Alumni News
We felt we had to do that piece,” he says of the song “Under a Vast Sky.” No small challenge The group crafted its own arrangement—in Cantonese—and posted it online. Someone copied it onto Youku (Chinese YouTube), and within the first week, the video had two million views and spades of comments like, “If you close your eyes, you can’t even tell these four singers are foreigners.” Learning to sing fluently in Chinese languages was no small challenge, Monson admits. For example, in Cantonese, he says, the word ho has nine different meanings depending on inflection, and six of those nine inflections are used in singing. Mandarin, another dialect in which Metro sings, uses six different tones in speech and four in singing. “There was a time when we were singing in Cantonese, and I wanted to take a lick going up, and my wife was like, ‘No, no, no, that’s a swear word—you have to go downward!’” Needless to say, Yuki has been invaluable in the group’s pronunciation. It’s also helpful that three of Metro’s singers study Mandarin and Monson studies Cantonese. While they currently have a native Chinese speaker translate their lyrics, they’d like to eventually write them in Chinese themselves. On stage with China’s Taylor Swift Without the right cultural touchstones at hand, it’s sometimes hard for American audiences to appreciate how big Metro is in Asia. When asked about some of Metro’s highlights, Monson has to play a game of comparisons. For example, Metro has performed twice on the Chinese equivalent of the Tonight Show. They’ve been featured guests 11 times for G.E.M., China’s Taylor Swift. In the fall, they launched a three-week tour of mainland China, Taiwan, and Korea, during which they performed on the radio show of Kim Chang-wan, Korea’s John Lennon. Sometimes the group gets hints of its success via a third party. For example, when Monson’s wife learned that Metro would be performing at the Taipei National Concert Hall, she was incredulous: “What? I’ve always wanted to perform there!” When Metro was in Beijing for the Chinese New Year, doing a TV program for CCTV, the group was asked, “So, how does it feel to be the first Americans to perform on this historic TV program?” “We all looked at each other and said, ‘What?!’” Monson recalls. “We had no idea. It was quite an honor for us.” Monson, a native Iowan who still uses “Iowa” in his Skype handle, is as down-to-earth as his home state. “We don’t always know how big a deal what we’re doing is. But it’s definitely cool when you go into a high school and you’re greeted like a rock star. Still, we know that as fast you go up, you can just as fast go down,” he says. “We just try to be humble and always enjoy what we do.”
—Kate Frentzel Metro’s second album drops in 2016. Watch videos of the group at lczine.com/vastsky and lczine.com/metrofour.
JAN (STYVE) KARRMANN is a research support specialist at the Alzheimer’s Treatment and Research Center in St. Paul, Minn. GREGG LUTHER of Aurora, Colo., is senior solutions consultant and product manager for Imanage Inc. ANDREW NESSET is liberal arts dean at Century College in White Bear Lake, Minn. DANIELLE (KITTELSON) PETERSON earned a master’s degree in collaborative education from Fielding Graduate University. She teaches elementary physical education for the Amery (Wis.) School District.
1991 PAUL BLOM is interim
CEO of the National Parkinson Foundation in Miami as well as the CEO and owner of Right at Home In-Home Care and Assistance in Bloomington, Minn. REYNOLDS CRAMER of Ames, Iowa, is chief executive officer of Fareway Stores Inc. He was invited to join the Iowa Business Council, which consists of the top executives of the state’s largest employers, the three regent universities, and the Iowa Bankers Association. STEPHANIE (DUNN) DEN HARTOG is a psychology instructor for Anoka (Minn.) Technical College. JOHN FRANK is executive vice president for Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services in Eden Prairie, Minn. BRIAN GARMAN of New York City is cofounder and artistic director of the Berkshire Opera Festival. AMY (MICHAELSON) IGOU earned a Ph.D. in management information systems from Southern Illinois University. She is assistant professor at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. LAURA JÄNNES is head of administration for the University of the Arts Helsinki Theatre Academy in Finland. SHERRY (ATIENZA) JOSEPH is a dentist at Joseph & Joseph Dental LLC and a licensed massage therapist and owner of Jade Healing Massage Eastern Therapeutics LLC in Plymouth, Wis.
LAURA (PAULSON) LANDAU is author of The Life Balance Playbook: Seven Steps to the Life You Deserve. CAROLINE WORRA is an opera singer in New York City and has performed more than 75 roles, including 20 world, American, and regional premieres at more than 30 opera companies. She was added to Onalaska (Wis.) High School’s Wall of Excellence last fall.
1992 STEPHANIE AGRESTA
is owner of Stephanie Agresta Consulting in Little Silver, N.J. She created the Bloggers Lounge at SXSW, co-created TechSet, and coauthored Perspectives on Social Media. She was ranked sixth among digital creators, innovators, and strategists in public relations by PRWeek, and Business Insider named her as one of the top 25 advertising executives on Twitter. GREG IRVING is a student in conservation ecology in Bangkok, Thailand.
1993 CATHY (CHRISTIANS)
BONESTROO of George, Iowa, is a project director for Rotary Club of Rock Valley Foundation Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion Programs. KRISTIN (ZOLNOSKY) HARNEY is assistant professor of music education at Montana State University. ANJIE SHUTTS is a partner/attorney at Whitfield and Eddy PLC in Des Moines, Iowa. Anjie was recognized by Great Plains Super Lawyers 2015 in family law and was selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2016 in family law.
Winter 2016 Luther Alumni Magazine
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