Young stars play trumpets and
violins during the FOBISSEA Music Festival.
Mark Beales
Photos by Ritche Guisona
Some of the finest young musicians in Southeast Asia have enjoyed a four-day
music festival at Garden International School (GIS).
A total of 15 schools and around 300 students took part in this year’s FOBISSEA
Music Festival. FOBISSEA is the Federation of British International Schools in
South East Asia and East Asia.
Schools from Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, China, Malaysia, Indonesia,
Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong flew in to take part in a huge range of
musical activities. Schools from Bangkok also attended, along with GIS students.
Students and their teachers were based at the Royal Phala Cliff Resort in Ban
Chang from November 15-18, where they took part in workshops, ensembles and
rehearsals for two major concerts.
After enjoying various workshops on Friday November 15, the visiting schools put
on their own concert in the evening. On Saturday morning, students worked on
minor ensembles before taking part in an impressive flashmob on their hotel’s
beach deck. This was put together by West End star James Bennett, who has
appeared in ‘Hairspray’ and ‘We Will Rock You’.
On Saturday evening, the students went to see the excellent Alangkarn Cultural
Show in Pattaya before having a fantastic buffet dinner at the nearby Ravindra
Resort.
Former member of UK pop act Hear’Say
Noel Sullivan ended the Gala Concert with some classics from Queen.
On Sunday, there were more musical workshops before the
students were taken to GIS, which is based in Ban Chang near Pattaya, to take
part in traditional Loy Krathong activities, including learning how to make
their own krathong.
Following that there was a powerful rock concert in the newly-refurbished GIS
main hall. Rock classics such as ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ and modern pop songs like
‘Still Into You’ were among the favourites. The finale featured a special
performance by former Hear’Say star Noel Sullivan, who sang Queen’s ‘We Are The
Champions’, ‘I Want It All’ and ‘We Will Rock You’. Noel, who now runs the
London International Theatrical Arts group, came to Thailand especially to help
at the festival. Noel has starred in the West End musical ‘We Will Rock You’, so
to have him singing the same songs at GIS was very special.
Sound and lighting for the concerts were provided by Oakie and his team at
Spectrum Audio, who have also worked on Lady Gaga concerts in Bangkok and the
Brit Awards in London.
After the concert was over, students returned to their hotel to float their
krathongs in the sea. On Monday, some students went on a snorkeling trip to
nearby Koh Samae San while others visited Pattaya Floating Market to pick up
some bargains.
Brilliant bass! A GIS student at the
rock concert.
The Gala Concert was held in the evening. GIS’s new-look hall
sounded fantastic as the concert began with the orchestra and choir performing
the Royal anthem of Thailand. This was followed by a mix of classical and modern
pieces, including ‘World in Union’, the ‘Anvil Chorus’ and ‘Call Me Maybe’ by
the choir and orchestra, ‘The Typewriter’ with help from soloist Ryan Fernandez
and ‘Birdland’ by the Jazz Band. As a finale, the choir and orchestra performed
a rousing version of ‘The Elder Scrolls’ from the computer game Skyrim.
Afterwards, there was a Gala Dinner at the Purimas Beach Hotel and disco at
Phala Cliff.
Festival Director, and GIS’s Head of Arts Paul Shiells said, “This was an
awesome festival with something for everyone. All the students had an incredible
time. It was great to see not only so many great collaborations musically, but
also it was wonderful to see students making so many new friends.
“We set a real challenge by choosing some tricky music for the students to learn
in a short time, but they responded magnificently. None of this would have been
possible without such great support from the teachers, admin staff and
maintenance team at GIS - they were amazing.”
The festival was sponsored by Yamaha Music, BQ Group, RMS Industrial Services
Co. Ltd., Grand Caribbean Condo Resort Pattaya (Blue Sky), Universal Plus (Seven
Seas Resort), United Relocations and the Hussana family.
To see more about the festival, follow us on Twitter #musicfobissea, visit
http://fobisseamusic.gardenrayong.com or click on the Media link at
www.gardenrayong.com.
Two of GIS’s talented musicians play
the flute during rehearsals.
Have to really concentrate for this
part!
The choir was spectacular!
The choir perform a wonderful version
of Katy Perry’s ‘Roar’.
Young musicians display their various
talents at the festival.
We rock! GIS students impress the
packed audience.
Flashmob! Dozens of students did a
flashmob at their hotel.
Around 300 students from 15 schools
were at GIS for the FOBISSEA Music Festival.
