There's a strong connection between the two interviews that we conducted this morning on KSMU's Arts News, according to MSU music professor Dr. Amy Muchnick. One of her student string quartets almost made it all the way to the top of the Music Teachers National Association competition four years ago. "The White String Quartet, which was the student string quartet, in 2012 made the finals of the MTNA competition. They didn't win, but boy, it was quite a ride!" And their success on the national stage inspired MSU President Clif Smart to invite the quartet to travel with MSU to Beijing, China to play at an important MSU alumni event there. And, says Dr. Muchnick, "that started a very interesting collaboration. We've started to recruit (music students) out of China, and out of South America, to see if anybody would like to come to MSU and get a Masters degree. And we're having a lot of success with that, both in China and Colombia." Last year Dr. Muchnick went to Bogota, Colombia to meet
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