To know more about Sichuan, click the following link:
Current status of the selection process
We have decided to select the county level cities of Du Jiang Yan and Peng Zhou for the locations of our first two 'Schools of Orchestra'. The city of Jin Tang also impressed us much and will be retained as a choice for further openings in the next years.
To know more about these locations and our relationship with them, please click on the individual hyperlinks above.
Du Jiang Yan
As a county-level city of Chengdu, Sichuan Province,China, Du Jiang Yan covers an area of 1208 square kilometers, with a population of close to 600,000 recorded in 2003.
The city is known for its famous irrigation system which dates back to the 3rd century B.C. This system still controls the waters of the Minjiang River and distributes it to the fertile farmland of the Chengdu plains.
Du Jiang Yan was the closest county-level city to the epicenter of
the earthquake and suffered extensive damage and a high number of
deaths. Today, Du Jiang Yan hardly carries the visual scars of this
profound tragedy and has been blessed with the results of timely and
visually appealing reconstruction efforts.
News
February 23, 2010
Du Jiang Yan has been officially selected by the Board of Directors of Music for the Growing Mind as an official location for one 'School of Orchestra'. We congratulate the authorities for their commitment to the project and expect them to continue to support our program actively. We will work very hard in order for the Du Jiang Yan community - especially the children in difficult social and economic condition - to take full benefit from the Music for the Growing Mind activity. We are committed to give our full contribution to the social and institutional growth of the city that was so heavily affected by the quake.
December 18, 2010 – Field Trip
Music for the Growing Mind and its School of Orchestra project was presented to local authorities in Du Jiang Yan on December 18, 2009. Present at that meeting were Mr. Feng, Head of the Education department and Mrs. Dong, Head of the Foreign Office of Du Jiang Yan, both of whom praised the initiative and promised full government support to achieving the aims of Music for the Growing Mind.
In response to the Memorandum of Understanding or ‘pact’ which Music for the Growing Mind proposes to all the authorities it approaches, Du Jiang Yan’s government expressed its full commitment to meeting all its terms. In a letter dated January 7th 2010, Mrs. Dong reiterated her administration’s full support to a project that “will play a significant role in (the) post-disaster reconstruction in terms of human and cultural development”.
A number of possible venues for the activities of Music for the Growing Mind were visited. Mr. Feng expressed particular interest in providing to Music for the Growing Mind the use of a soon-to-be-built Arts Center within the complex of an established middle school. The proposed completion dated of the center suggests the possible start of Music for the Growing Mind’s activities in Du Jiang Yan in September 2010.
Furthermore, the Du Jiang Yan government has made a commitment to dealing with the required authorizations for the operation of Music for the Growing Mind’s activities at the Prefecture, Provincial and Central government levels. The bureaucratic process should take no longer than one month.
We were very impressed by the passion and determination expressed by the Du Jiang Yan authorities to work on behalf of the community to take full advantage of post-quake relief efforts. As a result of the passionate work of its leaders, Du Jiang Yan has shown itself to be a striking example of a community which is determined to overcome the devastating obstacles it has experienced and to look forward to its future. This is indeed a philosophy that Music for the Growing Mind deems essential to the success of its projects. Only those children whose ‘growing minds’ are accompanied by a ‘growing community’ will achieve the full benefits of participating in our project.