Club Members
Member profiles can be found here.Club History
The original incarnation of the music club was under the direction of University ofArizona Ethnomusicologist, Dr. Janet Sturman, in 1999.
The club was reincarnated in October 2005
under the direction of Paul Amiel. The initial group consistedof 5 members, Paul Amiel,
Andrew Wilt, Ma Yan, Ning Hongmei, and Jennifer Kubecka as president.
The club then grew with the addition of Ping Zhou, Sarah Stevenson, and David Schalle.
The club grew again with the addition of Martin Reinhold, Julie Trujillo, Daniel Morrow, and Liu.At the beginning of 2006, we played our first performance at the 17th Street Farmer's Market.
In the new year, the club saw the addition of the singing talents of Chen Yi, Li Schmidt,
and Michael Torres. Peng Meijoined the Erhu section as well. Jessica joined the flute section.
Wei Yuan joined on the Gu Zheng.
The group performed at the Tucson Chinese Culture Center,
17th Street Market, and Satori School before the end of May 2006.
With club funds Andrew and Ma Yan bought many instruments and music while they were
visiting China. The Club saw the additionof 6 Di Zi, a Suona, a Zhong Ruan, a HuLuSi, and
various percussion instruments. They also brought back InstructionalVideo CDs for the Zhong Ruan,
Flute, and Suona, as well as books of Chinese folk music Scores.
Part way through the fall 2006 "season", we have already had many successful performances with our old members as well as new members. It is great to see our group transform from everybody playing the same simple melody to fully orchestrated pieces and sounding good doing it.
The end of 2006 saw the end of a very busy year for our club. During 2006, we played 14 performances! In October, we celebrated our 1 year anniversary. Looking back on the past year, we sure have come a long way. Using club funds, we ordered four new instruments to be owned by the club. We purchased an Erhu, Pipa, and Sheng, as well as a drum. The Erhu, Pipa, and Sheng were bought from an eBay store called eChinaville. They are based in China, and shipped the instruments. The instruments arrived without damage, and have since been delivered into eager hands.
In early 2007, we decided to divide our Wednesday rehearsals into two parts. The first hour is devoted to people that are just beginning to learn their instrument. This hour is led by Julie, our club president. The second hour is devoted to the performing ensemble. During this hour, the more experienced players work on new difficult pieces to be played in performances. This new format seems to be working well. We've created a time for new people to Chinese music to get some instruction, as well as an environment where they are not overwhelmed by the difficulty of the music as well.