In Saturday’s (1/17) Post-Tribune (Valparaiso, Indiana), Janna Odenthal writes, “What started as a local musical community five years ago now is part of a global musical community, spanning cultures and language barriers. Members of the South Shore Orchestra recently returned from a seven-concert tour, ‘Dreams and Visions,’ that took them to major cities throughout China as part of the New Year’s celebration. Audience members approached the musicians after each performance. They were given small tokens to remember the cross-cultural experience; pencils, bookmarks, autographs, photos and other items were exchanged. Troy Webdell, SSO founder and conductor, said the interaction was more valuable than the concert. … Cellist Josh DeVries of Chesterton was the youngest SSO member on the tour. He exchanged e-mails with a teacher one evening so his eighth-grade class could correspond with the Chinese students. Pete Brannen, orchestra president, organized the tour with the help of professor Jianyun Meng from the Confucius Institute at Valparaiso University. Brannen said he was proud and appreciative of all of the hard work and accomplishments by orchestra members during the tour.”
Posted January 19, 2010
