The Drucker Institute to take part in cultural exchange with Vietnam (updated)
The Drucker Institute will take part in Ascending Dragon, a historic cultural exchange between the United States and Vietnam, by helping to bring management and leadership training to a group of Vietnamese arts administrators and musicians.
This aspect of the cultural exchange—the largest ever between the two countries—is being made possible throughSouthwest Chamber Music, a Grammy Award-winning ensemble based in Pasadena, Calif., which has won a U.S. State Department grant to support the project.
Ascending Dragon, which is set to take place from Feb. 27 through May 3, will feature four world-premier concerts in Vietnam and 17 U.S. premiers.
“I know that together with our musical friends in Vietnam we will all point the way to a better world, where people make music together to understand each other,” said Jeff von der Schmidt, Southwest Chamber Music’s artistic director. “Maybe, just maybe, some people will hear what we are saying about reconciliation in this still frightening world. We’ll be a living example of how countries move forward to create a better future out of a complicated past.”
In addition to fostering the creation of wonderful music, one of the State Department’s goals in supporting Southwest Chamber Music was to identify and encourage a new generation of emerging cultural leaders in Vietnam. As part of this, the Drucker Institute will help lead a series of training workshops for the Vietnamese.
Rick Wartzman, the Drucker Institute’s executive director, will travel to Hanoi in March to introduce the Vietnamese to the work of Peter Drucker. The following month, the Vietnamese will travel to Claremont Graduate University to take part in a workshop being put on at the Drucker Institute, in conjunction with the Getty Leadership Institute and CGU’s Arts Management program.
On April 30, the Drucker Institute will participate at the Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles with Southwest Chamber Music and the Riordan Volunteer Leadership Development Program in another workshop for the Vietnamese delegation. That session will be followed by a concert featuring works by Maurice Ravel, Pham Minh Thành, Alexandra du Bois and Kurt Rohde.
The April 30 event has been designated an official part of the Drucker Centennial, a two-year celebration marking Peter Drucker’s 100th birthday.
“We are deeply honored that our friends at Southwest Chamber Music have turned to the work of Peter Drucker and the Drucker Institute to play a role in Ascending Dragon,” Wartzman said. “Peter, who considered management a liberal art, was greatly influenced by the work of composers and musicians, and his writing is filled with references to Mahler, Mozart and others. This is not only an exciting opportunity for us. It’s also a beautiful fit.”
The project title, Ascending Dragon, is a translation of the Vietnamese words Thang Long: the first name of Hanoi, which is celebrating its 1,000th anniversary in 2010. For more information on Ascending Dragon, please click here.