Winton Woods HS Varsity Ensemble 2008 China Trip

Monday, March 24th - Our First Concert

2008-07-29T19:37:00.006-04:00

Today we started the day with a trip to Yuan Garden, which was also a home to a Chinese Emperor. The contrast between old and new was amazing! The section of the city where the Yuan Gardens were located was situated just across the river from the Financial District of Shanghai, which is full of newly-built futuristic looking buildings. This made for some great photo-ops with old China in the foreground and new China in the background.

In the parking lot, the students thoughtfully surrounded on of our travelling party, a young lady who was turning 12 years old that day and joined together in a chorus of "Happy Birthday." This was so thoughtful, but a mixed blessing as it attracted pan-handlers to the area. But it was well worth it!

It was fairly striking to notice the number of people, poor and handicapped both, that were begging near the areas where the buses parked and along the streets leading to and from the Yuan Garden. In addition, there were many street vendors hawking postcards and counterfeit watches. In spite of warnings, several students purchased counterfeit iPods for about $40 each. Two of the students who fell for the counterfeits were lucky enough to get their money back when they challenged the vendors in regards to the authenticity of the product.

After touring the gardens, we spent about 45 minutes shopping at many of the side street markets. This was one of my favorite parts of China. The streets leading back to the gardens were a labyrinth of unique and colorful shops selling everything from musical instruments to specialty fans and chopsticks.

A popular scam throughout the gardens is to engage tourists in conversation by asking where they are from and then to convince the tourists that the vendors are a part of a University Art class who is staging a showing class. They will then escort the tourists to the back room of a nearby calligraphy shop and try to sell tourists pieces of massed produced art.

One of my purchases at the gardens was a Mah-Jong set for my wife that was antiqued in order to look authentic.

We then traveled by bus to a location about 5-10 minutes away for a pleasant lunch at a restaurant on the river bank of the river which separates the new section (Pu Dong) and old section of Shanghai. This was this the first time we were exposed to the Chinese tradition of a bowl of noodle soup that is traditionally served as a birthday entree. The individual celebrating a birthday is to reach into the bowl with their chopsticks and grab a noodle. The length of the noodle is said to predict the length of life of the individual, for instance, a long noodle predicts a long life.

Following lunch we traveled through a tunnel beneath the river to cross over to PuDong (new Shanghai) where the Oriental Art Center Performance Hall is located. The Art Center is an impressive piece of architecture that looks like four or five glass bowls in a grouping, but when viewed from above take on the outline of a glass butterfly. This was the facility where we were to rehearse and perform!

Upon arriving at the Art Center, we were informed of some rather unpleasant news. Three of the choirs that were participating in the festival would not be allowed to perform their repertoire as individual choirs as it had not been approved far enough in advance by the Chinese authorities. Fortunately, we had supplied the company with a list of repertoire far enough in advance that our music had been approved.

According to our guide and the festival organizer, the crack-down took place as a result of a Bjork concert earlier in the month where she included a song and a participatory chant about freeing Tibet. This was complicated by a March 14th Tibetan protest in China that resulted in several protesters being shot.

As a result of the Bjork concert, our concert had nearly been cancelled, but the negotiated settlement was to use only music that had been approved by the authorities prior to the Bjork concert. Apparently three of the choirs that were part of our festival had not met that deadline.

We rehearsed our festival music throughout the afternoon and then had a box dinner at the performance location before the performance. One of our students, Danielle Driskill, was selected to perform the soprano solo in the Moses Hogan "Elijah Rock" and another of our students, Richelle Goree was selected to sing in a small feature ensemble.

The concert was presented for a sold-out audience of over 1800 people. It was attended primarily by party officials, members of the Musician's Association and businessman. The concert was presented in two parts: the first half was individual choirs and the second half was the massed festival chorus.

The concert opened with Counsel Rock, Pennsylvania's 130-voice choir. They were a very good choir and clearly came from a community with lots of resources. They had a large staff traveling with them as well as many parents. Their opening piece was a piece dedicated to the event that they had commissioned for the tour. They were followed by the choir from Springboro, OH, who became traveling companions for us throughout the event as we were both fairly small ensembles. Then the Winton Woods HS choir concluded the first half of the concert.

As we prepared to go onto stage, it was clear that the students were very tired. They were noticeably lacking in the positive energy they normally bring to performance opportunities. I was honestly a bit taken-aback as this was the pinnacle moment of our efforts of the last year and our trip half-way around the world. Frankly, many were a bit overwhelmed by the time adjustment and all of the new adjustments as well as the full day of touring and rehearsal. As always, we shared a moment of silence before we went onstage to find our place of inner-strength. My silent request was answered eloquently.

The WWHS choir sang two songs. The first was "Prayer of the Children" and was written for the children of Bosnia. With the help of the Chinese teacher from our school district, we had translated the phrase, "Can you hear the prayer of the children?" into Mandarin for this occasion. In spite of the fact that the kids were bone-tired, they sang so beautifully that there was a audible gasp from a party member seated directly behind me at their final cut-off and the audience was afraid to break the moment of fragile silence with applause. We also sang the song "Homeland" by Z. Randall Stroope, which I had suggested to the students would take on a new meaning each time we performed it during the trip.

Many of the members of other festival choirs were in tears at the end of our performance because they were so touched by the message of the music and the performance of the pieces. The other choir members and their directors were very generous in the positive things they shared with our kids and it meant the world as our kids had emotionally dragged themselves across those "last ten yards" and our kids and their families had sacrificed so much to make this trip happen.

Upon our arrival back at the hotel, we had to turn our attention to packing to make the trip to Beijing, the next chapter in our amazing journey.

That night we also received welcome news that Congressman Chabot's office had been helping our family that was denied entrance to China due to lost passports to acquire new passports on a one day turn-around. This was remarkable as it had taken us quite a while to get passports for everyone. We also received word that the State Department had been engaged in the process, thanks to Congressman Chabot's office and was trying to help arrange for a re-issued Chinese Visa so that we could all be reunited in Beijing.

It was the end of a "fairy tale" day!

March 23 (Easter Sunday) - Our Welcome to China

2008-07-21T20:00:00.018-04:00

The day started with an extensive buffet including a choice of over 30 options. The buffet included eggs, sausage and dry cereal as well as a variety of Chinese entrees. The main option for milk was usually soy milk, which took some getting used to. After venturing through the interesting combination of Chinese and American options for breakfast, we boarded the bus and headed for the Nanjing Road shopping district.

Once on the bus, each traveler was provided with a complimentary bottle of water to get a start on the day.

En route to Nanjing Road our guide shared a number of miscellaneous facts about Chinese life and culture:

There are basically three classes in China -

Blue collar is the equivalent of $4000/yr income and below
White collar is $8000-12,000/yr and
Gold collar is $13,000+/yr.

In the major cities each family is allowed only one child, otherwise the parents are fined an amount equal to two or three years salary for exceeding the limit. Those who wish to circumvent the process will often immigrate someplace like Hong Kong and have an additional child and then move back to Beijing or Shanghai with the additional child. Our guide expressed a concern that many of the youth growing up in modern China do not have the social skills, ability or negotiate or compromise, or family-based support system that a child who grows up with brothers and sisters has. He indicated that he felt this may be a potential problem that could surface in unforeseen ways China's future.
In Shanghai and some of the other big cities, the auto is a luxury. If you wish to purchase an auto, you must pay $5000 to buy a lifetime license plate in order to have the opportunity to enter a raffle to buy a car. The license numbers are drawn in random order and the numbers drawn may then purchase a car which costs the equivalent of about $30,000-which is three times the average salary per year.
Because of the heavy traffic, elevated highways have been built in the cities to help expedite travel. Only cars with Shanghai license plates are allowed to travel the elevated highways in Shanghai. It takes a prohibitively long time to get around on the non-elevated roads.
Most of the cars on the road are rather new as in the big cities the cars are kept for about five years and then crushed and recycled or shipped to the rural areas for re-sale and use.
Before 1994, only 10% of HS grads were allowed to attend the university. During that time full tuition was paid. Now most can attend the university but they must pay tuition themselves.
It is very hard to find a job. It was our observation that because of the large number of people and the competition for opportunities in China one of the unspoken rules is that in order to get ahead, one must conform. This is a pretty vivid contrast to the United States, where "thinking outside the box" is encouraged as a way of demonstrating initiative and ingenuity.

The traffic wasn't too bad as it was a Sunday, but I was surprised to see that traffic in China does not give right-of-way to ambulances. I really felt bad for the people I witnessed in the back of the emergency vehicles--the family members accompanying the patients often had a look of tired resignation.

As we traveled to Nanjing Road we noticed that many of the Chinese still live in old traditional homes that look virtually inhabitable. The poverty is pervasive, but the economy in China is booming. These old homes are being torn down and replaced with Hi-rise apartments at an unbelievable pace. However, our guide shared with us his concern that the workmanship in these hi-rise apartments is not solid and that they will begin to break down rather quickly. His great concern is that the replacement cost for these hi-rises will come due in a fairly short cycle.

Apartments in these hi-rises cost about $2200 per square meter and renters must also pay for part of the common areas of the apartments. So, an apartment of 1400 square meters in not a true dimension of 1400 square meters as you are also paying for a percentage of the lobby, etc. The cost of an apartment is equal to about 20 years of income and remains the property of the government. You simply purchase the right to use the apartment during your lifetime. The most expensive places to live in China outside of Hong Kong are: Shanghai, Beijing, Guang Jo and Tibet.

When we arrived at Nanjing Road, we discovered several blocks of upscale shops. Although, since it was Sunday, many of the shops were closed. American brands were very much in evidence and we saw Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Starbucks as well as massive signs for Coca-Cola, etc.. Our experience was that American brands tended to be more expensive, even if the items were manufactured in China.

We didn't do much shopping, just sight-seeing. As we walked down the street, numerous Chinese nationals wanted to have pictures taken with our African-American students. Apparently, African-Americans are not frequently seen in China and have a sort of "celebrity" status. As we walked our group was approached by numerous pan-handlers and shoe shiners. They would literally grab you and start to shine your shoes even without permission. Our students found it rather hard in the beginning to deny these aggressive merchants, but they soon learned their first Chinese word, "bu," which means "no."

We also visited a silk factory and many purchased beautiful clothing and cloth as well as robes, neck ties and comforters. We were very surprised to discover that the silk is unwound from the cocoons with the aid of water in one long continuous strand before it is woven into clothing. It is one of the main industries in China and is very popular in Shanghai because the climate is so warm and muggy for much of the year. Cotton bedding left in a closet for any length of time will mildew quickly and most of the hi-rise buildings could be seen to have clothes lines on each balcony to air out the bedding and clothing to keep it from mildewing.

The students rehearsed throughout the afternoon with the conductor, Rollo Dilworth while many of the adults went on a sight-seeing tour. One of the big surprises of the tour for adults was to discover that the small Chinese children frequently do not wear diapers. They have the seat cut out of their pants and when they must relieve themselves, they simply squat in the street or on the side walk.

The evening included a beautiful welcome dinner at the hotel where each choir sang for one another. The students gave an impressive first showing that evening with the Moses Hogan arrangement of "The Battle of Jericho." The dinner included roasted chicken, which was roasted whole and butchered. One of the students found an intact roasted chicken head which he soon befriended, shared with friends, and took back to his hotel room.

Videos:
Nanjing Road
Nanjing Road Ceremonial Dragon and Musicians
Nanjing Road Pizza Hut
Silk Factory Demonstration

Sooooo Many to Thank!

2008-07-20T10:09:00.005-04:00

In spite of the length of this list, it is much too important not to thank the large number of people who selflessly worked on the home front to make the trip possible. The list of contributors is extremely long and they were recognized in concert programs during the year, but here is the list of the huge number of supporters and volunteers who helped in so many ways:

Camille Nasbe - Fundraising & Grant Application, Promotional Brochure, ongoing advice
John Pennycuff - Fundraising & Grant Application, Corporate Contributions, Support for students with special financial need, ongoing advice
Winton Woods Educational Foundation - Financial Support and Fundraising
Nina Jacoby - Fundraising & PR
LeAnne Montgomery - Contributor recordkeeping, WWEF liaison, WWEF check writing, and PayPal account
Teresa Cleary - District Public Relations & Assistance with Grant Application
Courtney Wilson – Critical Legal Support on the Home Front
Tim Cleary – Critical Support on the Home Front
Gina Burnett - District Public Relations & Web Assistance
Sharon Oakes - District PR & Fundraising
Andrea & Chris Donegan - Fundraising, Java Joz car wash, Greenhills Pioneer Days, Parky's Night, Kemper Road Christian Church Benefit Concert Committee & PR
Donah Howard - Fundraising, Java Joz car wash, Greenhills Pioneer Days, Parky's Night, Kemper Road Christian Church Benefit Concert & PR
Barb Cooper - Arranging Benefit Concert at Molloys and Concert on the Green Fundraising, Music Booster Support, Forest Park Night Out, and Fundraising raffles,
Debbie Day - Parky's Farm Organization, Party Affair Fundraiser, Cincinnati Bell Fundraiser, Music Booster Yard Sale & Chocolate Sale
Mary Gaitin - Grant Application & Promotional Brochure
Tom Golinar & Mary Nolan - Staff Payroll Deduction & PayPal account
Rhonda Hobbs – Assistance with International Cell Phone
Anita Williams – Advice and support
John Fiely - Grant Application
Adam Gergen - Fundraising & Corporate Contributions
Bobbe Kugele - Fundraising
Amy Lord Flury - Logo Design and Benefit Concert Performance
Steve Mathews - Support services for Benefit Concert
All of the parents who helped with the fundraisers, Greenhills Pioneer Days, Halloween Nights at Parky's Farm, Forest Park Night Out
Bridgett Davis, Mary Pennycuff, Jane Carter, Amy Flury Molly McKibben, Bernell Wright and all of the Kemper Road Christian Church Benefit Concert Performers
Candy Hein - Music Booster communication and Web Assistance
Althea Day, Betty Baker, Harley May, Judy May, Nancy Eichorn, Kemper Road Christian Church Benefit Concert Kickoff Planning
Kemper Road Christian Church members – Concert on the Green fundraising PR, Greenhills Pioneer Days, KRCC Benefit Concert.
Matt Tomamichael - Assistance with Kemper Road Christian Church Benefit Concert
Molloy's on the Green – donation of the facility and servers for the Wok 'n Rock Benefit Concert
Building Images, Inc. – donations to support fundraising and the Wok 'n Rock Benefit Concert
Anna and Milovan Beljin - Molloy's Benefit Concert Performers
Jack Lee - Advice and Support
Pricilla Franklin - Advice and Support
Cindy Emmert - Advice and Support
Linda Schiltz - Building Communications and Phone Tree Support
Bernell Wright - District Communications
Tori Spendel - Fundraising Contribution
Jim Lawler - Promotion at Concert on the Green
John Ross - Advice and Cheviot Kiwanis liaison
Ann Simerlink - Cincinnati Herald PR liaison
Deborah Matson Herrera for fundraising support
Mark Donovan and Industrial Innovations Design, LLC for the donation of Reds' tickets for the raffle
Margaret Oliver - Fundraising requests
Gracie Demarcia - Fundraising support
Bridgett Davis - Benefit Concert Performance, Fundraising support, Java Joz Car Wash, Music Booster's Yard Sale, and Parky's Farm
Sandy Emeigh and Molly Linville – support and procedural assistance
Pam Chaney - Fundraising support
Stephanie Walker - Fundraising support
Rachel Hackmann - Fundraising support
Tommie Jackson - Grant request
Lynn Peterson – Fundraising Support
Jennifer Easley - Fundraising opportunity for students
Mardie O'Connor - Fundraising opportunity for students
Juliette Downey - WWEF Treasurer
Scott Snyder - Dayspring Church of God Benefit Performance
John Byerly and Southern Gateway Chorus - performance at Kemper Road Christian Church Benefit Concert
Marcia McGinn and Distinctive Togs, LLC for help with the jackets
Qin Wang - Chinese Tutoring
Mr. Paul Booth & Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati
Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist Church – Fundraising Support
Leslie Graves and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority
Larry Greer and Forest Park Wal-Mart
Cincinnati Reds – Fundraiser Raffle Items Contribution
Mr. Ron Slone - Support for students with special financial need
Lynn Ashley - Support for students with special financial need
Janet Mangels, Susan Dlott and Gary Velander - Support for students with special financial need
Donita Jackson - Warm Spirit - Party Affair Vendor
Sandra Essen - Essen Global - Party Affair Vendor
Jessica Campbell - Lia Sophia Jewelry - Party Affair Vendor
Judy Yannone - Tastefully Simple - Party Affair Vendor
Amy Staubach - Pampered Chef - Party Affair Vendor
Maureen Everhart - Wild Tree Herbs - Party Affair Vendor
Marcia Hazlett - Massage Therapy - Party Affair Vendor
Courtis Fuller - WLWT Television and Benefit Concert Emcee
Jeri Oliver and the “Buzz” radio
Regina Russo and Fox 19 News
Philip Bailey and MOJO for advertising the car wash
Denise Amos, Allen Howard, Janelle Gelfand & Cara Owsley - Cincinnati Enquirer Communications
Gary Burbank and WLW radio
Rob Dowdy - Hilltop Press
Jenny Callison – Your Hometown Enquirer
Natalie Corzine - The Greenhills Journal
Lauren Hess - WCET

I told you the list was long!

March 21-22 (Good Friday & Saturday) - Our arrival in China

2008-07-19T19:59:00.007-04:00

Our journey begins!

These two days were really like one very long day because of the time change.

We flew out of Cincinnati in two groups. All students arrived on time for the first flight out of Cincinnati at the brutal hour of 4 AM. Even though we were told to be there two hours early, the United Baggage check-in staff didn't arrive for at least another hour.

All the students on the first flight were set with proper weight limits and only one was over the baggage limit. However, one student in the second group was way over the Chinese domestic flight weight limit of 44 pounds by 50%. With chaperon help she sorted through her baggage and left behind multiple bags of fresh fruit and several of her 7 pairs of shoes as well as a variety of clothing items! As one of our stylish administrators said, "Its tough to look good!"

We then flew to Chicago for a 4 hour layover and boarded with choirs from Springboro and Walter Payton College Prep Academy from Chicago, Ill. We were also accompanied on the overseas flight by the Music Director, Rollo Dilworth, and his family--most of whom hail from St. Louis.

The 14 hour flight to Shanghai was grueling. I had forgotten how little leg room there is in economy class in an airplane. In spite of my request for leg room, I ended up in a seat with little room for a 6'2" guy. One has to wonder what kinds of midgets they use to design these planes. Our flight path took us northward through northern Canada, through Alaska, Siberia, and down across Korea to Shanghai, China. The airlines try to assist with the time change with a "quiet" time on the plane with all of the window shades pulled down and the overhead lights dimmed.

I sat between a Chinese National who spoke less English than I spoke Chinese and a French-Canadian who is married to a Chinese wife who lives in Shanghai. He is studying business at Funan University in Shanghai. There were several international business majors on the flight with us as the Chinese economy is a booming field these days. The Chinese man spent two hours trying to teach me Chinese. He would speak a word which I would imitate and then he would LAUGH heartily! At one point toward the end of the flight he reached over and grabbed my arm and said something like, "pong-yi." I asked the French-National student what that meant and he said, "It means he has a new friend." It was a heart-warming way to start my interaction with the Chinese people.

The stewardesses discussed how they would spend Easter Sunday and decided they would attend the Catholic Church in Shanghai. It seemed from the conversation that there was only one in Shanghai, but that is not a certainty.

In flight, some of our kids willingly entertained the passengers on the plane by singing a small ensemble number--it didn't take much encouragement. Although I didn't have my pitch pipe in my carry-on back pack, I did have my Palm Pilot which includes a "tuning fork" program. With just a little help, the choir President, Steven Cleary got them started and they sang a vocal acapella tune.

A tragedy occurred when we reached the Shanghai airport. A laptop bag containing two passports was left on the airplane when one of our chaperons disembarked. International security protocol prohibits re-entry to the airplane once you have left the plane and when the family discovered the mistake, they were prohibited by Chinese security from re-entering the plane. By the time they convinced the authorities that they needed to check the plane, almost 20 minutes had passed and the clean-up crew had already entered the plane and the bag containing the passports was gone. Since they were the last ones off of the plane, it had to have been an employee of United Airlines or a security guard who removed the bag. Without their passports, the chaperon and her son were refused entry into China.

When the chaperon asked if she could call the consulate, she was told, "if you do not go back on the next plane you will have to buy your own tickets." It seemed evident that the evening would be spent in detention. As we were entering unknown territory and the news media was reporting that up to 100 had been shot while protesting in Tibet the previous week, I had no stomach to see anyone spend the night in a Chinese jail. As we talked further, more security guards arrived by the moment and she was told she and her son needed to leave immediately. It was a crushing blow for the family and for us to see them led away, but we had no one to contact for assistance until we had passed through customs.

We lined up alphabetically in two groups and went through customs. The two absent members were cancelled off of out Visa papers and each person was checked individually.

One we were through customs, our guide contacted United Airlines immediately and was told the mother and son were already in flight headed home. I can only imagine how awful and lonely that flight home was with no passport, no credit cards and no money.

Due to the delay at the airport, we went straight to dinner as dinner was en route to the hotel. The introduction to Chinese cuisine was exciting. Dinner was amazing. Like most of our meals, there were about 8-10 choices of entrees served on a rotating lazy-Susan in the middle of the table. We had our first encounter with chop-sticks and the Chinese cuisine. Each meal came with tea and two 2 liter bottles of soda, one Coke and one Sprite. Once those were gone, you had to pay for additional drinks. There was usually only one fish dish served with each meal, the rest was chicken, beef, pork or vegetables. Many times the fish was served with a light breading and cooked whole, complete with eyes, fins, etc. Needless to say the fish at the first meal was the most photographed subject of the evening.

Our kids were great about trying the chop-sticks and cuisine through-out the whole trip. They also did a fantastic job of sticking with bottled water and staying away from uncooked vegetables and fruit. Only one child got sick to her stomach on the trip and only one needed Immodium. We were really lucky that they followed instructions so well and kept themselves hydrated with bottled water throughout the entire trip. Generally, one received a complimentary bottle of water from the hotel each day and also a complimentary bottle of water on the tour bus each day. If students wanted to buy additional bottled water, they could purchase three bottles for about 10 yuan (or about $1.25) from the bus driver.

The exchange rate was about 7 yuan RMB for each American dollar. We found that the exchange rates were better in the hotels than they were in the airports. Many establishments were not equipped to handle traveler's checks, but most could handle currency or credit cards. Many of the street vendors quoted prices in dollars as well as yuan. If you weren't sharp, they took advantage of you by quoting a higher price in dollars.

The calling cards purchased in the US didn't work. But we discovered that the $5 ICC cards lasted about 30 minutes and were the best way to call home from Shanghai. In Beijing the phone cards were more expensive and lasted only 5 minutes.

When we arrived at the Shanghai hotel, which was beautiful, they copied our passports and our visa and entered them into a computer database. They also put our passports in the hotel safe for safe keeping. Our hotel room included fresh flowers and a complimentary fruit plate. There was a mystery fruit that I had never seen before on the plate. It was a reddish purple hue and the size of a small grapefruit. I now know that it is a red pitaya known in Asia as a "dragon-fruit." I wish I had tried it, but I was worried about fresh foods being contaminated as we had been warned online.

Sleep was a welcome companion! It was a loooong first day.

Videos:
Our first Chinese dinner

China 2008 - Our Dream Begins

2008-07-19T17:52:00.010-04:00

The vision for our dream really began long before we received our invitation in April of 2007 to participate in the "Salute to the 2008 Beijing Olympics" from Dr. Rollo Dilworth. It began with the vision of our Superintendent, Dr. Camille Nasbe. After reading, Thomas L. Friedman's book "The World is Flat," our Superintendent created a strategic vision for the school district that included the introduction of instruction in Chinese language into our school district curriculum as well as a vision that "our choir has been invited to perform in China."

The Winton Woods School District is located in suburban Cincinnati and is a district that is rich in multi-cultural influences. Winton Woods HS is approximately 72 percent African-American, 3 percent Hispanic, 2 percent Asian, 4 percent multi-racial and 18 percent Caucasian. Approximately 1 in 5 students is a special needs student and about one third of our students receive free and reduced lunch assistance. In the spring of 2007, our senior class received a record 7.5 million dollars in college grants and scholarships.

The Winton Woods School vocal music department has been cited for excellence in the performing arts by both the US House of Representatives, the Ohio State Senate and the Ohio Board of Education. In addition, the Winton Woods choirs and Director, David Bell were the subject of the cover article in the July/August 2007 issue of "Choral Director" magazine, which is distributed to over 16,000 choral professionals nationwide. They have performed with such celebrities as country artist, Reba McEntire, Danny Glover, Tom Wopat, Bob McGrath of Sesame Street, and Rosemary Clooney.

The Winton Woods High School choirs under current directors, David M. Bell and Ben Spalding, are recognized among the finest high school choirs in the Midwest. The Varsity Ensemble and Concert Choir have performed over thirty times with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops under the direction of Music Directors, Eric Kunzel and Jesus Lopez-Cobos as well as Associate Conductors, John Morris Russell and Keith Lockhart. The Winton Woods Choirs have also recorded two CD's with the Cincinnati Pops for Telarc Records. "Mega-Movies," premiered at number fourteen on the Billboard magazine classical-crossover charts and "Scary Music," was released in 2001. They also appeared with the Cincinnati Pops in a national PBS broadcast "Fourth of July from the Heartland," which was viewed by nearly 7 million viewers in 5.1 million households.

The Winton Woods High School choirs are also recognized for their ongoing premier performances of new choral works, eight since 1992 (six of which were written specifically for the choir and three of which were commissioned by the choir). The high school choirs set a high standard of performance and have qualified for state-level competition by receiving "superior" ratings at the district level every year for the past thirty years--more than any other Cincinnati area choir.

When the invitation arrived from Dr. Dilworth in April of 2007 asking us to participate in the Festival, I didn't take it to too seriously, but knowing the Superintendent's enthusiasm about China sent the email to her attention with an attached note asking, "Know anybody rich?" Her response was immediate, "TELL THEM WE ARE INTERESTED!" After doing some research I discovered this was a cultural youth exchange that was taking place as part of the build-up to the Olympics and is a part of the "Perform in Harmony with the Olympic Spirit" tribute to the Olympic Games and was sponsored by the Beijing International Youth Festival Organizing Committee.

After meeting with students; parents; our Principal, Mrs. Anita Williams; and representatives of our Board of Education we decided to give it our best shot. It wasn't easy. We had to raise over $100,ooo from May 2007 to January 2008 to make it possible--the largest amount that had ever been raised in our school district for a special event.

To raise those kinds of funds we left no stone unturned. We appeared on radio and television, washed cars, sold fund raising merchandise, begged for donations, raked leaves, worked at a local Park District event and hosted two benefit concerts (one as a joint event with a local church and one in local restaurant with entertainment provided by a choir alumnus). I was surprised by the results. Our greatest financial support came not from corporations or organizations, but from individuals. In the beginning it started very slowly with only a handful of people doing most of the work but as we began to gain momentum more and more people joined the process and it became a lightning rod of pride for the entire community. Through the efforts led by members of our Board of Education, our Superintendent, and our communications department we had amazing support from our Winton Woods Educational Foundation, the Albers Family Foundation, the Kiwanis, the Winton Woods staff, the Ronald McDonald Charities, Wal-Mart, and our community, parents and alumni. I would truly like to mention each person by name, but the list would make this post too lengthy, so I will save that for a later post. But, thanks to you all!

This blog is the story of that amazing journey. I plan to post each day of the trip, one at a time, over the coming months and hope that those who shared this life-changing experience together will join me in the opportunity to share their memories as well by posting comments to the blog.