2670
On Wednesday February 24, 15 musicians from AISG departed to SFS (Seoul Foreign School) in Korea, to participate in the APAC Music Festival. After three days of rehearsals and workshops, the band performed in the Festival Concert on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the SFS Theater.
The event featured guest conductor Tim Robblee, the Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music at Shenandoah Conservatory and former Director of Bands at Washington State University, WA and Willamette University in Salem, OR. This prestigious conductor and his past ensembles have been recognized for excellence on a national level.
Eleventh grade percussionist Paraash Manwani gave us his account of the trip. He reports that the band rehearsed extensively, but still had time to see the sights in Seoul, even attending the popular B-Boy show one night. The rehearsals culminated in the full ensemble concert, in which student musicians played more traditional pieces such as “Old Churches,” with bowls representing church bells and “Foundry,” full of percussion and metal sounds; as well as experimental numbers like “Reverberations,” a composition in which the band is not in sync, giving the music a surprising, non-traditional effect. The evening concert was well attended, mostly by parents of the local musicians.
Manwani enjoyed the opportunity to visit a new international school, noting that the SFS campus was appealing and the music facilities very good. His host family lived only two minutes away, in a lively neighborhood. He added, “I got to learn a lot; I was really inspired [by] the conductor. I met a lot of new people from different schools and different cultures, and it was a great experience performing with a big ensemble.”
See here for the APAC Band website and here for a picture of the APAC Band roster.
Below is a video of the APAC Band Festival Concert:
Share
Print
