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Jazz Band heading to Taiwan to perform at the ‘Olympics of fringe sports’
The Advocate
The MHCC Jazz Band and Director Susie Jones will be heading to Kaohsiung, Taiwan this summer to perform at the 2009 World Games.
The 20-member ensemble will visit Taiwan July 13-20 and pianist Sam Hirsh said performing at the event will be an honor.
“This Taiwan trip should be pretty awesome,” said Hirsh. “It’s basically the Olympics for stuff like Frisbee, synchronized swimming, tug of war and water skiing.”
Despite the somewhat comical thought of an “Olympics” for such sports – several students were laughing at the events involved – alto saxophonist Michelle Christiansen said, “It’s a big deal.”
Jones is no stranger to Taiwan, as she has taken a group several times on trips like this.
“Portland has a sister-city relationship with Kaohsiung,” said Jones. “They send a delegation here for the Rose Parade and perform music and dance, and we send our musicians over there for events.”
Jones said in February 2008 the band traveled to participate in the Lantern Festival for the Chinese New Year, which is usually a month-long celebration.
Trombone J.J. Meyer said he’d never been out of the country before, so he was looking forward to the opportunity.
“I don’t even know what to expect,” said Meyer. “Hopefully it’s life-changing.”
In a letter to Portland Mayor Sam Adams, Kaohsiung’s mayor, Chu Chen, said he was looking forward to welcoming the students and “further foster(ing)” the relationship between the two cities.
“The grand opening ceremony will be held on July 16 in the main stadium. (The World Games) is the second largest international sports event, incorporating the sports excluded by the Olympics such as billiard, dance sport, and dragon board,” said Chen in the letter. “There will be 26 official sports and five international sports in the World Games 2009, and the city is expecting over 5,000 international athletes and visitors from 100 countries.”
Jones said the stadium where the band will perform holds about 50,000 people.
“We want to present our own American musical art, which is what jazz really is,” she said.
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