"In the Mix" and Michael McIntosh in Japan
 From 4/30/10 to 5/4/10,
Hal Leonard percussion arranger and Yamaha artist, Michael McIntosh, was
invited by Yamaha Corporation Japan to teach several marching percussion and
digital design clinics in the city of Tokyo, Japan.
The clinics consisted of three
days of teaching. Two clinics were given at the Yamaha headquarters in the
Shinegawa district, Tokyo, Japan. The third clinic
was given to students, show designers and band directors at Tokyo University
and was attended by almost 350 people. The
clinics were very successful due in part to the ability to use the DVD "In the
Mix" as a teaching tool and visual aid. The response to the DVD was over-whelming,
including numerous inquiries as to how to purchase the DVD. As is common with
American "pop culture," Japanese designers, band directors and students alike
found it very interesting. Michael also had a chance to speak about "In the Mix" with several key people involved
in the Japanese marching arts. These people were Kuniaki Tanaka, Vice-Executive
Director of the World Association of Marching Show bands Japan and Shinichi
Onodero who is the judge's coordinator for the WAMSBJ. Shinichi also
coordinates the trips of all US pageantry designers/instructors that are asked
to make the trip to Japan to teach. Both found the DVD to be like no other and
were very interested in obtaining the DVD as they both felt it could help
improve the overall quality of marching bands throughout Japan. 
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