Michael Alexander: Opening doors, final details, and waiting...

Our trip is just over two weeks away!  I can feel the energy starting to build toward the trip as we make final preparations.  Some amazing things have actually occurred even before we go.  First, we have a new friend in Chen Yi.  We performed her piece Momentum on our last concert of the Fall and it was amazing to see the reaction it got and how powerful the music is.  What a learning experience to be exposed to music like this that fuses a Western orchestra with Chinese music and philosophies about sound.  When we sent the recording to Ms. Chen, she responded with great accolades and some tremendous suggestions for how to make the piece even better for when we take the piece on tour.

We had an terrific orientation session with Dr. Barry Morris, Vice Provost for Global Engagement at KSU.  His energy was wonderful and I think he gave us some great tips on what to expect in China.  The whole staff of the Confucius Institute has been such a pleasure to work with and we look forward to telling them all about our trip.  All of the details are coming into place now and I must take a moment to thank Susan Grant Robinson and Dr. Harry Price for all they have done to support this venture from within the School of Music. We could not be doing this without  them.

The hardest part now is waiting. The orchestra rehearses again on December 28.  That feels like an eternity, but is only two short weeks from today!