KUCHING: Over the years St Joseph’s School (SJS) Band has been breaking new ground in musical performances and collaborations, exploring different styles and genres with international musicians.
In its concerts and drill shows, the band has performed classical, contemporary and even Broadway show tunes and worked together with ensembles and instructors from Singapore, Australia and the United States.
For its latest annual concert last week, the band teamed up with Onyx Brass, a leading brass quintet from Britain, to put on a mesmerising show at Trinity Methodist Church.
Programme coordinator Jonathan Fox said the concert, themed “A Brass Spectacular!”, continued SJS Band’s rich tradition of collaboration.
“This year, we’re extending our hospitality to overseas guests right here in our hometown. The exceptional Onyx Brass Quintet has flown across the ocean to combine forces with our young musicians.
“This past week has been an inspiring and intensive period of tightly integrated hard work between the brass group and our band, with musical skills shared and acquired, artistic goals achieved and cultures exchanged,” he wrote in his programme notes.
Fox also said the concert was the most challenging yet to prepare for as the band had less time to rehearse.
“Normally, we spend four to five days rehearsing at the venue. This time we only had two and a half days, so it meant the most work the students have done.
“We had to imagine the venue while practising and prepare pieces to be performed with a group of professional musicians and imagine that they’re there. I couldn’t be more proud of them,” he said when met after the concert.
It was an equally special night for Onyx Brass, who found it an inspiration to work with with the school band.
“In the UK, we work with schools and we meet lots of students, but the students here are very special. They have a work ethic that we haven’t seen for a long time in students, very disciplined, very musical, just full of energy,” tuba player David Gordon-Shute said.
“We knew that St Joseph’s was a good school with good students but we weren’t expecting this. It was certainly better than what we expected.”
Upon arriving two days ahead of the concert, the Onyx Brass members spent time rehearsing and sharing their expertise with the students.
“We didn’t just work on the pieces. We also worked on trying to get in the right place mentally and physically and passing on advice about breathing and listening,” Gordon-Shute said.
The concert opened with SJS Band playing “Prelude and Energico” by James Swearingen before giving way to different ensembles from the band. A saxophone quartet performed three short pieces by Brahms and Bartok, followed by the percussion playing a contemporary piece titled “Metheny Dream”, while the SJS jazz band performed a lively “Libertango” by Piazzolla later in the programme.
The band joined forces with Onyx Brass for Copley’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”. Showcasing their collaboration, Onyx Brass also played Handel’s “Music from the Royal Fireworks” and “La Mourisque” from Susato Suite with the SJS brass quintet.
Besides performing together with the band, Onyx Brass captivated the audience with two sets of classical and modern pieces, starting with Bach and finishing with Gershwin.
The concert ended with a joint performance of “Gonna Fly Now” from Rocky by SJS Band and Onyx Brass, a fitting finale to entertaining evening of music.
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