Newswise — The University of Kentucky Wind Ensemble, under the direction of John Cody Birdwell, will tour and perform in the People's Republic of China for two weeks this month on the invitation of the United States—China Cultural and Educational Foundation. The UK Wind Ensemble is the only American collegiate music ensemble to receive the 2008 invitation from the foundation. Birdwell and the ensemble happily accepted the invitation to perform in front of new Chinese audiences. "It's an honor," says the conductor. "But the reason it's an honor is because these students are so spectacular and they really worked hard."
UK's ensemble earned the invitation to perform in China on the strength of its recent compact disc release, "Distilled in Kentucky: Premieres from the Bluegrass State," which features new recordings and several premiere performances by the group.
"It's really a testament to the quality of the (UK) School of Music as a whole and to Dr. Birdwell specifically. We have a band program that we're now being afforded this honor based purely on our notoriety as a program," adds Kyle Forsthoff, a graduate student and member of the UK Wind Ensemble. "We're definitely going into this with the mindset that we're cultural ambassadors for the U.S. for the time that we're in China."
In support of the student musicians' visit and their performances at a variety of venues throughout the country, the United States—China Cultural and Educational Foundation pledged $30,000 of financial support to make the trip possible. Additional fundraising efforts in Kentucky have been ongoing over the last year to fund the rest of the tour for the UK Wind Ensemble.
The China tour, which runs May 19-30 for the approximately 60 talented student musicians from UK, comes at an opportune time as the Asian nation prepares to host the world at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Consequently a number of the UK Wind Ensemble performances will be part of cultural and musical showcase festivals related to the Olympics.
The UK Wind Ensemble is also scheduled to perform a total of seven concerts in the cities of Deqing, Suzhou, Changzhou, Zhengjiang and Yangzhou, with the final concert in Beijing scheduled for May 28, at the brand new People's Liberation Army Concert Hall. "Band concerts over there are a really big thing," notes Elizabeth McDonald, an undergraduate tuba player in the ensemble. "They'll sell out huge concert halls. So it is going to be really exciting to have a giant audience to watch us."
Likewise the group, a highly select organization consisting of the finest wind and percussion students at the UK School of Music, is looking forward to visiting such historical and cultural landmarks as the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China during their stay.
During the ensemble's China tour, the musicians will perform works by a number of contemporary composers including Kenneth Hesketh, Dan Welcher, Dmitri Shostakovich, Bob Mintzer and David Gillingham. Joining the UK Wind Ensemble for these performances are a few featured artists including UK faculty members Miles Osland, director of jazz studies and professor of saxophone, and Mark Clodfelter, assistant professor of trumpet.
The UK Wind Ensemble, which is wrapping up rehearsals before traveling abroad, isn't too concerned with any obstacles they might encounter. "There will be some language barriers that we will have to deal with in communicating with the people," says Birdwell. "But when it comes time for us to sit down and perform and play our instruments, it's just going to go straight to their hearts. That's the beauty of it all."
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