St. Mary’s International School recently hosted the KPASS Honor Band and Orchestra. Practices went on for two days, from February 27 to February 28. After two full days of practice, there was a concert on March 1. For the past few years, the Honor Band and Honor Orchestra have been hosted by the American School in Japan. Due to this year being the first year of SMIS hosting the major event, student help was greatly needed. Each Wind Ensemble member was assigned to specific roles, ranging from stage crew to sectional room guides.
The Band was conducted by Mr. Sean Kubota, who tirelessly worked to make the band sound better. The concert had multiple pieces played by both the orchestra and the band. The Band started the concert with the piece Ascendant (Arcari), followed by Smiling After the Rain (Nishimura). The third piece was One Thousand and One Nights by Hwiyoung Kim (’27), a Seisen student who won the KPASS composition competition in 2024. The fourth piece was Incantation And Dance (Chance), a technically challenging piece. The band finished off with Radetzky March (Strauss). After the concert, Mr. Kubota stated, “It was wonderful working with you guys; I hope we can all meet again someday.”
The Honor Orchestra was conducted by Mr. Kevin Noe. After the band, the orchestra started with the piece Fuga Y Mysterio (Piazzola), a song that encapsulates the mysterious feeling. The piece was followed by A Boy and a Girl (Whitacre). The finale of the festival was Danzon No.2 by Arturo Marquez. The piece was played by the full orchestra, a combination of the orchestra and the top band members. An encore was also played at the audience’s request. While the festival was a concert to offer to the audience, as Mr. Griggs states, it was to “celebrate the achievements of these outstanding young musicians under the direction of professional conductors!”
