2008 Awards
1. Arts Midwest
Awarded a grant for a residency by An Da Union in Hutchinson, MN as part of its World Fest Program. As part of the Arts Midwest World Fest there will be many activities surrounding An Da Union’s residency in Hutchinson. They will spend a week doing school and community workshops, a school concert, and a public performance. Their schedule for the Week of April 6, 2008 will be as follows:
Monday: 3 workshops at Park Elementary school
Tuesday: 3 workshops at Hutchinson Middle School
Wednesday: 3 workshops at Hutchinson High School Auditorium
Friday: High School concert
Saturday: Public Concert
An Da Union is a Mongolian music ensemble. It consists of 13 young actor musicians who are members of the Inner Mongolia Ethnic Opera and Dance Troupe. In addition to the more familiar singing and dancing, some members will be singing in Humai, a Mongolian singing form in which a singer sings two voice parts simultaneously, with deep fundamental tones being uttered by vocal cords and loud overtones being uttered from oral cavity. Other musicians will be performing on ethnic instruments such as the horsehair fiddle (morin khuur) and the maodunchaoer (a wind instrument in which the sounds produced by the air stream and vibration of the player’s lips are joined by the low and continuous voices made by the player’s throat, thus creating overtones between player and instrument.) This will be first appearance of An Da Union in the U.S.
2. Patrick Henry High School
Awarded a grant from the Dr. M. F. Tchou Memorial Fund for its Chinese class, headed by Donna Kelly, to take a field trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts to view its Chinese collection.
3. Tacoumba Aiken, artist, St. Paul
Awarded a grant from the Sylvia Ho-Ling Hui Lam Memorial Fund for a residency at Island Lake Elementary School.
4. Shen Pei, choreographer, St. Paul
Awarded a grant for her production of a new work, Women in China, to be performed during the Fringe Festival in August, 2008. It will feature 9 original dances, including both solo and ensemble dancing, to be choreographed by Shen Pei. The dances will commemorate several Chinese women and heroines throughout history, depicting different aspects of their lives. They will include foot binding, becoming a valiant army general, and suffragists fighting against discrimination and for equal rights.
5. Gao Hong, pipa artist, Northfield
Awarded a grant for an international tour series of three concerts: March 22, 2008, Beijing Concert Hall; April 19, 2008, Ted Mann Concert Hall in Minneapolis; April 27, 2008, Carnegie Hall in New York City. She will be joined by a cast of outstanding international artists from around the world and local community members, including Indian sitarist Shubhendra Rao – a top disciple of Ravi Shankar – local Indian vocalist and veen player Nirmala Rajasekar, jazz bass virtuoso Anthony Cox, Japanese taiko drummer Kenny Endo, tabla player Marcus Wise, percussionist David Hagedorn, and the local Chinese Minhua Chorus.The concerts will consist of works Gao Hong has written over the years as well as premieres of newly commissioned works funded by the Jerome Foundation, American Composers Forum, Bush Foundation and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council.