"On May 22nd 2009, the Montana State University Symphony Orchestra (a complement of 85 musicians, faculty and staff) will embark on a musical tour, promoting good will and friendship to three Southeast Asian nations; Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. Our inspiration has been heightened with the recent tour of North Korea by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (the first American envoy in over sixty years). The Montana State University Symphony Orchestra will be the first American university orchestra to visit and perform in Vietnam in over fifty years.

Our main mission is to foster friendship and to develop professional relationships with all three nations in music, education and commerce. We will be in close contact with all major universities (ie; Assumption, Chulalongkorn, Mahidol, Silpakorn, Rangsit Universities in Bangkok, Thailand; National University of Singapore, Mus'Art Wind Orchestra, Singapore Band Directors' Association, Yong Siew Toh Music Conservatory, [affiliated with Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University] Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, LaSalle University and National Institute of Education in Singapore; and Hanoi Conservatory of Music in Hanoi, Vienam). In addition, we will request performances at the United States Embassies in Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam." (Retrieved from http://www.msuasiatour.org/index.html)