Soma Children's Orchestra and Chorus

The 8th El Sistema Children's Music Festival in Soma was held on March 25th and 26th. The Music Festival was composed of wind orchestra, chorus, and orchestra stages. All the stages ended successfully. This report presents a digest of the exciting 2 days.

<Day 1>

Day 1 started with the brass band stage. Three junior high school brass bands from Soma City performed their own unique piece.

The chorus stage followed, opening with a performance by Soma Chorus Espoir, a choral group from the city, then passed the baton to the children's chorus. The chorus enthralled the audience with Little Eyes, a collection of cute poems from a child's point of view, and some pieces from the musical The Sound of Music.

The road to the real performance was not easy for mainly three reasons. Firstly, unlike usual, everyone took a solo part. Secondly, the lyrics were written in English so extra care was needed to pronounce properly. Thirdly, the choreography was very detailed. With the support of the teachers and extra members, the children's chorus were able to overcome those difficulties and performed The Sound of Music in an original way that only this year’s children's chorus could present.

After the performance, some of the children were crying, saying they were relieved because the stage was over.

<Day 2>

The children's orchestra took the stage on Day2. The first half, with the string orchestra, was a powerful performance of the first movement from Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings in C major, Op. 48, followed by Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances, greatly led by the concertmaster.

The second half was performed by the 100-member orchestra, including wind and percussion instruments. The orchestra consisted of 5th graders to 12th graders, alumni of children’s orchestra, music college students, amateurs and professional extras performed Pirates of the Caribbean Medley, and The Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68, by Brahms.

Although they do not practice together on a regular basis, the hearts of everyone on stage were united by music, and were able to perform this magnificent symphony beautifully. Both the audience and performers were deeply moved by the children's enthusiastic performance, with many describing it as a 45-minute experience that flew by in an instant.

For the finale of the two-day festival, the children's chorus and the Soma Male Chorus joined on stage and locally renowned Soma Bon UtaSoma Traditional Dancing Songwas performed as always. The audience enjoyed the last piece with handclap.

Once again, we would like to thank everyone involved in the Children’s Music Festival, including those who cooperated and supported the event, teachers and extra members. This is also due to the continuous supports made possible by you, GlobalGiving donors. Thank you.

Wind instrument class’s recital in Soma ended successfully at the end of last year. 20 participants each faced their own challenges and showed their growth through their performances.

The first half of the recital featured solo and duet performances. First, the three elementary school students of flute, oboe, and bassoon, who just started playing their instruments this summer, performed a duet of Mary's Lamb and My Grandfather's Clock with their teachers. The audience and other students applauded their wonderful performance, which conveyed a sense of tension and hard work.

Next, the senior students of flute each performed a solo accompanied by Ms. Mitsumori on the piano. The performance was a collection of masterpieces, all of which were very challenging to play. The most difficult piece was probably the first part of Doppler's "Fantaisie Pastorale Hongroise Op.26 (Hungarian Pastoral Fantasy)" performed by Haoto (11th grade student).

After the recital, Haoto commented, “When I first saw the score, I thought that I can't play such a black score covered with so many notes! But after practicing the difficult parts over and over again, I am very happy that now I am now able to play the piece well.”

In the second half, students of french horn and clarinet sections each performed ensembles composed by Mozart and others. They had performed the same pieces at a local event a month earlier. But they practiced more and played other movements as well and showed more detailed and dynamic performance.

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