The DIS trombone section held their bells up high at the Korea International Music Educators Association (KIMEA) National Honor Festival. Senior Selina Son, junior Sankeeth Udayakumar and sophomores Justin Son and Aiden Huh made the cut, filling four out of five chairs in the section. 

The aspiring musicians auditioned in November with challenging repertoire. “I have a sister who went to honor band previously and seen her enthusiasm with music and trombone,” said Justin Son, honor band fourth-chair. “That really inspired me to try to go for trombone.” 

However, the professional-level audition material stumped some players midway. “The piece the trombonists auditioned for this year was actually an excerpt I played in my freshman year of college,” Mr. Hutchings said. “And that was really hard. That way, they can ensure the quality of students that get in the festival is of a certain caliber.” 

Nonetheless, the trombonists pushed through with practice. “At first, I was very lost because the skill itself wasn’t really easy. And also, the music itself was very difficult for me,” said Justin Son, “But I think just practice was key. And I just kept practicing until I could get something out of it.”

The trombonists stepped up to fill a gap in the ensemble. “There are very few low brass positions because it’s not a very popular instrument choice for some reason in Korea. That being said, I tried to push them to want to be in it and participate as much as [they] can,” Mr. Hutchings said. 

Even with the DIS auditions, the honor band’s trombone section lacked one trombone player. As a result, KIMEA hosted a second round of auditions. “When the second round of auditions came around, Aiden, the one additional student who jumped in, jumped in,” Mr. Hutchings said. 

The music for the National Honor Festival challenged the musicians like never before. “‘The Seventh Night of July’ by Itaru Sakai is a massive grade 5 piece, which is just about a collegiate level. The composer expects a trombone player to have just as much facility as a flute,” Mr. Hutchings said. 

Throughout the festival, concertmaster Ignatius Wang pushed the trombonists to their limits with collegiate-caliber material and professional-level coaching. “I remember one time he told us that if we played A natural again, he would kill us. And then he’ll revive us and kill us again,” said Justin Son. The conductor’s freshly blunt comments motivated Son to play better. 

In particular, the conductor expected the trombones to give their all during rehearsal and blast out melody lines at full power. First-chair Selina Son said, “The conductor pushed the trombone section a lot for strong air. He didn’t necessarily want loudness, but since the trombone covers the middle note spectrum and covers the bass and some melodies, he pushed for solid sound.”

The trombonists’ efforts bore fruit at the end of the weekend workshop. Selina Son said, “It had its highs and lows, but overall, it was nice. I tried to hit the key parts where the trombones were really highlighted and I think we did adequately.”  

The trombonists returned from the festival with newfound motivation. “I’m very motivated, and recently I became the first chair of the ninth and tenth-grade band,” Justin Son said. “I think this will further motivate me to join next year’s honor band if I can and spend more time on the trombone.”

They also brought back lessons from the National Honor Festival to the DIS ensemble and continue to take the music room culture to the next level. “I hope that the kids come out of it like Justin. They come out of it saying, ‘Aw, I gotta lock in.’ They see a lot, and they get an idea of what it’s like to be at that level. You notice how other musicians sit and play,” said Mr. Hutchings. “Then, if you see a couple of the kids not doing that, you start doing it, and it spreads.” 

The stellar performance of the trombone section enhances the band as a whole. “My philosophy, and a lot of entry band teacher’s philosophies, are: if you have a good foundational low brass section, the ensemble’s going to sound really good,” Mr. Hutchings said. “There’s a low foundational thing that the trombones also fill – as well as the middle voice and upper tenor voice. Our trombone section is one of the strongest sections we’ve ever had.” 

With these lessons under their belt, they look to improve their performance further, especially with “The Seventh Night of July,” which the DIS ensemble plans to bring to life at the Spring Fine Arts Festival. “I think it’s awesome that we’re playing ‘The Seventh Night of July’ in the DIS band, and I think that’s a nice finale to everything,” Selina Son said. “Everybody except for two trombonists shared the Honor Band experience, so we know what to do.”

  The trombonists now set their sights on the Spring Fine Arts Festival and next year’s National Honor Festival. Justin Son said, “In Honor band, we learned about how sound and size really matter. I hope to bring that to my performances.”