In the 1970s, the visual arts were strong at Proctor due to the presence of
Dot Perloff, but music lagged. We've come a long way, with prototypic jazz/rock and recording programs, and voice offerings that have grown and strengthened under Kristofer Johnson's leadership.
Kris's energy and vision have been reflected in performance tours that have taken Proctor Chorus to England, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Washington D.C. in recent years. Today, after six months of preparation and hard work, 28 students and 14 adults are touring China, as the chorus performs for (and with) Chinese audiences and students. They arrived in Beijing after a 13-hour flight from Newark Sunday, and are visiting the great sites, sights, landmarks and cities of the world's fastest emerging nation. In October, they posed for a brochure photograph:
Jet lagged but exhilarated, they toured the Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square before dining on Peking Duck at a restaurant specializing in that iconic meal. After a tour by rickshaw and a visit to a local family's home, they performed to a full auditorium at the Beijing Central Conservatory Chamber Music Hall Wednesday evening (which was--for us in the eastern United States--this morning.)
Below, Kristofer is presented a bouquet of flowers from a young girl as our students applaud.
Parent Alan Hanscom, who is accompanying his daughter on the trip, is sending these exciting photos, and I plan to continue updating this page over the next eight days, as their trip takes them to the Great Wall, Xi'an, Ningbo, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Also on the trip is our masterful student videographer, Brian Perry '11, so we look forward to his window into Proctor in China! In the meantime, enjoy
Alan's blog!
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March 18
A
must read, Alan Hanscom's
latest blog post describes Proctor students being received like rock stars by local Chinese kids in the city of Xi'an. Here's Jake (who has studied Chinese language at Proctor) signing autographs!
And here is Cameron, who--at 6' 5"--drew immediate attention:
