Embassy Activities (2009)
Let's Put on a Show! Youth Excellence on Stage Academy Thailand
After eight days of intensive workshops, U.S. Embassy Media and Cultural Affairs Section sponsored Thailand’s first “Youth Excellence on Stage (YES) Academy” concluded with an outstanding gala concert featuring jazz and big band music, piano, and Broadway musical theater on Saturday, October 24, at the Thailand Cultural Center. The U.S. Embassy Media and Cultural Affairs Section sponsored the academy, organized by John Ferguson's "American Voices" and hosted by Silpakorn University. One hundred talented undergraduate and high-school students from all over Thailand participated in the academy, and truly displayed their "excellence on stage" for an enthusiastic audience of almost 400. The show included excerpts from Rent and Hairspray under the direction of Michael Parks Masterson, and a program of big band and jazz ensembles under the direction of Dr. Gene Aitken and other Silipkorn faculty.
This event was part of the Daniel Pearl World Music Days, a global series of concerts held each year in October in memory of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter and musician kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002.
For more information on YES Academy Thailand, please visit www.yesth.com