Strike up the band

St. Vital

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This article was published 27/03/2024 (777 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A group of band students from Dakota Collegiate hit all the right notes on a recent two-week trip to Japan.

During the trip, the group took part in the International Goodwill Charity joint concert on March 4, which also included schools from Japan, Vietnam and Australia. The musical showcase took place at the Kochi Prefectural Concert Hall.

Darren Ritchie, a band director at Dakota, said the St. Vital-based school’s wind ensemble played three songs by itself during the concert — Sunburst, Takeda Lullaby, and Spirited Away — and also performed as part of a joint ensemble comprised of all the schools for the concert’s finale, when Coldplay Classics, Nippon Minyo, and Radetzky March were played.

“It was a super-cool experience for the students, and super-exciting culturally,” said Ritchie, noting the band’s touring schedule has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in recent years.

“It’s been immensely rewarding to watch 58 young musicians work together on six very challenging pieces of music. It’s just been amazing, and it’s part of the reason I do what I do.”

“Because they had to learn six different pieces they’ve rehearsed and worked incredibly hard to be able to perform at a high level,” he added.

Ritchie said many of the students hadn’t necessarily been on a plane before, let alone travelled so far, and he said it’s been a life-changing experience for them.

Grade 12 student Yusuf Omar said it was cool to experience a new culture, and travel across the world with his classmates, and then to get to know people from other nations — both socially and musically.

“It was a great experience getting all together and playing together, especially as many of us had never played together,” said Omar, 17, who plays trombone.

Omar said he’s grateful to Ritchie for his leadership and influence.

“Mr. Ritchie keeps us on track, and helps us with practices in the different programs we’re in,” he said.

“He prepares us, and supervises us, and helps keep us safe, and helps things move along smoothly.”

Grade 10 student Kate Gagnon said the recent excursion highlighted how much music is a universal language.

“Getting to play with kids from other countries was great, and we still understood each other, even if we might not have spoken the same language,” said Gagnon, 16, who played alto saxophone and a piano solo at the concert.

“It was really cool to hear the symphony at the end, and everyone working together to connect together,” she added, noting it was an honour to be chosen to play the piano solo at the event.

Gagnon said playing the saxophone and piano are joint passions — she grew up listening to her mom play the piano (and her brother plays several instruments) — and she’s been playing the sax since Grade 7, in no small part due to her love of jazz.

She also wanted to give a shout-out to Ritchie: “He’s dedicated and loves what he does, and he has confidence in his students. That dedication and confidence makes us play the best we can for him, and each other.”