Things sound different in Japan, too

As most of you may know, I've been big into music since I started playing the saxophone when I was 9. It's a hobby that has weathered the years and all the school changes (domestic and international), budgets, and competing interests that I've had. In my earlier years of high school, I actually wanted to be a music teacher. However, this was just as Bear Stearns was starting to seriously tread water, and many people in the arts industry fell on hard times. Therefore, I ventured into the computer field for study and career.

However, music had especially played an important role in my upbringing, especially during my high school years. I played in the school's jazz band all four years of high school (something that was apparently a rare thing to do at the time), and played three different instruments in the regular band. Four mornings a week, I either got a ride to or drove to school at the crack of dawn for practice. It was a big commitment, but that commitment was supported by my friends, my band teachers, Jeremy Taylor and Tom Conti, and my mother. I wasn't a full-blown band geek like you see flooding the Instagram feeds with half-assed memes behind three filters, but it played a big part in my life.

Since I enrolled at the University, I've joined the school's wind ensemble and have played in multiple concerts, with the main yearly concert occurring during the school festival. It's been heaps of fun, and it's a great way to socialize and get out of the English-only bubble that can be very tempting to fall into. However, I haven't had the chance to actually go to a wind ensemble concert in Japan where I wasn't playing. Today, I went out and did just that. On the English version of the city's website is a monthly "community bulletin" that lists a bunch of different events. For October, at the Aizu Fugado, there were two wind ensembles holding their yearly concerts. I wasn't able to go to the first one, or the ones in September, due to a busy work schedule. However, I made the effort to go to the concert today, which was for Aizu Technical High School's wind ensemble.

The man hours it must've taken to make that curtain...

I arrived about twenty minutes before the start time and purchased my ticket at the door. While I was waiting for the show to start, I thumbed through the pamphlet to get an idea of the program, which is structured differently from concerts in America. Wind ensemble concerts in Japan, or at least in the Aizu area, are divided into three sets, or "stages." The first stage involves everyone dressed in business/professional attire playing more serious-themed songs. The second stage varies, at least in my experience. Theirs was based around a miniature play mixed in with quick passages from smaller ensembles. The third stage is a dress-down (usually in matching T-shirts) affair with the more pop-style songs. The total concert, including breaks between the stages, was about two hours.

This band had a more balanced ratio of males and females. Wind ensembles in Japan are usually majority female.

Towards the end of the third stage, the OBs and OGs came out to play with the band for a song. OB and OG respectively stand for "old boy" and "old girl." These are essentially the alumni; they played in the band while they were attending that high school, and now they're back to play with the current generation. This is apparently common with Japanese school-based wind ensembles; some graduates of our university also played with us during our concert.

In addition to the pamphlet, I was also given a survey. (We also distributed surveys at our own concert.) The survey asked for basic information, such as how old I am, am I part of any music groups, which songs did I like, and what songs would I recommend for future concerts. I filled out most of the survey in between the breaks as it took a while for me to consult Google Translate to figure out the more difficultly-worded questions.

The play they put on was based on the story of Momotaro.

The overall quality of the concert was pretty good. My favorite and least favorite part of the whole concert was during the last song of the second set. The play's resolution was reached, and everyone assembled for the obvious let's-play-music-together-now-that-we're-all-friends song. One of the kids asked if everyone was ready, and after affirmation from the rest of the band, kicked off the song by yelling "Let's music!", and it was at that moment that a small piece of me died on the inside. (Seriously, a lot of people in the country misuse "let's" for all sorts of nouns and verbs.)

They took a few liberties with the plotline. Cross-dressing high school student aside, their version involves the kidnapped old couple defeating their kidnappers in advance.

However, my spirits picked back up when I noticed the saxophone section. It was originally divided into a soprano/alto player, a tenor player, and a baritone player. However, for this song, the first player traded in both saxophones for another baritone. That meant that there were two baritone saxophones for that song. These kids have their priorities straight. ;)

I had a grin on my face for most of the concert, mostly because I kept going back in my mind to my band days in high school. Seeing the students up there on the stage having fun invoked a sense of nostalgia in me. Sure, our methods of practicing and our approaches towards our concerts (in Japan, wind ensembles of all stripes compete in a national competition, while ensembles in the states usually take a more relaxed approach) may be different, but the overall enjoyment could still be felt in the music and seen in the faces of the players. I could hear the occasional out-of-tune note and the mangled phrase, but I could also tell that they put in the effort and the practice, and that alone made all the difference.

There was a section in the survey that allowed you to send additional feedback or a message to the band. I put down, in Japanese, Well done! I'm looking forward to next year's concert! Here's to hoping that I can go to that one, too.

-wp