Eugene Concert Choir cancels China trip.Byline: Matt Cooper Matt Cooper may refer to:
For the Eugene Concert Choir Eugene Concert Choir is a non-profit choral organization based in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It consists of two mixed-voice choruses: the 100-member Eugene Concert Choir (ECC), and the semi-professional chamber group Eugene Vocal Arts Ensemble (EVAE). , it's bye-bye, Beijing, and g'day, Sydney. The choir recently canceled its planned June trip to China amid fears of SARS, the disease that has claimed more than 100 lives there and is now infecting that nation's economy. The choir will reroute the trip to Australia, where it'll perform a number of concerts similar to those that had been planned in China, said Diane Retallack, the choir's executive director. "Some of the people were extremely disappointed," Retallack said. "On the other hand, some of the people that had dropped out (due to SARS) are back. What I actually got back is a more balanced choir." The cancellation of the China trip epitomizes what experts have called "a near-collapse in domestic and foreign tourism" in China due to concerns about SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Definition Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is the first emergent and highly transmissible viral disease to appear during the twenty-first century. . The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times reported Monday that the outbreak's blow to the economy is the worst since the 1989 Tiananmen Square Tiananmen Square, large public square in Beijing, China, on the southern edge of the Inner or Tatar City. The square, named for its Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tiananmen), contains the monument to the heroes of the revolution, the Great Hall of the People, the museum of killings. The choir had been planning the trip for more than a year when SARS reports started showing up in the news, Retallack said. She feared that someone in her group might become infected and bring the disease back to America. Even worse, Retallack added, was the prospect of someone being quarantined while abroad. "One of the notices for the containment policy in Beijing said that anyone with SARS-related symptoms - which is basically fever and a cough - would be taken to one particular hospital and would lose all contact with their home doctor, relatives and friends," Retallack said. "I pictured someone just getting a cold and I'd lose them from the tour." The group - which was to include 30 singers and 13 others - shifted gears earlier this month as the travel company, Kingsway International, shifted the tour to Australia, Retallack said. Instead of a concert on the Great Wall, the choir will sing American music in Melbourne and Sydney. Instead of a joint performance of "Verdi's Requiem" with other American choirs in Beijing's Forbidden City Forbidden City: see Beijing and Chinese architecture. Forbidden City Imperial Palace complex in Beijing, containing hundreds of buildings and some 9,000 rooms. It served the emperors of China from 1421 to 1911. Concert Hall, the group will perform it in the famed Sydney Opera House Sydney Opera House Performing-arts centre on the harbour in Sydney, Australia. Its dynamic, imaginative design by Danish architect Jørn Utzon (b. 1918) won a competition in 1957 and brought Utzon international fame. - "one of the greatest halls in the world," Retallack said. Choir member John Shirey, 65, who canceled due to SARS concerns, happily rescheduled to sing in the prestigious Australian opera house. But another member, ceramics artist Judy Alison, 52, wouldn't reschedule re·sched·ule tr.v. re·sched·uled, re·sched·ul·ing, re·sched·ules To schedule again or anew: rescheduled the meeting for the following week; rescheduled the debts of many developing nations. , in part because she had her heart set on seeing the famed terra cotta cot·ta n. pl. cot·tae or cot·tas A short surplice. [Medieval Latin, of Germanic origin.] army figures - roughly life-size and more than a thousand strong - in central China. "I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. that (SARS) was a reason to say `don't go to China,' ' Alison said. "The reality is they're not going, and I'm sad." Thirteen of the travelers canceled due to the switch to Australia, Retallack said, but the other 30 were more than happy to change itineraries, and two newcomers also signed on. All in all, Retallack said, the Down Under trip is looking up. "In Australia this time of year, it's winter, but winter in Australia is like spring in Eugene," Retallack said. Then she quickly added, "like spring, without the rain." AUSTRALIA, ANYONE? The Eugene Concert Choir will travel to Australia from June 25 to July 5. For information, call Diane Retallack, the choir's executive director, at 687-6865 or e-mail her at diane@eugeneconcertchoir.org. The entire travel package costs $3,000, Retallack said. |
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