20.03.2012
Return to Japan in March 2013.
In another Vienna-related news, percussionist and assistant professor David Panzl, who performed as part of the Michinoku Wind Orchestra at Suntory Hall in August 2012, returned to Japan in March 2013 and revisited Tohoku High School to lead a workshop for student musicians. The Michinoku project was a week of workshops and concerts aimed at bringing hope and courage to areas devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
His offer to lead a workshop in Tohoku during a trip to Japan this year was conveyed to Noboru Endo, vice-president of the Miyagi Association of Wind Ensembles, who proposed holding a “reconstruction assistance project” under the auspices of the Miyagi Prefecture Instrument Bank. The project attracted 20 percussion students from Tohoku High School and four other nearby secondary schools. An additional 30 observers attended the workshop, including nonpercussion members of the Tohoku High School wind orchestra and officials of the high school and the wind ensemble association.
“I think it’s important to provide support to tsunami-affected areas on an ongoing basis,” Panzl said, “rather than just making a one-time donation. I may not be able to offer much, but I hope to keep doing what I can to be of assistance to the people of the area.”
He also asked after Michinoku Wind Orchestra members who were unable to participate in this year’s workshop, saying “I hope to visit the area again, and I look forward to seeing how everyone’s playing has improved by then!” Panzl was a graduate student and a part-time lecturer at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna during the Michinoku project, but he has since become an assistant professor in recognition of his outstanding teaching record.
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