Exeter Music Groups to Travel to Vietnam
In anticipation of the PEA Concert Choir and Chamber Orchestra’s tour of Vietnam and Hong Kong during March break, the music department hosted a forum Sunday discussing the history and culture of Vietnam.The trip is the largest project undertaken by the Global Initiatives Department. The concert choir and chamber orchestra will spend almost two weeks traveling to several cities in Vietnam as well as in Hong Kong. During their time in Asia, they will perform concerts while interacting with local schools and students and make connections through music.The trip will also celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Normalization of Diplomatic Relations between Vietnam and the U.S. The U.S. ambassador to Vietnam will attend one of the concerts and there will be a joint concert with traditional Vietnamese musicians to further celebrate Vietnam’s relationship with the U.S. Director of Orchestra and Chamber Music Rohan Smith sees the visit as a “metaphor for the reconciliation that has taken place,” since the war with Vietnam.
“I was excited to see so many students asking questions and really starting to understand how incredible this opportunity will be for them.”
Because of the trip’s significance relating to the history between the U.S. and Vietnam, the music department thought it was important to provide backstory of Vietnam’s history and culture for the students before they traveled to Vietnam.The music department decided to provide this context through a forum, where students and faculty had the chance to listen to panelists who discussed the history and culture of Vietnam, while being encouraged to ask questions and contribute to the conversation. The forum began with a discussion of the history of Vietnam and progressed into a question-and-answer portion regarding Vietnam’s current culture. Religion instructor Russell Weatherspoon, who will be a chaperone for the trip, facilitated the discussion. He asked questions for the panel, encouraged discussion from the audience and provided a focus to the conversation.In deciding the panelists, Smith and Concert Manager Vanessa Holroyd wanted a mix of of historical and cultural specialists to speak about the past, present and future of Vietnam. They approached people with a background in the history of Vietnam, people working in Vietnam today and current Vietnamese Exonians. There were two panelists from outside of Exeter, Nguyen Anh Tuan and Harvard Sitkoff.Panelist Tuan is the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Boston Global Forum as well as the founder and former Editor-in-Chief of VietNamNet, the first Vietnamese online newspaper. Tuan is an active supporter of the arts in Boston and previously supported and assisted with a tour to Vietnam with the Boston Children’s Chorus. He has helped Exeter connect with performing arts organizations in Vietnam, helped organize concerts and initiated the idea of the tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of reconciliation. Because Tuan was a child during the Vietnam war, he experienced the violence first hand. Tuan brought the forum an eyewitness perspective. He spoke directly about his take on Vietnamese culture and history.Panelist Sitkoff is a Professor at the University of New Hampshire and is a foremost authority on the history of the Vietnam war. He was one of the first people to teach a course on the Vietnam War before the war had ended and has current knowledge of Vietnam through his frequent visits. “We felt he brought great perspective on how Vietnam has developed since the war,” Holroyd said.Additionally, the panel included Exeter’s history instructor Betty Luther Hillman, who is an expert on the Cold War and the relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam during that period.Although the adult panelists were essential in providing historical backstory, the Vietnamese student panelists—Max Le, Melody Nguyen and Ellena Jo—were valuable in offering a current perspective and cultural advice, so that the students going to Vietnam are aware and respectful of the customs.Nguyen said that the forum will result in a more responsible cultural exchange. “Many times, tourists come to a new country without much historic or cultural knowledge which may cause them to misunderstand and feel overwhelmed by local customs,” Nguyen said.Choir member and Lower Charis Edwards also commented on the tendency of students to be overwhelmed by the Vietnamese culture. Edwards said that many students, “don’t know much about Vietnam and are scared to speak up for fear of saying something that’s incorrect or taboo. I think this panel tried to alleviate some of that shame about not knowing.”Weatherspoon said that it was helpful to talk about practical things like crossing the street, or the Vietnamese mannerisms in speaking. This way, students will not make cultural mistakes and will know what to expect.The students in the audience also appreciated the cultural advice from the student perspective. Senior Rosie Hutton said she felt more comfortable with Vietnamese culture after learning about the basic customs and social normalities of Vietnam.“I want to learn as much as I can and be as respectful as possible to the people we are going to meet, especially since so many people both at Exeter and Vietnam have worked so hard to make this trip possible,” Hutton said.Luther-Hillman also appreciated hearing from the students.“[The Vietnamese students’] discussion of cultural differences should be very useful for the students on the trip,” she said.As the forum progressed, many students in the audience asked questions and were eager to learn. Smith said, “By the end of the hour and fifteen minutes, the hands were going up all over the place and the questions were becoming more interesting and engaging.”Holroyd also commented on the engagement of the students in the audience. She said, “I was excited to see so many students asking questions and really starting to understand how incredible this opportunity will be for them.”