I was looking through my class notes last night, reflecting on the seminar, and I came across "Twelve Girls Band" highlighted with stars next to it. I vaguely remembed Clay talking about this Chinese girls group who played classical music and pop, but were all dressed simliliarly, and I had meant to look into them. So I finally did and I found this short interview in Asiance Magazine (a asian/american women's magazine), which also links to their own website. It's a little outdated, since it lists their tour dates, which ended in November. It's interesting how they discuss China, as growing and becoming more like the US. They also talk about pop music and it's growth in popularity in China. There's a YouTube video as well, maybe from the PBS series?
I think pop culture and especially music is a great way to introduce students to new cultures. Comparing pop music and instruments is a way to integrate music into the classroom currciulum.
http://asiancemagazine.com/aug_2007/twelve_girls_band_coming_to_america
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