Two University of the Virgin Islands students were recently given the opportunity to showcase their musical talents in a far-off place - Beijing, China. For soprano Detra Davis and bass Gerard Huggins, the trip to the Orient was "magical," "beyond words."

The project was the work of pianist and composer Lorna Young-Wright, D.M.A., a UVI music professor who was invited to participate in Africa Meets Asia, a musical symposium that drew participants from Africa, Asia, the United States and the Caribbean. Young-Wright, whose original works were presented by both Davis and Huggins, saw the symposium as an invaluable opportunity to make her students shine.

"I could not have allowed them to miss this opportunity to grow musically and to experience the best of two very ancient cultures," said Young-Wright, who has been teaching at UVI for 23 years.

Davis, a St. Thomas native and a senior music education major at UVI, performed Young-Wright's original works, one set to selected Richard Wright haiku.

Huggins, a senior humanities major with a concentration in music and theater, who hails from the British Virgin Islands, also performed a song cycle composed by Young-Wright. His rich and personal interpretation of the music delighted the international audience.

In addition to her stellar performance, Davis made an extensive presentation on the steel pan as a musical instrument, detailing the construction of each pan and presenting a brief history of the instrument in the rich context of Virgin Islands music.

The text and slide presentation that she presented to conference participants and to students of the Central Conservatory of Music, which hosted the Beijing conference, will continue to be used in the Conservatory's curriculum.

The performers were accompanied on the trip by a "fan club" of another 13 Virgin Islanders who were ecstatic about the opportunity for this first-time, "once in a lifetime" opportunity to visit the Asian continent.

The group was hosted by the Central Conservatory and toured cultural sites that included the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace of the Emperor and the Lama Temple, which is at the heart of Chinese Buddhism.

In a surprise visit to the Quantou Village, located within the Hebei Province, the group was met by a parade and an emotional outpouring from almost 2,000 residents who live on an inland island surrounded by the waters of a lake several hours from the Chinese capital.

Dr. Zhang Boyu, of the Central Conservatory, said that the Virgin Islanders were the first foreigners to visit the island and to enjoy on its shores a native music that is centuries old.

"I think in a couple of days, I will somehow imagine this was a dream," said Young-Wright upon returning from her Asian musical adventure.