Musical mission The UI’s Sinfonia da Camera embarked on a 12-day performance tour of China earlier this week. Their mission: to reinforce Chancellor Richard Herman’s goal to foster greater international understanding and cooperation in today’s global world. To that end, the ensemble – led by music director Ian Hobson – will be connecting and communicating with students, faculty and audiences throughout China through the international language of music. The tour includes a stop at Tsinghua University, and coincides with the formal signing there on May 20 by Chancellor Herman and Tsinghua’s President Gu Binglin of an institutional agreement initiating the Tsinghua-Illinois-Corporate Fellowship Program Leading to a Professional Master’s Degree. The program is a comprehensive, five-year combined bachelor and master of science program designed to integrate academic and work experience in China and the United States. Support for Sinfonia’s tour has been provided by the Office of the Chancellor, with assistance from Jesse Delia, executive director of international research relations, and Isabel Wong, director of Institutional and Faculty International Collaborations in International Programs and Studies. In addition to visiting Tsinghua and presenting master classes there, the UI musicians will give classes and perform at the University of Peking and the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing. They also will present three concerts in Shanghai: at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, and with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra as part of Shanghai’s International Music Festival.
photo by L. Brian Stauffer
