International Day

Last friday we had our international day performance. This day is in commemoration of the many cultures and nationalities we have at ICS. The started with assemblies that led to a flag march. Student, in their native ceremonial dress, marched with flags of the country. It was a sight to see.

Unfortunately I did not see the flags until they came to the big amphitheater because I was getting set up for the performance. Once the flags arrived and the rest of the community who came we began. The students holding the flag of their country all said their greeting from where they come from in their language. It was really amazing to see.


Next, after the Ethiopian flag came up, the HS band played an arrangement of the Ethiopian National Anthem that I arranged. They did a remarkable job. The strange thing with Ethiopian music is that the accompaniments are based on the rhythm of the words. So when I saw the original of the National Anthem, the phrasing kept changing form 4 bar phrases to 3 bar phrases to 2 bar phrases back to 4.

It was ridiculous. So the tune was originally written in a march style so I continued that and created a couple of countermelodies in the B and Trio sections. After I was writting the last few notes I thought to myself, "Man, I hope they don't arrest me for changing parts of the National Anthem. However, I guess I had no worries becuase the Ethiopian staff loved it. (Whew!)


The rest of the concert was a collage of the entire K-12 music department. Kathy (elementary music director) did some amazing things with her choirs. I am so blessed to have a feeder program like hers. I heard this one little boy in 5th grade singing like Billy Joel. It was amazing. My 1st quarter African Drumming class played as well. Their first tune was the Eagle Bump (aka ICS Cheer) It sounds pretty similar to some drum cadences I wrote in the past.


However, later in the concert we played a tribute to someone who had passed away in the beginning of the year. Ernest Mushora was the beloved soccer (football) coach. The first week we were here Mushora came to seek me out because he heard that ICS was finally starting an African Drumming class. He wanted to be a part of that becuase he had an exceptional background in West African Drumming. The following week we were supposed to meet to discuss what kind of things he wanted to do. Unfortunately, he died suddenly from a heart attack.

Everyone spoke of what a great person this Mushora was and many public discussions were had in his honor. I was studing a few rhythms from Ghana that are used for celebrations, funerals, weddings, etc. And I came across one called Adowa. I taught it to the students and they felt that this would be a great tribute to Mushora. So we performed that as well. From what I heard there was a lady from Ghana who stood up and began dancing.


Then there was my choir who I guess became the highlight of the show. They did a great job. Singing in 3 and at times 4 parts well. They were expressive they had energy. It was great.

One of my favorite comments about the choral performance that I shared with the kids was one that came from a parent, "I thought kids sang bad because they were kids. They sounded good." Interesting, huh.


After the performance the parents brought food from their native country to share with everyone in the courtyard. It was a great day!