While many of the School of Music’s students and faculty will welcome a short break at the end of Winter Quarter, members of the UW Wind Ensemble and director Timothy Salzman will be on the move, traveling, rehearsing, and performing in South Korea.
The ensemble heads to South Korea March 16-22 for performances at Woosong University in Daejeon, South Korea. They will be accompanied by voice DMA student Eun Ju Vivianna Oh, flute professor Donna Shin, and DMA pianist Mia HyeYeon Kim, all of whom are traveling and performing with the ensemble, as well as graduate student conductors Shaun Day, Roger Wu Fu, and David Stewart. Maya Ben-Yosef, the School of Music’s program support supervisor, is acting as the band’s business manager during the tour. School of Music alumni Minsun Kim (DMA, piano) and Juno Lee (’15 DMA, flute), both of whom live in South Korea, will also perform with the group in Daejeon.
The 56 student musicians fly out of Seattle on March 16, arriving in Seoul the following day. After a quick day of rehearsals, the ensemble performs back-to-back concerts on consecutive days before wrapping up the trip with a day of sightseeing before flying back to Seattle on March 22. This will be the UW Wind Ensemble’s 7th tour to Asia. Previously the group participated in three tours of Japan followed by three tours of China.
“In March of 2020 the UW Wind Ensemble was only a couple of weeks away from traveling to South Korea for a concert tour when the pandemic hit,” says Professor Salzman. "We are so deeply grateful to Woosong University for this invitation to come and perform as it is definitely a dream fulfilled.”
The students and conductors have been rehearsing for this opportunity throughout winter quarter and on March 7 in Meany Hall will share what the tour audiences will hear. The only differences are that George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue will be performed at Meany Hall by Professor Robin McCabe and in Korea by DMA pianist Mia HyeYeon Kim. Franz Doppler’s Andante et Rondo will be performed by Donna Shin and Grace Jun in Seattle and by Donna Shin and Juno Lee in Korea.
Details and tickets for the March 7 Wind Ensemble concert are available here.