What a “Fine” Night

En Qi Saw

As usual, the annual Dalat Fine Arts Festival was held at Penang Performing Arts Center last Friday, May 20^th.  

At 5:00 pm sharp, the very first set of performance officially begun. The main performers of the evening were the High School Jazz Band, the Middle School Jazz Band, the Women’s Ensemble, the Men’s Ensemble, and Senior Brass.

The Middle School Jazz Band kick started the evening off with two beautiful songs, led and conducted by middle school band coordinator, Mr. Andrew Kearney. It was then followed with five more songs played by the High School Jazz Band. As the concert went on, baby Isaac Kearney, Mr. Kearney’s one-year-old son, who was sitting in the front row with his mother, Mrs. Sara Kearney, was heard groaning and weeping, struggling to sit still quietly. The audience around, however, was paying full attention to the happenings on the stage that Isaac’s crying was ignorable. The bands successfully drew the attention of the audience into the melodies of the songs played.

After these two groups were done performing, a combination of both the High School Jazz Band, the Middle School Jazz Band, and Mr. Kearney played a song altogether, conducted by Mr. Christopher Ramos, who just came to Dalat in 2016. The name of the piece that they performed was called “Kalamazoo.” Soon after, the jazz session of the concert was wrapped up by the Senior Brass, a mini, self-organized band of only five seniors. That night, the seniors performed “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars. This was one of the highlights of the night that hyped up the crowd. It was amazing how only a mere number of five could come together to perform such an astounding piece. According to Woo Young Chung (12), “Our [The Senior Brass’s] cooperation within the group was phenomenal, we were able to play difficult music pieces with ease by helping out small sections if it didn't sound right. This was probably the reason that sprouted us to being a successful 'senior brass'.”

The finales of the evening were the Men’s Ensemble and the Women’s Ensemble. Both groups performed songs of very different genres and styles. Finally, the concert was ended with a collaboration piece between the Men’s Ensemble and the Women’s Ensemble, closing the evening with a fun song.

All in all, this was a very memorable night for the students in Dalat International School, especially for the seniors as that officially marked the end of their fine arts performance of their high school career. Keito Watanabe (12), who took part in the High School Jazz Band, the Men’s Ensemble, and the Senior Brass remarked that this concert in particular was a rather unforgettable one: “This concert was not only my last concert but also the most memorable one. Being involved in multiple parts of the concert such as Jazz Band, Men's Ensemble, and Band was tiring and stressful. But all of that hard work paid off. Not only did I have a time of my life, the audience had one too. They were cheering their lungs out. I am happy that this was my last concert, because it is one that I would never forget.”

Seniors will definitely have something to look back to as their high school journey gradually comes to an end.