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Tour Itinerary
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July 8, Taipei
July 10, Ulsan
July 12, Seoul
Daily Tour Log
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A message from the President
This East meets West Tour was one of the best vacations/trips I have ever taken! A large part of the great experience was due to the outstanding character of the group I was assigned to Chaperone. I am sure every chaperone felt strongly about the musicians for which they were responsible. I had the pleasure to get to know the personalities of each one of my group, we shared lots of laughs and had loads of fun. I am so impressed with this fine group of young people. So, a big THANK YOU to Issac, Austen, Sarah, Michael, Chris, Nick, Judy, Jessica, Sebastian, David & Lisa! BRAVO! I am going to miss each of you! Stay in touch, I would love to hear of your progress in life's journeys!
—Dean Morell
(official beat reporter, PYP East Meets West Tour 2007)
Tuesday, July 17
Back in the States!
We have landed in Seattle, been through customs, and are on the road back to Portland! -- 2:15 p.m. See you at Glencoe. Maybe around 5:15 or 5:45.
Sunday, July 15
Korean Folk Village & Insadong
We started the day at the Korean Folk Village. This village is set up to teach Korean's about their heritage and early Korean ways of life. We walked the Village, watched a drum and dance performance, then it was time to eat more authentic Korean food! If the village wasn't enough, we went to Insadong and shopped the street markets. Our Korean guide told us that they take US Dollars along with Korean Won, so we knew this was no ordinary tourist trap!
Saturday, July 14
Post-concert activities in Nowon
The Mayor of the City of Nowon hosted a buffet dinner for the entire PYP orchestra along with the local Nowon Youth Orchestra. After watching a riveting PowerPoint presentation on the goals for the city of Nowon for 2010, we were off to enjoying the buffet. Everyone had a laugh at the cake cutting ceremony with Mei-Ann, Diane and the City Officials of Nowon. We left the dinner feeling that No Won really loved us!
Final Concert: Nowon Culture and Art Center
Today was final concert day! We took a slight deviation from our planned agenda and skipped all the morning activities. Instead, everyone slept in, went for walks and basically, hung out until our noon call time. A well-needed rest for everyone. Then it was on the bus to another suburb of Seoul, Nowon (Pronounced as No One). The musicians dug into lunch then rehearsal. The joint concert with the Youth Symphony of Nowon started at 5:00 p.m. The highlight of the evening was Judy Park's piano solo as she performed Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3. This is know to be the hardest concerto to play and Judy did a beautiful job. When the musician's played Elgar's "Nimrod" of the Enigma Variations for the last time, there were quite a few tears. The crowd cheered them on!
Concert #6
Most of the Korean youth orchestras consist of only college students because middle/high schoolers here either need to focus on academics or solo repertoire. Nowon Youth Orchestra is a rare one that has students matching the ages of our younger musicians and today we had a fruitful side-by-side. Many audiences were Nowon YO's parents and they were very supportive of our performance. I feel like a very proud mom to our young musicians-from Rachmaninoff, Copland, Bernstein, to Elgar, there is no question that PYP is one of the best youth orchestras in the US (possibly even one of the best in the world judging by the level we performed tonight). The end of the concert was bitter sweet as this performance was the last on this Asia tour, but as we say in Chinese "there is no goodbye, just see you again". It has been a very memorable tour for all of us and there is a sense that we can't wait to make music together either at Waterfront or Concert-at-Christmas. —Ms. Chen
Friday, July 13
Lotte World
This is the Seoul version of Disneyland. One exception, most of the rides are in the air-conditioned comfort of a building. Some of the "high" rides are outside. Yes, you can enjoy "Adventure Indoor" with rides like: "Pharaoh's Fury" (Indiana Jones Temple of Doom) or "Drunken Basket" (Tea Cups) or "The French Revolution" (California Screamin', but indoor and scaled down). All the gang had a bunch of fun on this very relaxing day.
Thursday, July 12
Gwacheon City Performing Arts Center
After arriving at Gwacheon, a nice suburb of Seoul, we had a chance to grab a bite to eat. A few of us decided the box lunch of fake crab sandwiches were not our thing and we made a beeline to the local restaurant. Our small but happy group feasted on jjajangmyun (black-bean noodles) and jjambong (spicy noodles with seafood). Then it was back to the rehearsal hall to practice and work with the Musicians from Gwacheon Youth Symphony who would also be playing that evening in a combined program. Everyone did an outstanding job and it was quite a site to see everyone on stage at the same time. I counted 8 Double Bass, 16 Cellos and I could not count high enough for the violin and viola sections!
Concert #5
Today was a very interesting day as our musicians got to play alongside one of Korea's best youth orchestras (consists mostly of only top music students at the best university here in Seoul). PYP's performance tonight was one of the best yet, but the Gwacheon audiences were much more reserved than the young people in Ulsan. During the dinner, it's quite an event to witness the interaction between our musicians and the Gwacheon musicians. But what's even more beautiful is that the music making shared on stage filled the gap of any language barrier. —Ms. Chen
Gyeongbok Palace
We started July 12, Thursday with a tour of the Palace where the King and Queen of the Joseon dynasty in 1395 built this 5.4 million square foot palace. The Palace is in the heart of downtown Seoul. Afterwards, we viewed another Buddhist temple and at this point, if you have seen one Buddha, you've seen, well, you get the point.
Day 14
Wednesday, July 11
On the road again!
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After a very nice send off by the employees of the Hotel Kolon, we were on our way back to Seoul. We also made one beach stop!
Tuesday, July 10
Ulsan Culture and Art Center Concert
We were treated to a terrific Korean dinner hosted by the City Council of Ulsan. We were honored by the presence of the Vice Mayor and other officials. The musicians were in good spirits for the concert as these pre-concert photo's represent. Lots of laughter all around!
Concert #4
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The concert in Ulsan ended with a big surprise because our musicians were literally treated like 'rock stars' by the young audiences. The audiences were so eager to shake hands with our musicians that they screamed with excitement. The stage crew had a hard time clearing the stage. The audiences waited outside then to meet our musicians.
Today I visited the Gwacheon City Youth Symphony in rehearsal and was quite impressed by their level — all the members are top college music students in South Korea. It would not be easy for PYP to be compared with such a mature group, but I have no doubt that we will still impress the musicians and audiences here with all the hard work we put in our pieces. 50 out of their 90 members will join us in Bernstein's Candide Overture as a side-by-side piece and I am sure it will be a very memorable experience for everyone! —Ms. Chen
Seokguram Grotto
We got off again to an early start. Our first stop was the Seokguram Grotto, constructed in 751. This Grotto housing the Granite Buddha inside is a registered National Treasure. Afterwards, we went to another Temple built by the king in the 15th century. This is a practicing temple so we were respectful of the people praying inside. Then off to another buffet, Korean style and then to the concert hall!
Day 12
Monday, July 9
Taiwan to South Korea
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Today was our travel day to Seoul, South Korea. We had a 4:30 am call time and left the Hostel at 5:00 am! Off to the airport and a quick jaunt to Seoul. After arriving we greeted our new tour buses and started our 6 hour ride to Gyeongju (About two hours from Busan). The long ride along with slices of Pizza knocked everyone out cold! We were greeted with Oregon style weather! Yes, it is raining. We all felt like we were home again.
Download the 2007-08
Musicians' Handbook
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