The school’s Main Street Singers left for their tour of China and Taiwan today, April 8, 2009. The group will perform in the cities of Taipei, Xiamen, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Beijing, Xi’an, Guilin and Hong Kong and will return on Sunday, April 26, 2009. While on tour, the singers will have several opportunities to visit famous locales in the various cities.
“One of the great rewards is to experience the cultural exchange, not only of us bringing our music and sharing it, but for them to bring their music to share with us,” Main Street director Mark Shaull said.
These tours have been a part of Main Street for 24 years and began when the group went on tour in England and Scotland. The group’s annual international tour is roughly 20 days in length, during which the group performs a total of 14 formal 1-2 hour concerts. Last year, the group traveled to France, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
China was the previously the location of the Main Street Singer’s tour in 1991.
The Main Street Singers held a farewell concert on Sunday, April 5 at 7 p.m. at the Palo Alto Methodist Church as well as a farewell brunch today.
The school’s Art Department and a number of art students also left today for a 10-day trip to Europe, including Italy and Switzerland. Students will partake in both social and educational activities, including museums, artistic monuments and social scenes known to each country. Art teacher Christine An is the primary trip adviser.
The Art Department opted to restart trips to Europe this year; the trips were halted in the past few years due to An’s schedule. Because she was never offered the opportunity to explore another country as a student, An decided to re-launch the trips.
“I didn’t want my students to miss out on the opportunity I was never offered as a student,” An said.