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Dobson band students raise cash for China trip

2009. 4 December

Dobson High School student Jon Day and the rest of the Wind Symphony and Jazz Big Band are fundraising for a June trip to the 2010 Shanghai World Expo Music Festival.

by Michelle Reese

(eastvalleytribune.com) If music is an international language, then students from Mesa's Dobson High School will do well communicating with others during their visit to China next summer.

Dobson was invited last spring to attend the 2010 Shanghai World Expo Music Festival, which takes place in June.

Since the invitation arrived, the students have been in a whirlwind with fundraising, performances and community events to let everyone know about their trip.

"It took me back a bit," said Jonathan Day, an 18-year-old senior. "I thought, 'That's really, really far away.'"

After the invitation arrived, band director Jon Gomez set up auditions for students at Dobson and the junior high schools that feed into Dobson. From that, about 60 students were selected to be part of a wind symphony and jazz band to travel and perform all around China during a 10-day trip.

The schedule includes three performances in Shanghai, including the newly built Art Center Performing Hall, and a performance at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

But the highlight may be the scheduled performance on the Great Wall of China.

"I just think this is a fascinating time to be able to understand the culture of another country - China is an emerging world power - to immerse oneself in another culture, to see how we are alike and how we are different," Gomez said.

Several of the performances include "music exchanges" with other groups, including peer performing groups.

"The World Expo is expected to be one of the best attended World Expos to the credit of China hosting the Olympics" in 2008, Gomez said.

About 30 music groups from North America were invited to attend the World Expo.

Senior Chaz Martineau, 18, said he is most looking forward to the concerts.

"To just love playing," the alto saxophonist said.

The trip is expected to cost about $300,000, said Brenda Hacker, who is leading the parent effort to raise funds and support the students. Her son is a senior in the band.

Fundraising efforts so far have included car washes, a joint effort with Berge Ford and raffle sales. The Salt River Brass, a community band based in the East Valley, will give a benefit concert in March.

The students have been invited to perform Saturday night at US Airways Center for thegame between the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings to reach out more to the community. Several of them will ride the Metro light-rail system and perform along the way.

"The music literally takes us places," Hacker said of the trip. "But we're also building a bigger web in the community."

Gomez and Hacker said the partnerships the school group have created with various businesses will make a difference not only this year but in the future.

"Dobson and the (Mesa school) district will benefit in years to come because of what was forged this year," Gomez said.

About $20,000 of the estimated $300,000 needed for the trip has been raised so far.

Source: www.eastvalleytribune.com