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.
Former member of UK pop act Hear’Say Noel Sullivan ended the Gala Concert with some classics from Queen.
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.
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.
Young stars play trumpets and violins during the FOBISSEA Music Festival.
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.
Two of GIS’s talented musicians play the flute during rehearsals.
“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.
Have to really concentrate for this part!
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.
The choir was spectacular!
Flashmob! Dozens of students did a flashmob at their hotel.
Around 300 students from 15 schools were at GIS for the FOBISSEA Music Festival.
A budding violinist plays during the festival.
Aiming high! Former pop star Noel Sullivan and West End star James Bennett prepare for the flashmob.
