pride about the international stage in which they will be singing.''
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
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