DIS musicians participated in the Korea International Music Educators Association (KIMEA) National Honor Festival at Chadwick International School on Feb. 16 and 17. Performers proved their musical capabilities through a blind audition carried out by directors from schools all across Korea. “The audition process is always fun from the teacher’s perspective because we get together on a Saturday to listen to all the auditions. We go through the process of listening to everyone’s audition in a blind audition setting,” Department Chair of Art for Chadwick Georden Sherd said. Out of the countless applicants, seven talented students from DIS passed the bar to join the ensemble.

“It is over double the amount compared to last year. Other schools are huge, they have 20-30 kids in the festival, but they send hundreds of auditions. We sent only about 10 auditions and seven of them got in. That is pretty good,” DIS music teacher Mr. Hutchings said.

With brilliant experts from all over the nation, KIMEA invited astute conductors from halfway across the globe. “This year they brought Dr. Tim Robblee for the band and Soonhee Newbold for the orchestra. Dr. Robblee is very talented. The thing I really liked about his method was one, a lot of singing. He moves quickly and accomplishes a lot in a short amount of time. He is very particular, precise, and demanding. It is an opportunity for our students to come together and play the music that is above the level of our program and learn from some really talented skilled people,” added Mr. Hutchings.

The two days of rehearsal proceeded with waves of laughter and constant opportunities for growth and improvement. “The day went great. We played awesome music with fantastic players and a conductor and I had the chance to learn more about music and band, ” fourth chair clarinetist Aaron Shin said.

The professional environment of the practice inspired Mr. Hutchings to bring some positive changes to his teaching as well. “I have actually done more singing in my classes after I came back. It was something I used to do a lot, but as time went by, I kind of put some techniques on the side. This is what is good about the honor band. You get to watch and see and learn for yourself,” he said.

For Soonhee Newbold, the conductor, this experience held much more meaning than just a simple concert. “I was born in Korea but I was adopted so I grew up in the US. So it is special for me to be here because I was born here. I met my biological family so they are going to come to the concert. It will be special for them,” she said.

Mr. Hutchings commented, “It was a really long two days and I grew up doing these honor band, and honor choir festivals. It is a huge part of my high school music experience and they are one of the most memorable experiences that I have had that I can always remember. I am glad our students get to be a part of that and experience it.”

After a long schedule of exhausting practice sessions, a grand finale awaited the performers. The festival started with the National Honor Choir, then the National Honor Orchestra, and ended with the National Honor Band. “ I am more than satisfied with the results of the performance. All our hard work from the past few months came together as a whole for the final performance and I think we played great,” Shin said.

“I’m satisfied with the performance. Dylan had a solo. He had a very very difficult solo, and he played it very well. He did pretty much the best anybody could do with the situation. It was a super, super high note after playing all weekend, killing your face. It’s really hard to ask a high schooler to do,” Mr. Hutchings said.

The event left marks on everyone’s memories. “It’s been a really good experience. It’s a lot of music in a very short amount of time. Not many musicians can do this type of music in a short amount of time like they have. I’m very impressed with them. They have been very professional,” Newbold said.

Mr. Hutchings showed gratitude towards the perfect weekend up in Incheon. “It was fun, the kids had a lot of fun. It was long and tiring. In general, there were no hiccups. The school did a great job providing us with a van, a driver, and a hotel. It was an easy trip to take because of the efforts of Ms. Sumin Hong from the office.”

Sherd reflected, “Congratulations to the students on everything, from the audition process to the concert. It is one of those moments that they are going to look back on as high schoolers and remember. They put a lot of work into a special thing and really made something great.”

Here’s a link to the performances: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TvWmgCwGuIK2mh91PeuWqxAwN4shNiXt/view?usp=sharing

Gallery • 13 Photos

Juan Cortez

Second chair trombone Selina Son deals with the immense responsibility of mastering challenging techniques. She reads through the notes and practices one step at a time.