Band trip to China becomes reality with hard work

If you think it's nerve-wracking for high school students to appear in front of an audience in their hometown, imagine how it must have felt when 53 students from St. Charles East High School performed recently in China.

"In China, I got the impression that people listen to (live) music as background. People talked all through our performances," said David Thomases, a recent graduate of East, who played trombone in both the Wind Ensemble and the Jazz Workshop. The two groups went on this trip June 18-28.

"They kind of whispered through the concerts. Ultimately, I know they enjoyed the performances, and they politely clapped," he said.

While in China, band members performed four concerts -- one performance each in Beijing, Zhengzhou, Kaifeng and Louyang.

In addition, these students had many adventures, including a visit to a jade factory and a factory where copper vases are made; walked along the Great Wall of China; visited Tiananmen Square, two Chinese universities, a Shaolin temple and the Forbidden City; saw parks and museums; ate lots of Chinese food; and rode China's new bullet train.

Thomases' favorite part of the trip was performing in Beijing at the Great Wall.

"You walk out there and it's on a mountain. It's incredibly steep. We all had trouble walking up it," he said.

"But our performance was on a nice little landing right by the parking lot. The tuba players wouldn't have been happy if we had had to climb with our instruments."

He also found the trip on the bullet train to be "pretty neat."

One of the fastest trains in the world, this train took the students from Beijing to Zhengzhou in about five hours -- unlike the return trip in a conventional train with sleeper cars that took 13 hours.

Food wasn't a problem on this trip. Thomases felt that every restaurant "Americanized" the Chinese food for the students.

That impression may have been enhanced by the side order of French fries which accompanied many meals. In a few places, the students were even served McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken, but he said it just didn't taste the same as back home.

Thomases, who also played the cello for many years with the Elgin Youth Symphony, is attending Northwestern University this fall, where he plans to major in theater.

Rebecca Silkaitis, class of 2008, plays the trumpet in the Wind Ensemble.

Throughout the trip to China, she was struck by how "a lot of the Chinese people were so surprised to see a large group of Americans.

"When we rode places on the bus, they'd wave at us."

A unique feature at the performances was the addition of a Chinese musician who performed on a traditional stringed instrument, during concert intermissions.

"It was really exciting. Their folk music is just so pretty," Silkaitis said.

Although people in the audience didn't sit quietly and listen like their American counterparts, they were nonetheless very appreciative of good music.

One of Silkaitis' favorite memories of the trip is when the band was in Louyang.

"We did a concert, and the next day, a man who had been there presented us with a silk painting, because he was so moved. He rode his bike 45 minutes -- with the painting -- to our restaurant to meet us," she said.

Although Silkaitis is hoping to return to China -- possibly after she studies Chinese and business in college, as she is considering -- she did find the heat to be a challenge.

Maybe she can take the cue from the Chinese people, who she said were "so prepared, with their paper fans."

This is the most distant "field trip" band students have ever taken.

Offered though the Chinese American Cultural Bridge Center, this opportunity actually came about a few years ago, but director of bands Jim Kull waited until he felt the two groups were well prepared.

In addition to preparing musically, planning for this summer trip included plenty of fundraising, much of which was done through the St. Charles East Band Boosters, a group of volunteer parents.

Each band also held a fundraising concert during the year, and a fundraising dinner was hosted by Szechwan Restaurant in St. Charles.

Proceeds from all the fundraising events were split equally among the participating students to help offset their costs.

Still, "Some kids couldn't go because they couldn't afford it or had conflicting plans, but for the most part, the majority of both groups were there," Thomases said.

"I do know of one case where a student was having difficulty coming up with the money to go, and the Boosters helped collect extra funds for that person."

A non-band student from East even tagged along for the ride.

"We had one girl, Diana Yu, who was born in Chicago -- but her parents are Chinese. She went with us, and stayed a couple weeks after us, with relatives," Thomases said.

"They gave us a translator for our concerts, which was funny, as that's why we brought Diana along."

Chaperones weren't a problem on this trip, to say the least. Despite the distance and the cost, 31 adults accompanied the students to China.

Among these were Thomases' mother, Barbara Thomases, who was also the main organizer, and the liaison between Kull and the CACBC; St. Charles East Assistant Principal Bob Abraham and his wife, Laura; Kull, his wife Jenny -- the assistant athletic director at East -- and their two young daughters, Katie and Morgan; East band director Gil Wukitsch and his wife, Danielle; and several band parents including Sue Doebler, a Booster volunteer and parent of band student Lindsay Doebler.

One of the most interesting parts of the trip was when "we were presented at each concert by the propaganda president (of the district) at each location," said Doebler.

"He would come up and present us with a piece of artwork. Some was scrollwork, and some were art scenes of the history of the cities. He also gave us two framed awards."

The artwork, which Doebler said was "pretty large stuff," was shipped back to the States, and will eventually be on display in the band room at East.

Read all about the experiences these local high school band students had in China, and see hundreds of photographs, by visiting their blog, scechinatrip2007.blogspot.com.