Cuba is Cancelled - VA is on!

Before Spring Break on April 11th, approximately 200 GHS students will board buses for a journey to Williamsburg, Virginia’s North American Music Festival.

These GHS students were hoping to perform and hear bands in Cuba during this April vacation.  However, the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington did not approve the GHS trip to Cuba in time for Mr. Yoon to book the airline tickets.

Most seniors have now opted not to participate traveling to Virginia because they have already been there as a group and were adjudicated in 2010. Participating GHS bands include the Concert Band, the Symphony Band, the Jazz Band, and the Percussion Band. All of these GHS students will perform and compete on April 12th and 13th. The GHS band hopes to bring home numerous trophies because that is what we have done in the past. 

Canceling the trip to Cuba is disappointing to GHS students since they would not have an opportunity to go to Cuba but for their band participation.  For GHS seniors especially, it was a ‘once in a lifetime’ kind of opportunity. The Cuban music, history, rhythms, dance styles, art, and architecture would have had a dramatic impact on our GHS community. Since Cuban tourism is still closed to individual Americans, this would have been a rare opportunity for American students to experience Cuban culture and communism first hand. GHS students were supposed to have performed at a various venues including a Cuban music school, public spaces, and a school for students with special needs. For now, plans for Cuba have been postponed until next year. The band students were also going to bring gently used instruments to Cuban students, which will be organized for next year.

Until just the past few years, Americans were banned from Cuba.  American travel to Cuba was considered a violation of U.S. Trade policy. With the fall of the Soviet Union (1991), Cuba’s main economic partner, Cuba had to open up the tourist industry to survive.  Although Canadians and Europeans have been allowed to travel to Cuba, the Americans have not. Now, only with the approval of Washington officials, some American groups are allowed to visit the socialist country. GHS Band Director, Mr. John Yoon, secured permission from local administrations such as the Greenwich Board of Education and Office of Superintendent, but he was waiting for approval from the federal government.    

In Williamsburg, Virginia, the North American Music Festival provides feedback for bands around the country to know how they compare with other bands. The GHS Band has a history of winning outstanding ensemble awards for its performance at this event.  Trophies are also given to individual musicians on this occasion. To add a little fun to the long trip, Mr. Yoon will try to arrange for the group to go to Busch Gardens. Even though GHS Band members will not be playing and experiencing music on an international level, they will gain insight and compete on a national scale this April 2013.