Why Has This American Band Director Kept Returning to China for 40 Years? In 1987, 17-year-old Jeff Wilson performed on the Great Wall of China. Nearly 40 years later, he returned—with his students and his daughter, who had also completed their own performances in China this year. “Whenever we make music or make art together or for each other, it immediately breaks down the walls.” The ongoing China–US youth marching band exchanges have shown that music connects, unites and inspires—face to face