The FIS orchestra 's trip to Shanghai

​I recently went to Shanghai for orchestra and the week passed very quickly. It was a fantastic adventure for me because I just joined this year. When we first arrived to Shanghai it was around nine o'clock and so we started our journey to our "home for the week - hotel." The hotel was excellent and the cafeteria was delicious. By the time we reached the hotel everyone looked very tired but I was excited for the days to come.

The next day after our arrival to Shanghai, we went to the French International School of Shanghai. the school was enormous and the people who played in the orchestra was just unbelievably good! We practiced "Coldplay Classics" and it sounded terrific with the choir singing in the background!

I played the first violin part in the orchestra with two other girls. I like this instrument because it makes a beautiful sound if you play it correctly although if you miss a note, the whole thing goes wrong so you have to spend time with your violin. When we were in Shanghai we practiced usually after around 9:00 to 8:00 - of course having breaks in the middle. We also ate lunch and dinner in F.I.S which were all delicious. But overall we practiced for 8 hours. It is fun to play in the orchestra because you make new friends and when the instruments are all played together nicely it sounds beautiful

​In order to be in the orchestra you will need to co-operate with each other, and listen to each other playing and most of all, to like playing your instrument. If you do not like playing your instrument, you are playing it for nothing! However if you do not have these skills, you will start developing so DON'T WORRY! In the orchestra, there are approximately 9 people playing different kinds of instrument (double bass, cello, violin, trumpet, piano and etc.) Playing music is like expressing your feelings. You express your feelings through music. There are parts where you play the music lively or play it in a certain tempo. It depends what kind of music it is.
 
The Shanghai trip was a great experience because now I know how other people play. For example, our music had some differences to the people who played in Shanghai. The music we chose for example was also different to the school. And so now I know what we have to improve and maybe try and use their techniques of playing the instruments.
 
I would also like to thank Mr. Patrick Lebaindre and Mr. Jorge Banegas for organizing this fantastic trip to Shanghai and putting the orchestra together to make a fine piece of music. Yuriko Iguchi - Year 9
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