The regular concert of high school brass band

Saturday 28 June
The 33rd regular concert of Warabi high school brass band was held at Warabi Bunka Kaikan. As I said before, I was a member of it. Today we, graduates, helped the present members setting stage and selling tickets. We heard their playing on rehearsal I was so moved that they have grown up. They played far better than I had expected. Mayu’s bassoon solo was very beautiful. I could not have played that well a year ago. When it was one hour until the concert began, there was a long line of people waiting to enter. I was so surprised to see the line because I was not able to see it before. I had to prepare to play back of the stage. Sometimes I still regret that I didn’t choose orchestra but archery. I do like archery, but I have loved the bassoon so much for three years. How can I forget the bassoon? I like music! I can remember all the tunes that I played. These are the list of the tunes and composers.↓
・Prates of the Caribbean (Soundtrack Highlights) by Klaus Badelt
・The Incredibles by Michael Giacchino
・Takarajima (Treasure Island) by Hirotaka Izumi
・Copacabana by B. Manilow, B. Sussman, J. Feldman
・Titanic Medley by James Horner
・Euro Beat Disney Medley by Jimmie Dodd, Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman, Ray Gilbert, Allie Wrubel
・Can’t Take My Eyes Off You by B. Crewe, B. Gaudio
・Tarako Tarako Tarako by Kouji Ueno
・“Jeanne d’Arc” ~Lyric Poem for Wind – Orchestra by Takamasa Sakai
・Sennno kazeni natte by Mitsuru Arai
・gakuen tengoku by Tadao Inoue
・To Challenge The Sky And Heavens Above by Robert W. Smith
・We’re All Alone by Boz Scaggs
・Daichi Sansho by Shin Sato
・El Cumbanchero by Rafael Hernandez
・March “Shiokemuri” by Yoichi Kamioka
・Katteni Sindbad by Keisuke Kuwata
・Pink Lady Medley by Shunichi Asakura
・Zenryoku Shonen by Sukimaswitch
・Uchusenkan Yamato by Hiroshi Miyagawa
・ Deep Purple Medly arranged by Toshihiko Sahashi
・ Yumeno Sekaiwo by Shouji Hashimoto
・ Champione by Orange Range
・ Dear Woman by Shoichiro Hirata
・ Jericho Commissioned by “Gemeentebestuur Lanaken”
・ Nada Sousou by BEGIN
・ Celebration for Winds and Percussion by James Swearingen
・ Kimigayo (national anthem of Japan) by Hiromori Hayashi
・ The Thunderer March
・ The Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa
・ The Colonel Bogey March by K. Alford
・ Jurassic Park Soundtrack Highlights by John Williams
・ Mononoke Hime Medley by Jo Hisaishi
・ Magellan’s Voyage to Unknown Continent by Masanori Taruya
・ Major Barbara ~ A Shavian Sequence for Orchestra by William Walton
・ Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky
・ Le Cygne by Cmille Saint-Saëns
・ Theme of “Lupin the 3rd” by Juji Ohno
・ Birdland by Josef Zawinul
・ Beauty and the Beast by Alan Menken
・ New World Dances by Martin Ellerby
・ The Magic bell from The Magic Flute by W. A. Mozart
・ Dreamland by BNNIE K, Mine-Chang
・ Ageha Cho by ak homma
・ Natsuiro by Yuji Kitagawa
・ Smily by Ai Ohtsuka
・ Soramo Toberuhazu by Masayoshi Kusano
・ Tomorrow by Ryuichi Sugimoto
・ “Cuty Honey Flash” Opening Theme by Takeo Watanabe
・ One Night Carnival by Sho Ayanokouji
・ Venus by Hitoshi Haba
・ Pecori Night by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter
・ “The Merry Widow “ Selections by Franz Lehár
・ Centuria ~ Overture For Band by James Swearingen
・ And the Multitude with One Voice Spoke by James L. Hosay
・ The Seventh Night of July ~ Tanabata ~ by Itaru Sakai
・ Incantation and Dance by John Barnes Chance
・ Songs of Sailor and Sea by Robert W. Smith
In “Jeanne d’Arc”, Jericho, Jurassic Park, Major Barbara, New World Dances and And the Multitude with One Voice Spoke, I had solo part. I was so nervous to play these tunes. However I love these. In the concert, you may not hear the sound of bassoons unless it is solo, because its sound is not so big and tends to melt into other sounds easily. If I had my own bassoon, I want to play these again. However it is sooooooo expensive. I have to give up.

Brass band club in high school

I was a member of the brass band club. I played the bassoon, though I think most of you don't know what the bassoon is. Actually I didn't know it until I joined the club. It is a long wooden wind instrument. First I decided to be the member because I wanted to play the percussions such as drums, timpani and tambourine. A girl who played the drams was very cool. There were six people who hoped to be in the percussion part, but only four could. Everyone except me played the percussion in junior high school. Of course I couldn't and temporarily ended up playing the oboe. I liked the oboe. The sound of an oboe is very beautiful. One day a senior student showed me a bassoon, and asked me which I wanted to play. I thought the bassoon was beautiful, big and cool. I fell in love at the first sight. It was destiny. I chose bassoon. It can make soft, beautiful and funny sound like a human. And the range of the sound that bassoon can make is more than three octaves. However it is very difficult to play. The passage is not as fast as flute or oboe, but you need to use all ten fingers to play the bassoon. It is the only instrument that requires using all fingers. The left is the busiest finger because there are ten keys for it. It is also very heavy. My arms and shoulders get so tired playing for a long time. The bassoon had been sleeping for a long time until then. When I started to play the bassoon, there was no elder student who can play it. There was nobody who teaches how to play the bassoon! So I had to learn it by myself with books. A senior member who played the oboe taught me some basic things because the oboe and the bassoon are both double-reed instrument. She was a very good oboist. I really liked her solo in "Songs of Sailor and Sea". The sound was very sweet and her vibrato was incredible! Anyway it was so difficult and lonely to practice alone. Moreover the bassoon needed repairing because it had not used for a long time. So I practiced only with a reed. It was actually boring and my lips got very tired. I used to regret to have joined the brass band club. One of the reasons is that I was very busy. We had to practice seven days a week! It means we had no weekend. We practiced from four to five thirty on weekdays. Because of it, I got tired and had no energy to study. When it is one week to the exam, we did not have to practice. I had to study hard in a week. Another reason is everybody was too serious. I just wanted to enjoy playing and use more time to do other things. When the regular concert or a contest got closer, many people had to practice during lunch time and after the normal practice until seven. it was too hard. However I did enjoy. There were a lot of nice people and we are still friends. In addition, all the members had strange nicknames. It was our tradition. Now I'll introduce our nicknames and my friends. First my nickname was Haiji. And Toraji played the oboe. Do you remember Toraji and Haiji in the movie Fantastipo? Toraji was a leader of the double-reed part. She is very reliable. The leader of the flute part was sally (I don't know whether this spelling is right or not). She is so good at playing the flute. She had played the flute since she was a junior high school student. Her vibrato is very sweet. There was one whose nickname was Morizo. Morizo played the flute. we went to the same kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school and high school. we belonged to the same
club in junior high school, too. Bobby also played the flute and had played for six years. She was not only able to play the flute very well, but also kind and cute. Hieta Suika was normally called Suika or Hie-chan. she started flute in high school. Mikey also started flute in high school. Michiru played the French horn. I have heard that horn is the most difficult brass instrument. Sally, Bobby, Suika, Michiru and I were in the same class because
we were in the foreign language course. There is only one class of foreign language course. I liked all the classmates and the members of the brass band club! I really miss them!