Contact:
Jen Waters, 404-413-5120
College of Arts and Sciences

The School of Music is opening a new chapter in its relationship with Renmin University in Beijing, China, sending four faculty members and four students to China for a series of meetings and workshops, as well as a special performance on Nov. 20.

GSU students Yoo Seb Cho (left) and William Fowler are in Beijing, China, and will perform at Renmin University Nov.20.

“This really is a celebration for us,” said Dwight Coleman, director of the School of Music. “We have spent a couple of years now welcoming students from Renmin to our campus to study instrumental performance and voice. They have been a terrific asset to our programs and our students. Their cultural sharing has contributed richly to our classes – now we get to return the favor and share our talents in their homeland.”

The Georgia State group left for Beijing on Nov. 15. While in China, the faculty will conduct master classes with students at Renmin University. They will also visit with dignitaries from the Beijing Language and Culture University and from the Central Conservatory, a preeminent Chinese conservatory.

The group includes faculty instrumentalists Christos Galileas and Brandt Frederickson and students William Fowler and Yoo Seb Cho. Joining them are faculty vocalists Dwight Coleman and Richard Clement, along with students Maria Valdes and Serafina Furgiuele. The group’s visit will culminate in a special performance for a Renmin University audience, featuring works by Beethoven, Rossini and Tchaikovsky.

Coleman said that the trip should strengthen ties between the two universities and expand the School of Music’s recruitment.

“Students are already contacting us about graduate school and want to meet with us while in China. We have four students who have already been fully admitted to our graduate programs as a result of our relationship with Renmin,” Coleman said.

“Music is such a universal language and way of sharing across cultures,” said Baotong Gu, director of GSU’s Confucius Institute. “The School of Music trip well compliments the goal of the Confucius Institute to create bridges of understanding between China and the rest of the world.”

The trip will help to build on the College of Arts and Sciences’ already broad exchange and study-abroad opportunities in China. The Confucius Institute is sponsoring a brand new study-abroad course, to be conducted over winter break, which will expose students to a variety of Chinese culture and kick-start their learning of Chinese language skills.

Gayle Nelson, coordinator of International Programs for the College, has worked with several universities in China – in particular Tsinghua University in Beijing – on exchange programs and teacher training programs.

“China is an exciting place for our students,” Nelson said. “They are really motivated to see a part of the world so different from their own and to try new things. All of the students who have participated in the Tsinghua program come back telling me it was the chance of a lifetime and that it has shaped how they see their future in the world.”

For more information about the Renmin University exchange program, contact Dwight Coleman at 404-413-5916.

For more information about the Confucius Institute and the winter study abroad program, contact Baotong Gu at 404-413-5270.

For information about the Tsinghua University exchange program, contact Gayle Nelson at 404-413-5190.