Pulitzer Prize-winning Gunther Schuller is master conductor; five-time Emmy Award-winner Mark Watters is music director. The event, featuring the internationally recognized Nuclear Whales Saxophone Orchestra, will be broadcast live throughout Asia by China Central Television and worldwide via the Internet.
Saxophone players throughout the U.S. and abroad are invited to join Schuller, Watters and 500 Chinese saxophone players for this unique performance. The Great Wall concert is the capstone event of almost two weeks of activities, including educational workshops, master classes, rehearsals and special tours.
The concert will take place at Juyong Pass, one of the most historically and militarily significant sections of the Wall, located north of Beijing.
The brainchild of Don Stevens of the Nuclear Whales, the event was inspired by the group's two-week tour in China in 2000. A self-described “whimsically serious" sextet of world-class musicians, the Nuclear Whales is known for its one-of-a-kind performances.
“The goal of the concert is to show the Great Wall as a symbol of peace that can bring people of all nations together through music," says Stevens, artistic director of the event.
“It's an unusual opportunity and momentous occasion - underscored by the stature of our master conductor and music director. It's difficult to think of another contemporary musician who has achieved as much as Mr. Schuller has, in both classical and jazz music. And it's only fitting that Mark Watters is music director for this International Olympic Day event - he was also music director for the 1996 and 2002 Olympic Games."
What do a thousand saxophones play on the Great Wall?
“Ideas abound," said Watters. “The program taking shape will feature western works, ranging from Bach and Copland to Ellington, Gershwin and Joplin, as well as showcase Chinese music -- including original compositions and arrangements created specifically for this historic performance."
The concert is arranged in partnership with the Poly Culture & Art Company, China's premier arts and media company and a sponsor of the renowned Beijing Music Festival.
The application deadline for saxophone players wishing to participate is March 1, 2003.
For more information, interested saxophone players may visit www.nuclearwhales.com or call 800-993-7621.
Website - www.nuclearwhales.com/china.htm
Email - [email protected]
About the Nuclear Whales Saxophone Orchestra
http://www.nuclearwhales.com
The Nuclear Whales, a Santa Cruz, California-based sextet, are a whimsically serious and critically acclaimed group featuring the world's largest saxophone, the leviathan 6'8" tall contrabass. The all-sax sextet of world-class musicians play -- and playfully -- a flabbergastingly diverse repertoire of classical, jazz, swing and original works, including their tribute to the ocean's whales that inspired the orchestra's name. They blend sophisticated musicianship with inventive choreography, ingenious special effects and madcap comedy to delight everyone from saxophone aficionados to the most dedicated saxophobes.
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