Update #2 - China Tour

Tuesday, December 29, 2009, 10:00 am local time

Monday, December 28, 7:00 pm Tucson Time

Dalian is a city of about five million on the coast east of Beijing. We are staying in a new hotel a couple of miles from the center of town. Everyone is enjoying these luxury accommodations and especially the amazing breakfast buffet with all kinds of Chinese and western foods. In the summer this is a popular beach resort but in the winter it is rather quiet. Many of us walked to the sea yesterday. The temperature was about 13 degrees with occasional snow flurries, but I heard that someone was seen swimming.

We played our first concert last night at the People's Concert Hall in Dalian. This concert hall is built in late nineteenth century style and seats about 700. We arrived at 5 pm and found cellos, basses, some percussion instruments, and even a harp waiting for us, as promised. We quickly set ourselves up and rehearsed for more than two hours. Then a brief break and snack before the 7 pm concert.

In China, as in Europe, it is customary for the orchestra to wait in the wings and come on stage only at performance time, unlike the US custom of warming up on stage. A gong sounded, and we filed on, under hot stage lights. Each piece was introduced by an elegant young Chinese girl. This concert was a special New Year's event for the employees of the China Bank. In addition to our program, an eloquent Chinese gentleman recited a poem with recorded music accompaniment. We later learned that the first poem was about the life of Chairman Mao, while the second was about the history of the China Bank.

The acoustics were not ideal, and it was difficult for one part of the orchestra to hear the other parts, although the sound blended nicely in the audience. It was not easy for us to play at our best, but the orchestra members showed more energy and concentration than one might expect after such a tiring couple of days. As we had been told to expect, the audience was not as responsive as an American audience, but they warmed to us as the evening progressed, and by the end of the second encore (Johann Strauss' Radetsky March), Linus had them clapping along and cheering.

Afterwards, a late dinner back at the hotel. Today, we fly to Shenzhen in southern China and we look forward to much warmer weather and a modern and acoustically fine concert hall there.

The Arizona Daily Star had a great article with very interesting photos on Sunday. See the link below and don't miss the slide show.

http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/322654.php

Thanks for your interest and support,

Tim Secomb

Tour Manager