It's not often that all six of us are visiting a city for the very first time - either David has toured there in his 25+ years, or one of us has been on holiday. However, today is one such day. After an interesting overnight flight (during which I managed to watch much of the UK Election coverage live on a BBC stream) we landed in Manila this afternoon and started to take in our surroundings. On the face of it, Manila appears a little like Taiwan, with bits of Hong Kong, Singapore, and even Rio de Janeiro thrown in for good measure. The difference, musically speaking, appears to be that this nation is utterly obsessed with choral ensembles, and singing in general. Now, I know there is a rich choral tradition in most countries and I certainly don't mean to do anyone else down, but according to our research, The Philippines is a hitherto undiscovered choral hotbed - at least, undiscovered by the KS...So, tomorrow we start to teach choirs here, and perform in the evening with a local Chamber Choir. On Sunday we have a day free to explore the city and relax, and then on Monday we head on to China. The welcome we've received so far leaves us in no doubt that we'll be invited to return, and we're all hoping this will become a regular stop on our Asian tours. Earlier this week, we worked with a number of pupils at the American School of Doha, and their new director. Talking with her made me realise that teachers have a very tough job on joining a new school. You inherit a system that may not work as well as you might have hoped, and you have to change it. But you must do so organically, over time, rather than attempting to stamp authority on a department immediately. It was wonderful to see how her work was beginning to bear fruit after only four months' work, and we're looking forward to seeing the children's progress in a few years.
It's not often that all six of us are visiting a city for the very first time - either David has toured there in his 25+ years, or one of us has been on holiday. However, today is one such day. After an interesting overnight flight (during which I managed to watch much of the UK Election coverage live on a BBC stream) we landed in Manila this afternoon and started to take in our surroundings. On the face of it, Manila appears a little like Taiwan, with bits of Hong Kong, Singapore, and even Rio de Janeiro thrown in for good measure. The difference, musically speaking, appears to be that this nation is utterly obsessed with choral ensembles, and singing in general. Now, I know there is a rich choral tradition in most countries and I certainly don't mean to do anyone else down, but according to our research, The Philippines is a hitherto undiscovered choral hotbed - at least, undiscovered by the KS...So, tomorrow we start to teach choirs here, and perform in the evening with a local Chamber Choir. On Sunday we have a day free to explore the city and relax, and then on Monday we head on to China. The welcome we've received so far leaves us in no doubt that we'll be invited to return, and we're all hoping this will become a regular stop on our Asian tours. Earlier this week, we worked with a number of pupils at the American School of Doha, and their new director. Talking with her made me realise that teachers have a very tough job on joining a new school. You inherit a system that may not work as well as you might have hoped, and you have to change it. But you must do so organically, over time, rather than attempting to stamp authority on a department immediately. It was wonderful to see how her work was beginning to bear fruit after only four months' work, and we're looking forward to seeing the children's progress in a few years.
It's not often that all six of us are visiting a city for the very first time - either David has toured there in his 25+ years, or one of us has been on holiday. However, today is one such day. After an interesting overnight flight (during which I managed to watch much of the UK Election coverage live on a BBC stream) we landed in Manila this afternoon and started to take in our surroundings. On the face of it, Manila appears a little like Taiwan, with bits of Hong Kong, Singapore, and even Rio de Janeiro thrown in for good measure. The difference, musically speaking, appears to be that this nation is utterly obsessed with choral ensembles, and singing in general. Now, I know there is a rich choral tradition in most countries and I certainly don't mean to do anyone else down, but according to our research, The Philippines is a hitherto undiscovered choral hotbed - at least, undiscovered by the KS...So, tomorrow we start to teach choirs here, and perform in the evening with a local Chamber Choir. On Sunday we have a day free to explore the city and relax, and then on Monday we head on to China. The welcome we've received so far leaves us in no doubt that we'll be invited to return, and we're all hoping this will become a regular stop on our Asian tours. Earlier this week, we worked with a number of pupils at the American School of Doha, and their new director. Talking with her made me realise that teachers have a very tough job on joining a new school. You inherit a system that may not work as well as you might have hoped, and you have to change it. But you must do so organically, over time, rather than attempting to stamp authority on a department immediately. It was wonderful to see how her work was beginning to bear fruit after only four months' work, and we're looking forward to seeing the children's progress in a few years.
It's not often that all six of us are visiting a city for the very first time - either David has toured there in his 25+ years, or one of us has been on holiday. However, today is one such day. After an interesting overnight flight (during which I managed to watch much of the UK Election coverage live on a BBC stream) we landed in Manila this afternoon and started to take in our surroundings. On the face of it, Manila appears a little like Taiwan, with bits of Hong Kong, Singapore, and even Rio de Janeiro thrown in for good measure. The difference, musically speaking, appears to be that this nation is utterly obsessed with choral ensembles, and singing in general. Now, I know there is a rich choral tradition in most countries and I certainly don't mean to do anyone else down, but according to our research, The Philippines is a hitherto undiscovered choral hotbed - at least, undiscovered by the KS...So, tomorrow we start to teach choirs here, and perform in the evening with a local Chamber Choir. On Sunday we have a day free to explore the city and relax, and then on Monday we head on to China. The welcome we've received so far leaves us in no doubt that we'll be invited to return, and we're all hoping this will become a regular stop on our Asian tours. Earlier this week, we worked with a number of pupils at the American School of Doha, and their new director. Talking with her made me realise that teachers have a very tough job on joining a new school. You inherit a system that may not work as well as you might have hoped, and you have to change it. But you must do so organically, over time, rather than attempting to stamp authority on a department immediately. It was wonderful to see how her work was beginning to bear fruit after only four months' work, and we're looking forward to seeing the children's progress in a few years.
It's not often that all six of us are visiting a city for the very first time - either David has toured there in his 25+ years, or one of us has been on holiday. However, today is one such day. After an interesting overnight flight (during which I managed to watch much of the UK Election coverage live on a BBC stream) we landed in Manila this afternoon and started to take in our surroundings. On the face of it, Manila appears a little like Taiwan, with bits of Hong Kong, Singapore, and even Rio de Janeiro thrown in for good measure. The difference, musically speaking, appears to be that this nation is utterly obsessed with choral ensembles, and singing in general. Now, I know there is a rich choral tradition in most countries and I certainly don't mean to do anyone else down, but according to our research, The Philippines is a hitherto undiscovered choral hotbed - at least, undiscovered by the KS...So, tomorrow we start to teach choirs here, and perform in the evening with a local Chamber Choir. On Sunday we have a day free to explore the city and relax, and then on Monday we head on to China. The welcome we've received so far leaves us in no doubt that we'll be invited to return, and we're all hoping this will become a regular stop on our Asian tours. Earlier this week, we worked with a number of pupils at the American School of Doha, and their new director. Talking with her made me realise that teachers have a very tough job on joining a new school. You inherit a system that may not work as well as you might have hoped, and you have to change it. But you must do so organically, over time, rather than attempting to stamp authority on a department immediately. It was wonderful to see how her work was beginning to bear fruit after only four months' work, and we're looking forward to seeing the children's progress in a few years.
It's not often that all six of us are visiting a city for the very first time - either David has toured there in his 25+ years, or one of us has been on holiday. However, today is one such day. After an interesting overnight flight (during which I managed to watch much of the UK Election coverage live on a BBC stream) we landed in Manila this afternoon and started to take in our surroundings. On the face of it, Manila appears a little like Taiwan, with bits of Hong Kong, Singapore, and even Rio de Janeiro thrown in for good measure. The difference, musically speaking, appears to be that this nation is utterly obsessed with choral ensembles, and singing in general. Now, I know there is a rich choral tradition in most countries and I certainly don't mean to do anyone else down, but according to our research, The Philippines is a hitherto undiscovered choral hotbed - at least, undiscovered by the KS...So, tomorrow we start to teach choirs here, and perform in the evening with a local Chamber Choir. On Sunday we have a day free to explore the city and relax, and then on Monday we head on to China. The welcome we've received so far leaves us in no doubt that we'll be invited to return, and we're all hoping this will become a regular stop on our Asian tours. Earlier this week, we worked with a number of pupils at the American School of Doha, and their new director. Talking with her made me realise that teachers have a very tough job on joining a new school. You inherit a system that may not work as well as you might have hoped, and you have to change it. But you must do so organically, over time, rather than attempting to stamp authority on a department immediately. It was wonderful to see how her work was beginning to bear fruit after only four months' work, and we're looking forward to seeing the children's progress in a few years.
It's not often that all six of us are visiting a city for the very first time - either David has toured there in his 25+ years, or one of us has been on holiday. However, today is one such day. After an interesting overnight flight (during which I managed to watch much of the UK Election coverage live on a BBC stream) we landed in Manila this afternoon and started to take in our surroundings. On the face of it, Manila appears a little like Taiwan, with bits of Hong Kong, Singapore, and even Rio de Janeiro thrown in for good measure. The difference, musically speaking, appears to be that this nation is utterly obsessed with choral ensembles, and singing in general. Now, I know there is a rich choral tradition in most countries and I certainly don't mean to do anyone else down, but according to our research, The Philippines is a hitherto undiscovered choral hotbed - at least, undiscovered by the KS...So, tomorrow we start to teach choirs here, and perform in the evening with a local Chamber Choir. On Sunday we have a day free to explore the city and relax, and then on Monday we head on to China. The welcome we've received so far leaves us in no doubt that we'll be invited to return, and we're all hoping this will become a regular stop on our Asian tours. Earlier this week, we worked with a number of pupils at the American School of Doha, and their new director. Talking with her made me realise that teachers have a very tough job on joining a new school. You inherit a system that may not work as well as you might have hoped, and you have to change it. But you must do so organically, over time, rather than attempting to stamp authority on a department immediately. It was wonderful to see how her work was beginning to bear fruit after only four months' work, and we're looking forward to seeing the children's progress in a few years.
