James Spinazzola conducts the Cornell Wind Symphony and has led the group on two community-engaged learning tours to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. By transforming the traditional venue-based performance tour into a vehicle for sustained community engagement, he is helping students tap into their potential as promoters of cross-cultural exchange, global awareness and institutional reciprocity.

Spinazzola’s research and publication plan summarizes the Cornell Wind Symphony’s activities and provides a template for colleagues interested in crafting similar engaged performance tours and international partnerships. He’s creating an overarching instructional handbook for institutions aiming to replicate or build upon Cornell’s partnerships; writing an article that will contribute to studies of international community engagement within the context of ensemble performance tours; and presenting at a relevant professional conference.