Chandler Chorale: America’s Ambassadors to China

By Councilmember Lowell Huggins

Who would ever think that a bunch of Chandler high school kids would become America’s ambassadors to China? The Jilin Province of China is expecting to open new doors of cultural arts exchanges with the United States through its invitation to the Chandler High School Chorale and its performance at the 2005 Jilin College of the Arts Summer Music Festival.

Last year, Carnegie Hall’s selection of the Chandler High School Chorale as one of the four best high school choirs in the United States was an earned tribute heard around the world! Dr. Dean Anderson, director of the Chandler High School choir department, had already accepted an invitation to lecture this summer at one of China’s most highly regarded arts schools, the Jilin College of the Arts in Changchun, China, when the college’s president decided to extend the invitation to include the Chandler High School Chorale.

In President Boyang Feng’s letter to Dr. Anderson, he states, “You and the Chandler High School Chorale have brought great honor to your city, the State of Arizona, and your country. Your reputation as the conductor of one of America’s most respected choirs has not gone unnoticed in our country of China.”

Indeed, the carpet will be rolled out for the choir when they deplane in China; a military and police escort will await them, a ceremonial reception reserved only for dignitaries and celebrities.

Quan Dezhu, Head of State of Cultural Affairs and Foreign Relations and other governmental officials including the Governor of the Jilin Province will be in attendance at the choir’s June 9 concert. A climax of the choir’s concert tour will occur on its final day in Beijing at China’s most elite performance hall, the Beijing Music Conservatory.

This year’s recognition of the Chandler High School Chorale is just one of a series of accomplishments by the choral music department dating back to 1984 when Dean Anderson was hired to develop a choir program at Chandler High.

Since his arrival in Chandler, Dr. Anderson has become a community fixture and an institution for musical excellence. Awards came to his choirs in his very first year with a first place win at the nation’s largest jazz and stage choir festival in California. Success continued with multiple finalist and first place awards in national festivals at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Lincoln Center in New York, and Symphony Hall in Salt Lake City.

Governor Napolitano, Senators McCain and Kyl, Congressmen Hayworth and Flake, and President Bush have all been informed of Jilin Province’s gesture to begin cultural exchanges with the United States. The choir is hoping to carry letters of greeting from our State and U.S. officials to the Chinese college and government officials.

Congratulations and thank you to Dr. Anderson and the students of the Chandler High School Chorale for representing our city, state, and country as our ambassadors. We know you will represent us well.