The Global Music Experience via AMIS

Image: amis-online.org

 

A student at Cornell University, Raymond Tony Chang, Jr., has an International Baccalaureate Diploma from Shanghai American School in Puxi and received a Fullbridgian Award in the summer of 2013. Raymond Tony Chang, Jr., has had many opportunities to travel internationally, in part on account of his affiliation with the Association for Music in International Schools (AMIS) Honors and Jazz Choir.

A nonprofit dedicated to promoting music appreciation and education, AMIS sponsors annual festivals all over the world. In January 2017, it will sponsor the Middle School Honor Mixed Choir Festival at the American School of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Here, male and female treble singers will have an opportunity to rehearse with guest conductor Melanie Brink from The American International School of Muscat in Oman. Later that month, students learning vocal and instrumental skills can receive feedback from specialized adjudicators at the Solo and Ensemble Festival at the International School of Brussels.

February brings the Asian Middle School Honor Orchestra Festival in Singapore at the Singapore American School, where students who play string orchestra instruments can work with international guest conductors.

These festivals provide a valuable opportunity for expatriate children in the international school community to come together to connect and learn from each other and from conductors from all over the world.

Spoiler Alert Helps Food Companies and Nonprofits Sell and Buy Surplus

Spoiler Alert
Image: foodspoileralert.com

Raymond Tony Chang, Jr. attends Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and works as an educator and marketer. Besides serving as brand ambassador and ACT teacher of New Pathway Education and Technology Group, Raymond Tony Chang, Jr. is also the market analyst for Spoiler Alert, an online platform that assists farms and other food-related businesses and nonprofits to make the most of extra and discarded food.

The website provides tools and information to help gain a return and additional customers from the extra food they create. It also provides an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others by giving food to those in need instead of disposing surplus and/or blemished produce into a landfill. Participants upload images of their spare goods to the online platform and members work out a plan to have them delivered and distributed. Goods can be either donated or provided as a means to buy and sell. A report tracks receipts, transactions, data, and tax benefits.

AMIS Provides Music Education to Students Around the Globe

Association for Music in International Schools
Image: amis-online.org

As an undergraduate student at Cornell University, Raymond Tony Chang, Jr. juggles many responsibilities, including the pursuit of a bachelor’s degree with a minor in business; entrepreneurship as the co-founder of companies BetterChina100k, PinCube and Cornel BookExchange; and employment with brands such as Under Armour. Amid managing numerous academic and professional commitments, Raymond Tony Chang, Jr. also performed globally with the Association for Music in International Schools (AMIS) singing tenor in the honor and jazz choirs.

Headquartered in the UK, the Association for Music in International Schools brings students together from around the world to develop and enhance excellence in music. The nonprofit organization promotes high-quality music education of teachers and students globally through introductions to music history and appreciation, workshops, and musical performances.

Participants take part in annual music festivals sponsored by AMIS, showcasing their talents and art and learning from seasoned music educators and performers. Students are accepted through an application and blind audition process.

The Batu Caves: A Sight to See near Kuala Lumpur

Batu Caves
Image: tripadvisor.com

The co-founder of Cornell BookExchange, Raymond Tony Chang Jr., recently completed an internship at Boston Techstars, working with AdmitHub and Netra. As a member of the Jazz Choir and Honors Choir for many years with AMIS, Raymond Tony Chang Jr. traveled extensively across the globe, exploring places such as Kuala Lumpur.

The Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, draw numerous visitors for their spectacular limestone formations that date back about 400 million years. Only seven miles north of the city of Kuala Lumpur, the three Batu Caves also feature a diverse number of statues and idols in their Hindu shrines and temples. Most notable of these is an enormous statue of the Hindu god Lord Murugan, which stands more than 140 feet tall near the steep climb of 272 steps to reach the entrance of the caves.

The largest of the Batu Caves, Cathedral Cave, or Temple Cave, holds many Hindu shrines beneath its high dome. The other caves include a Museum Cave and Art Gallery Cave showcasing Hindu paintings and statues. Although the caves warrant attention at any time of the year, the annual Thaipusam Festival offers additional spectacles for tourists and also draws numerous worshipers.

Technology Start-Up Netra – Part of Techstars Boston’s 2015 Class

Netra
Image: netra.io

Raymond Tony Chang, Jr., is pursuing his undergraduate studies at Cornell University. An accomplished student, he is involved in athletics and has served as a member of an honors choir, in addition to venturing into entrepreneurship. Raymond Tony Chang, Jr., recently interned as a strategic marketing researcher and analyst at Netra, Inc.

Netra, Inc., is a technology start-up company that was founded in 2013. Based out of Boston, Massachusetts, it traces its roots to MIT. The firm sees vast opportunities in imagery with billions of cameras now found in smartphones, security, and other platforms. How all these imageries can be managed and utilized is the challenge. Netra’s offerings include visual brand intelligence and retail intelligence.

Netra was one of the 12 companies that was chosen to be part of Techstars Boston’s class of 2015. Techstars Boston is an accelerator program for competitive start-ups. It awards the selected companies $18,000 in seed funding. Through venture capital funding, participants can also gain a $100,000 convertible debt note. Workspace and mentorship are offered during the intensive three-month program.

Boyan Slat – Creator of the Ocean Cleanup Array

Boyan Slat
Image: boyanslat.com

Raymond Tony Chang, Jr. is a Cornell University undergraduate who studies business and is involved in startup ventures on campus. Among his research papers is an extended essay on the environmental impact of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Raymond Tony Chang, Jr. supports the efforts of Boyan Slat, a 21-year-old Dutch entrepreneur who invented a plan for cleaning the garbage gyre and now heads the nonprofit The Ocean Cleanup.

Centered on the Midway Atoll, the massive patch of accumulated garbage is caused by the Coriolis force, which is related to the Earth’s rotation. Visiting the patch for the first time, Slat spoke about being amazed to find “more plastic than life,” five days out from the nearest land mass.

An engineering student, Boyan Slat took advantage of the same ocean currents that bring garbage to the area in creating the Ocean Cleanup Array. He quickly gained recognition from the scientific community for his design and set up a model system in the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research’s flume area. The ambitious project, launched in 2013, is envisioned as a 65-mile artificial coastline, with plastic diverted into barriers that are V-shaped and funnel the garbage to a collection point.