From America to China:
Connecting Youth through Music March 2015 Phillips Academy’s “Shanghai Week” provided a vibrant cultural collaboration for all 80-plus Andover students and faculty. Hosted by Datong High School, students and teachers experienced life in Chinese dorms, ate (with chopsticks) in the student dining hall, and experienced morning flag raising and curfew at 10 p.m., when all electricity was shut off. Cultural experiences included classes in martial arts and calligraphy plus visits to some Shanghai sites—the Bund, Old Town, an acrobatic show, and a Buddhist temple. But most important were the joint rehearsals in which Andover and Chinese students learned to sing each other’s songs. Andover’s orchestra joined Datong Western Orchestra and Datong Chinese Orchestra in playing Chinese instruments like the erhu, guzheng, and pipa. The shared language of music and youth overcame any limitation of spoken language. The final concert was presented as part of the 2015 China Shanghai International Arts Festival at the brand-new, acoustically perfect, 1,200-seat Shanghai Symphony Hall. Eighty young dancers from Minhang County schools joined Andover’s orchestra and singers (including tenor John Palfrey) and 55 choral singers from the Children’s Palace Shanghai Youth Choir in a rousing performance of “Carmina Burana”—a total of 400 young Chinese and American performers in the concert hall. This sold-out audience included Shanghai government education and cultural officials, Andover parents and supporters, members of Andover’s Asia Council, representatives from partner schools in Beijing and Kunming, as well as Shanghai media. The Shanghai Educational TV Channel filmed the program to be aired at a later date. For Andover students, working and living together with their Chinese counterparts provided a unique opportunity to expand their global understanding; for Phillips Academy, it provided an opportunity to galvanize their supporters in Asia and create a platform of awareness and recognition for future global outreach in China and beyond. —Shirley Young ’51 Chair, U.S.-China Cultural Institute, Cultural Associate of the Committee of 100
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Andover | Spring 2015