Report on SjsBand ‘10

Year 2010 is a year where Josephians will never forget about what SjsBand had given. The season started off when the 08/09 Board handed-over the team to the 09/10 Board under the leadership of Jeffrey Law & Ian Rino. The first event was a parade performance for the Kuala Lumpur World Marching Band Competition (KLWMBC) 2009’s Opening Ceremony at Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur. In addition to that, the Drumline of SjsBand joined the Drum Battle of KLWMBC ’09 and managed to emerge 2^nd runner-up in the international competition.

In January 2010, SjsBand received tremendous feedback from the band recruitment drive where they received more than 50 interested new recruits joining the band. Unfortunately, only those who are strong willed & have high perseverance stayed on till today where their number compensate one-third the size of SjsBand this year.

In the month of March, the whole team was introduced to the 2010 Drill Show Music; an original composition of an American composer George Gershwin, titled ‘Concerto in F’ and was specially arranged by Mr. Jonathan Fox, SjsBand coordinator and local composer Mr. Anthony Wong. As for the drill show design, it was designed by a Musician cum Architect, Mr. Benedict Lo, an Indonesian colour guard instructor, Mr. Hassan Selamat and not forgetting Mr. Wilson Tan, the battery instructor for the year 2010.

In April 2010, SjsBand was invited by the Sarawak Sport’s Council to perform for the Majlis Sukan Sekolah-sekolah Menengah Sarawak’s (MSSS) Opening Ceremony held at the State Stadium. Their performance was an awe inspiring and made the school reputation went higher. This was followed by the St. Joseph’s School Annual Sports Meet held at the Jubilee Ground. Not forgetting all about the School Level Teachers’ Day Celebration.

After six months of hard work, the day SjsBand was waiting for came on 28^th June 2010 where their hard work paid off in full during the NATCOMP Preliminaries East Malaysia Zone 1 where they performed their 2010 Drill Show entitled ‘Concerto in F’. The band managed to achieve a score of 71.7 points, making them 2^nd runner-up in the top ten competing bands for the NATCOMP Grand Finals. The once believed to be a ‘kampung’ band now transformed into a ‘world-class’ performing middle school band. The Josephians Family was proud of SjsBand for being able to place itself among the top Malaysian bands.

Their 2010 season ended after the NATCOMP Grand Finals 2010 held at Stadium Malawati, Shah Alam on 15^th July 2010. Although it was just a two week break between the Preliminaries and Grand Finals, SjsBand managed to polish up their show to a ‘world-class’ classical-contemporary drill show. SjsBand shocked the whole nation by their awesome performance during the performance with their energetic gestures and entertaining show. As for the placing, they were placed 4^th with a score of 84.75 points.

Year 2010 was a historical year for SjsBand. They were the first middle school band in Malaysia to fully utilize a concert ‘pit-percussion’ instrument in their drill show. They were also the only band who performed a continuous 10 minutes drill show combining classical, contemporary, jazz and rock and roll music. They have carved their initials in the history of marching bands in Sarawak and Malaysia. All the time they have spent practicing under the hot scorching sun paid off. All the hard work and effort was worthwhile. They have given out their best during every performance. They also have improved themselves, physically and mentally. Once there were the little kids but now they are a fully awaken teenagers. Being in the band was an experience of lifetime and band members became more disciplined and matured as a result of their hard work. It was God’s work and blessings that SjsBand had gone this far for this year regardless of the hardships faced.

We would like to thank our teachers, instructors, alumnus and parents for their continuous and loving support in making this year’s program possible. Thank you and May God bless you all. ORA ET LABORA!

Drum Majors,

JORDAN WEE AND ADNAN ZAKI BUNYAMIN