In Our Music

 

By Peter Noonan
 

We have been doing a lot in the YIS music department since returning from spring break. It has been an extremely productive few weeks with an exciting series of concerts and celebrations. On April 9 we held the high school Play.Perform.Create concert which highlighted the YIS string ensemble and the MYP music classes. The second half of the show was the culmination of the higher level diploma programme music student’s work in a project called the Contemporary Modern Musician (CMM). On Saturday the 12th of April we held the second KPASS Modern Music Festival hosting musicians from four Kanto plains schools. Then the following Monday and Tuesday, April 14 and 15th the grade eleven music students held their first recording sessions in the auditorium. Finally, on Friday we said goodbye to the grade 12 students with a parade of street carnival samba-drumming from Rio de Janeiro called batucada.

 

 

The Play.Perform.Create series of concerts has been a tradition of the YIS music program for quite some time. It is a chance for the performing arts students to present the art that they have been creating in the classroom and in activities after school. In this concert we had Chris Gibson (alumni 2005, cellist) and Reiko Kakinuma (violinist) leading our afterschool YIS string ensemble as well as the grade nine and ten music students sharing some arrangements from their music classes. And the second set of the evening's show was the premiere of two of our grade twelve music students’ vision for a live performance of the album that they have written and recorded. It was a collaboration between the two songwriters, the huge band that they put together, as well as animators and lighting crew. The performance was really powerful and as their music teacher since grade six, I have to say, I was incredibly impressed with the type of artists that Tomohisa and Shoma have become and cannot wait to hear the music they continue to create in the next stage of their musical life.

 

Our school’s music program, unlike my own formal music education and perhaps your own, is not a ‘performance only’ curriculum that focuses on reading-ensembles. While that is a part of what we do, we also explore many other verbs of music making such as composition, learning by ear and improvisation for example. There are many wonderful competitive ensemble festivals for wind ensemble, orchestra and choir, however, there are not a lot of opportunities for music programs like ours to celebrate the amazing art that we have been creating. Last year I began the Modern Music Festival as an answer to exactly that lack of opportunity for our students and several other schools in the Kanto plains area. A festival of music that is important to the musicians themselves and that is student led.

 

 

This year we evolved the format of the festival quite a bit. To begin the festival David Lien, our middle school music teacher and one of the workshop leaders on the day, created ‘supergroup’ bands of musicians from different schools. We gave each of the bands an hour and a half to learn a song and create an arrangement for performance for their peers. This gave musicians a way to meet each other and develop musical relationships in a way that only musicians can. After their performances they had time to make music together in a less structured way. Then the musicians took part in workshops on improvisation, songwriting that were developed by the participating educators. We were even lucky enough to incorporate music and film with our drama specialist, Sam Abernathy leading. Finally we had a concert of the music that the musicians prepared and an afterparty. The day was really wonderful and witnessing the musicians celebrate their effort with peer musicians from other schools was exactly what the day was meant to be.

 

 

The Monday and Tuesday of the grade eleven recitals showcased some of the amazing performers and songwriters that we have in the high school. When they get to this level, part of their performing requirements are that they put together bands of any size or work solo to perform music of other artists and some music of their own. It is a huge step for these musicians to get on the stage, no longer just as a part of, say, one of the class bands, but instead as their own artist. They choose the music, rehearse the groups and of course star in the show. They came up with incredibly creative arrangements using looping pedals, triggering music they created in recording software and of course performing on instruments and singing.

 

 

So as you can see it has been a productive and energizing time for us here in the YIS music department. We have a great deal more to come and look forward to having you join us for the music. We hope to see you at the many stages of the food fair, the graduations, the koto concert June 3rd or our final Play.Perform.Create June 5.