Written by Florence (7 Gillett)
Our Symphonic Wind Orchestra (SWO) made an historic trip from Habs to the World Music Contest. SWO members eagerly gathered at 4am in the coach park for the journey to Kerkrade in the Netherlands for five days of fun-filled music making and activities. Known as the ‘Olympics’ of wind music, this year was the first year that youth orchestras could participate, and so it was particularly exciting for the orchestra to be representing the UK in the Youth Division section for the very first time.
Conducted with enthusiasm by Mr. Duguid, SWO performed a programme of four pieces in the competition: Festivo by Edward Gregson, Impressions of Caucasus by Amir Molookpour, Let Them Dance by Franklin Onyeso and Roma by Valerie Coleman. A further selection of lighter pieces including Skyfall from James Bond (arr. Jay Bocook) and Never Gonna Give You Up (arr. Matt Conaway) were also performed at the Fringe Festival, which took place outdoors in the sunshine of the square in Kerkrade.
The other finalists gave very strong performances and although SWO didn’t win, we were all very proud to be ranked 15th in the world! We enjoyed staying in the beautiful medieval Rolduc Abbey with all the other competitors, and it was really interesting to meet so many other musicians from around the world. Our location on the border made it easy to visit lots of interesting places and I really enjoyed exploring Maastricht, Aachen and Kerkrade. I loved being part of the trip as a new joiner to Habs, and I was very proud to receive the Rising Star award at the end of the trip from the teachers.
Related posts
See all posts
