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Beijing 2008 Olympic Orchestra
Bulldog band members heading for China
25 Fresno State students and alumni will accompany Director of Bands Dr. Gary Gilroy to participate in a
2,008 member ensemble made up of young people from around the world at this summer's Olympics in Beijing.
The Fresno State contingent will be part of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Orchestra that is departing July 29 for the XXIX Olympiad which runs Aug. 8-24 in China.
Dr. Gilroy was selected by the band's organization, World Projects International Music Productions, a Vallejo-based company that organizes international performance tours. The Fresno State music professor directed the Bulldogs' Marching Band here for 13 years before being named in 2006 director of the Music Department's symphonic band and the award-winning Wind Ensemble.
Also directing the Olympic Orchestra is Fresno State alumnus, David Glyde, a music teacher for Lemoore schools, who previously composed and arranged for a 2,000-member band at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
World Projects recently announced that The Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG) Cultural Division has invited the Beijing 2008 Olympic Orchestra to perform in Tiananmen Square as part of the China/International Olympic Committee Cultural Celebration at the Olympics.
"We are the first and only foreign group to ever gain permission to perform in Tiananmen Square," the announcement said. "The invitation is much like that given to the Three Tenors five years ago when they were the only foreign group given permission to perform in the Forbidden City. This is a great honor for us, and we have been given 50 - 60 minutes to perform."
This performance is part of a daily Chinese television show that runs from 7 to 9 a.m. leading up to the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. Beijing 2008 Olympic Orchestra performance date is August 3 at 8 a.m.
"Besides being the only foreign group, we are the only non-professional group allowed to perform during this Cultural Celebration of the Olympics and China," the announcement said. "We are making history at this event. This performance will be a treasured memory for all participants." Fresno State Band Members Heading to Beijing