Montana State University announced on Apr. 16 that 91 of its students and faculty from the wind symphony and symphony orchestra traveled to Japan over spring break to rehearse and perform alongside top musicians in the country. The nine-day trip marked the largest overseas journey undertaken by MSU’s School of Music, according to Tobin Stewart, director of the symphony orchestra.
The exchange offered MSU students an opportunity to experience Japan’s robust symphonic culture, which includes dedicated wind symphonies at most public schools and universities that compete nationally and perform in large concert halls. Wonki Lee, assistant professor of saxophone who grew up in Tokyo, led the trip. “I grew up experiencing that musical culture, and I wanted my students to experience that,” Lee said. “They started playing better right away. Their hearing got better, and they started playing at the highest level.”
Thirty-eight wind symphony members performed in Tokyo with Kunitachi College of Music and Dokkyo Junior and Senior High School—Lee’s alma mater—while also receiving instruction from the director of the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra. Sylvie Black, a senior music major who has played percussion for four years in MSU’s wind symphony, said: “We were getting feedback from some of the top musicians in the world.” Black noted learning new techniques such as playing snare drum while seated from Japanese college students.
India Shaskan, a junior studying applied mathematics who plays tuba with MSU’s symphony orchestra, described building friendships with Japanese peers during joint concerts at Kumamoto and Ibaraki universities. “It’s amazing that despite not being a music major, I had the opportunity to do something that music majors around the world would only dream of,” Shaskan said.
Stewart emphasized how repeated performances helped students grow musically: “The beauty of performing it more than once is that you grow with that piece of music… Students listen more, they watch more and they pay attention to each other more.” The trip was supported by an anonymous donor who covered one student’s travel costs.
Montana State University leads research funding efforts within Montana with annual expenditures exceeding $288 million according to its official website. The university enrolls about 17,165 students evenly split between residents and nonresidents according to its official website, operates as Montana’s land-grant institution focused on research and outreach according to its official website, ranks among the top five percent globally per Center for World University Rankings according to its official website, contributes through volunteerism aimed at improving lives according to its official website, and extends influence beyond state borders as Montana’s land-grant university according to its official website.
