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Southwest Chamber Music
Ascending Dragon
Cultural Exchange
Cultural Exchange Goals

The Ascending Dragon Cultural Exchange goals included:

• Creating exchange and exposure opportunity for students, musicians, composers and administrators in Vietnam and America

• Providing new cultural exchange between Southwest Chamber Music, the Vietnam National Academy of Music in Hanoi and the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory

• Identifying and encouraging a new generation of emerging cultural leaders in Vietnam

• Commissioning and performing new works by Vietnamese and American composers as an example of creativity and cultural leadership

• Increasing Vietnamese institutional capacity through study of “best practices” in arts administration in the United States

• Enhancing the music curriculum in Vietnam through exposure to contemporary American administration, composers and musical ideas, while creating exposure experiences for Americans to Vietnamese arts administration and creativity

• Providing Cultural Exchange activities that partnered administrators, musicians and composers in both countries to encourage ongoing learning, exchange of resources, and the continuation of the exchange festival in subsequent years. These activities will include performances of American music in Hanoi, and Vietnamese music in Los Angeles and follow-up activities that will encourage new work and increased musical activity
Cultural Leadership workshops

Cultural Leadership Workshops involved all participants in workshops on arts administration, leadership, and creativity, identifying best practices and ways in which cultural leadership can be nurtured and facilitated. Hosted business and arts community workshops in both countries encouraged dialogue between corporate and arts partners. These programs were presented in collaboration with the United States Embassy in Hanoi, the United States Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, the Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University, and the Riordan Volunteer Leadership Development Program in Los Angeles.

Click on these links for more information:
Community Events

In Southern California the educational and community partners of Southwest Chamber Music had numerous opportunities to be involved with the U.S. State Department-sponsored Ascending Dragon Music Festival and Cultural Exchange. Educational activities and community outreach programs in Southern California included:

• Community activities at the Colburn School of Performing Arts, the Pacific Asia Museum, and the Armory Center for the Arts

• A concurrent exhibition at the Armory Center for the Arts of Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American artists

• Pre-concert talks and post-concert receptions that enabled audience members to meet the Vietnamese participants

• Visits by the Vietnamese participants to local area high schools, colleges and universities to meet students and peers, and provide learning opportunities about American arts education

• Performances by Vietnamese musicians at local high schools and community venues as part of Southwest Chamber Music’s Project Muse in-school concerts

• Direct dialogues between American and Vietnamese composers at special area-wide composer exchanges in both countries

• Summary discussion sessions about Ascending Dragon with emphasis on follow-up activities and resources

Click here for a schedule of Ascending Dragon community events

Educational activities

Southwest Chamber Music’s educational activities in 2010 featured direct involvement by visiting Vietnamese musicians for Project Muse in-school concerts. Vietnamese musicians performed at each of our participating schools in the Los Angeles and Pasadena Unified School Districts with opportunities to meet our young students and interact with them directly.  In particular the students were exposed by instrumentalist Bui Le Chi to the dan bau, a traditional instrument unique to Vietnam.  A Project Muse in-school concert at Pasadena High School was featured in a segment produced and broadcast by CNN International and Voice of America. A free community event discussing the entire scope of the Ascending Dragon Music Festival and Cultural Exchange was held at the Pacific Asia Museum on February 26, 2010.

Pacific Asia Museum – February 26, 2010
Hamilton High School Arts Academy - April 20, 2010
Pasadena High School – April 23, 2010
Mark Keppel High School – April 26, 2010
St. Andrew School – April 26, 2010


Click here for more information on Southwest Chamber Music’s Education Programs
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