Fingers quickly danced across the ivory keys, welcoming studentsand faculty to traditional-Asian music.
After that, a man started chanting.
The Asian Studies Committee and the Asian American StudentAssociation didn't use a keynote address to start Focus on Asiamonth.
Instead, students and faculty provided musical works from China,India, Korea and Thailand.
The organizations' members said they hope students will developa better understanding of Asian culture.
"It's a good way for people to get out of their comfort zones,"Elizabeth Douglass, AASA secretary, said. "Focus on Asia month is atime for us as an Asian community to share our way of life to BallState and the Muncie community. We hope students will come out andsupport us. We encourage anyone to come."
A musical trio of Jungin Cho, violin; Jumi Kim, soprano; andSooyoung Lee, piano, performed Korean folk songs.
They played "Nim-yi O-shi-nun-ji" (Aren't you coming?) and"Ku-ri-un Keum-kang-san" (Mount Keum-kang-san that we yearnfor).
Kim, graduate music student, said she chose "Ku-ri-unKeum-kang-san" because of its meaning.
"Ku-ri-un Keum-kang-san" tells of how the southern Koreansmissed the mountain, located in North Korea, after the KoreanWar.
As an international student, Kim said students need tounderstand their own cultures before they can understandothers.
"I think to know yourself better, you need to know othercultures," Kim said. "Realize culture is unique ... go abroad tosee cultures."
Understanding cultures can help students understand the world,Nihal Perera, director of CapAsia, said.
"If we want to know the world, we have to know Asia," Pererasaid. "It is possible that if we want to know the future of theworld, we need to know Asia."
Other performances included a demonstration of North Indianclassical music. Pauline Dillman, James Guffey and George Wolfeshowed how Indian instruments differ from western instruments.
For example, the tabla, similar to drums, requires its musiciansto chant while playing.
Before Wolfe played, he chanted for the audience.
"The wave of sound is supposed to represent the primal waters,"Wolfe, a professor of music, said. "The music is modeled after theancient view. ... The melody brought forth from the sea of soundrepresents the creation."
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