The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra is on tour in China, where they will perform concerts in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Ningbo. WCLV has signed up three orchestra members as "field reporters" to send back pictures, video, audio, and text of their experiences.
Day 2 update from David Burnett, Tuba
Chinese vending machines provided a fun challenge of sorts to hungry orchestra members! It was a real guessing game.
The orchestra rehearsed in Beijing's Children's Palace, an after-school club devoted to enriching Chinese students in the arts and athletics.
The orchestra got to visit the Temple of Heaven.
Meeting of the minds: Music Director Brett Mitchell meets with past and present COYO managers Ashley Wohlwend and Lauren Generette to discuss the challenges of the new instruments and small rehearsal space.
The orchestra was treated to five different teas as part of a traditional Chinese tea ceremony at the Temple of Heaven. They learned the basic technique to the art of Chinese tea drinking.
This man was spotted underneath an overhang playing traditional Chinese folk tunes on his instrument.
Several senior citizens exercise and play games at the Temple of Heaven. Our tour guide even quipped that they call the temple the seniors club. Activities include checkers, cards, senior disco and this strange variation on hacky-sack.
Members of the orchestra continue to get a kick out of the Chinese merge onto roads. Everything seems to go when driving here, but no one seems to mind it. The biggest surprise is the lack of horn honking in comparison to major U.S cities.
Music director Brett Mitchell with quote of the day when climbing this portion of the Great Wall- "this reminds me of the one time I went to a gym in the '90's!"
