Portland Youth Philharmonic Tours Taiwan and South Korea America's First Established Youth Orchestra "Dreams" Big"
For the musicians of the Portland Youth Philharmonic - America's First Established Youth Orchestra, July of 2007 was a month they will likely never forget as the talented ensemble embarked on an extraordinary concert tour that took them to Taiwan and South Korea. As for the scope of the trip, the numbers are very telling - 19 days, 4 cities, 6297 miles from home, 6 performances, 5 staff members, 12 chaperones, 81 musicians and 16,203 pounds of instruments. Certainly an ambitious undertaking, yet with Classical Movements handling the complex logistics of such a trip, the musicians were allowed to fully enjoy the wonderment of the journey and give undivided devotion to their music.
"Dream Big!" was the message early in the trip in Taiwan as PYP Music Director Mei-Ann Chen regaled the young musicians with stories of her childhood growing up mere blocks from the concert hall in which they sat, and shared tales of how she would practice conducting on her way to school while dreaming of one day conducting an orchestra at that very venue.
The orchestra received "rock star" treatment by enthusiastic audiences and enjoyed joint performance opportunities with two of South Korea's gifted youth orchestras.
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