Rei Saeki
On November 8th, the students of the High School Senior Band participated in the KPASS Band Festival. In the previous weeks before the festival, there were extended practice hours, and sometimes, it even went on until 18:30 at night! The band arrived at St. Mary’s International School in the early morning and they instantly started warming up and performing right away. The judges gave much constructive criticism such as how it was a great performance but the overall basic skills and practice hours could use a little more work. Everything he said was taken into account just for the band to get better. Later in the day, we watched performances of the other schools. It was easy to see how much they practiced and how passionate the students really are. A percussion piece by one of the bands was especially impressive, as well as, Dante’s Inferno by St. Mary’s. They were not just great in terms of following the scores, but also very musical and creative. They were being conducted by none other than Jefferey Griggs, so how can any of us be surprised?!
On the first band rehearsal after the festival, there was a discussion on how we can improve based on the comments and recordings. It is easy to tell that the experience at the festival positively and constructively affected the senior band as we work to improve. Overall, the Band Festival was a great stimulus and motivating factor for the students and we are excited to show our more refined performances in the future!
Rei Saeki