About The Festival
October
2010 will see the annual Honor Jazz Festival assume a new identity and return to Asia and visit the International School of Beijing. AMIS is proud to sponsor this festival which is designed
to support our finest High
School
jazz musicians
and to
give
them
the opportunity to learn from jazz musicians and teachers while
working with like-minded fellow jazz musicians.
Our host
will be David Beckstead and the guest conductor will be Randy Wanless of The American School in Japan.
The new audition instructions are available in the Audition section of the AMIS web site.
These will take the place of
the instructions on
the version 5 CD of AMIS audition materials. Please download and use use the Set B material from here.
The inaugural
festival was held at The American School in London in October 1997 and
was hosted and directed by
Gordon Murphy of The American School in London. Festivals
were held at The American School of the Hague hosted by Jim
Yarnell; The American Community School - Hillingdon hosted by
Rick Hein, David Harrison and Kevin Woolford; the American School of Warsaw,
hosted by Mhairi MacInnes; the International School of Prague
hosted by Jim Krikava, The American School in London hosted by Pete Lutkoski, The International School of Brussels hosted by Alisa Jiminez, The American School in Japan hosted by Kerry Nichols, The International School of Luxembourg hosted by Demos Dimitrakoulakos and Marymount International School of Rome hosted by Laura Lentz. Previous guest conductors include Alan Ginter, formerly of the Bilkent University Preparatory School,
Ankara, Turkey; Jon Hodge, of Heidelberg High School; John Salminen then of the
International School of Brussels, Jim Yarnell of The American
School of the Hague, Neal Yocom of the American School of
Paris, Peter Lutkoski of the American School in London and Kerry Nichols, formerly of The American School in Japan.
Hotel and Housing Information:
Information from ISBeijing as a .pdf
Students will home-stay with ISB families for the 4 days of the Festival (Wednesday-Sunday morning) near ISB (usually within 1/2 hour) and will travel mostly on ISB buses
Directors and chaperones will stay at the Yosemite Clubhouse, hotel accommodation that is 5 minutes walk from ISB. (Note, ISBeijing is booking rooms for all official chaperones and faculty members attending the festival at this hotel)
Yosemite Club
4 Yuyang Road (Yuyang Lu)
Shunyi District, Beijing 101302
Phone (8610) 8041 7588
ISBeijing has special rates agreements with the Yosemite Clubhouse. These rates are 550RMB for a standard room and 600RMB for a deluxe room. (That's about Euros 66 to Euros 75 at exchange rates as of May 30.)
The school must book these rooms for participating teachers in order to secure this rate. Each of us must pay our own hotel bills either in RMB cash or using Visa or MasterCard when arriving in Beijing. It will not be possible to prepay accommodation by bank transfer.
Our community will be able to provide one extra nights' accommodation for students with host families on Tuesday October 12th with prior notice. Directors and chaperones will need to book (and pay for) an extra night in the Yosemite Clubhouse. In addition, we can book small buses or private cars for the following day (Wednesday) for sightseeing trips. Prices are approximately these, providing that the places to go are in Beijing:
Private car (4 people) 800RMB (€ 90) for the day
Small bus (21 seater) 1,200RMB (€ 132) for the day
Groups are welcome to join together but this will need to be arranged by the individual directors from the visiting schools.
There are some excellent web sites that will give you lots of information on places to see in Beijing. Try these:
www.beijing-tours.com , www.travelchinaguide.com
This option must be booked in advance at the time of submitting travel accommodation. If flight times arrive either very early in the morning or late at night this option may not be possible for that night. It would be possible to arrive early Wednesday morning, drop baggage at school and book a vehicle to go some sightseeing that day. Again, this would need to be booked in advance.
What we are not able to do:
- Organize activities or sightseeing for days outside the festival (except Wednesday October 13th)
- Organize home-stay accommodation for days outside the festival (except Tuesday October 12th)
- Book hotel accommodation (including Yosemite Clubhouse) for days outside the festival
Sights to see
The Forbidden City is a 'must'! I would recommend visiting the Temple of Heaven and then going shopping at Hong Qiao market (very close by). A hutong tour is also a great way to get the 'flavor' of traditional Beijing. The Old Summer Palace is also very nice, along with the Fragrant Hills. For those of you who like walking, visiting the Great Wall at Simitai (a wilder and unspoilt part of the Wall) would be a nice day out of the city.
Festival Photos
I will be asking you to send me a photo of the group of students you will be bringing to the Festival. This will be for the souvenir brochure that will be given to each participating student and teacher when they arrive.
If you are planning on coming to China before the festival or staying on after expect to pay at least 70$ for a twin room and extra for another bed to be added in most decent hotels in Beijing. Check for prices of extra beds and if western breakfast is included. Any hotel should also be able to organize day trips easily for you.
Fees and Information
Payment: Full payment for the festival is due on August 15. Upon return to school, music teachers are requested to check with their business office to make sure payment has been made as requested.
What the registration fee covers:
Lunches: Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Dinner: Saturday
Directors Dinner (for teachers/chaperones) on either Thursday or Friday evening
Note: Students will be housed with families and will have breakfast with them each day as well as dinner on Wednesday, Thursday, and probably Friday nights
School Contact Information
David Beckstead
International School of Beijing
No. 10 An Hua Street
Hou Shayu
Shunyi District
Beijing 101318
Phone: (8610) 81492345
email: dbeckstead@isb.bj.edu.cn
Visa Information
You will need to apply for a TOURIST visa to get into China. Please make sure that all the applications state this as you may have problems if you apply for any other kind of visa. Everyone will need a visa. These will cost approximately €100.
Chinese Visas can be applied for up to 90 days before you plan to travel. You must apply for a tourist visa. The purpose of your trip is tourism.
In the space where it asks for your inviter, contact or relative in China you can list David Beckstead using the school address and phone number and David's email address.
It will be important for you to check on visa requirements for a TOURIST VISA through your particular Chinese Consulate in August. The processing of visa applications varies greatly from region to region and changes frequently. Although invitations are not usually necessary for tourist visas, you may need letters of invitation for yourself and your students. If this is the case, the school will need to send these as early as possible in August.
There is only one airport for Beijing, Beijing Capital Airport. This is about 20 minutes by bus from ISB.
General Information
An invitation has been sent to all teachers involved with this festival to access the parts for their students. If a teacher has not received this invitation, he or she should contact AMIS headquarters immediately.
Teachers are requested to check the database on the AMIS web site to make sure all information has been filled in for all teachers and students attending this festival.
Transport for Arrivals and Departures
Concert Information
The festival will include a day on the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu where the Combo musicians will play
The concert on Saturday will be in the ISB Theatre, a 600-seat auditorium
