Kaiser band playing Americans in Paris
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Bureau
HAWAI'I KAI — The Kaiser High School band and orchestra goes to extreme measures to play for a different audience.
The 93 students, chaper-ons, travel escorts, a teacher and a principal left on three different planes yesterday to cross the Pacific. They'll meet up at Washington Dulles International Airport to take another plane to their destination: Disneyland Paris.
"It's a tremendous effort," said Kaiser High School principal Gayle Sugita. "It's a wonderful opportunity that some students may never get in a lifetime. The bonding of the band when it plays for a different audience will build camaraderie."
The musicians took along three bass clarinets, 10 flutes, 26 clarinets, nine saxophones, five French horns, 12 trumpets, 10 trombones, three tubas, two baritones, one double bass, two violas, four violins, three percussion instruments and one bassoon.
The students started planning the trip two years ago. They sold chicken and candy, held a garage sale and took in foreign students as houseguests to defray some of the $2,111 it cost each musician to go to Paris and then London.
A handbook with more than 20 pages was prepared to show their itinerary and provide tips on student behavior, etiquette aboard a plane, France and England customs and even what and how to pack.
The students will perform Thursday morning at Disneyland Paris, where they'll play pieces that they've been practicing for several months, rehearsing every Sunday.
"It's my first time in Paris or London," said Marc Koga Jr., a 16-year-old Kaiser High student. "I'm looking forward to the Eiffel Tower, the Mona Lisa and shopping at one of those sidewalk vendors selling pictures for cheap."
Two years ago many of the same students, about 75 of them, went on tour to Japan, said Mike Bataluna, school music instructor.
The tours are especially useful for personal growth because they foster the development of a global view of the world, the instructor said.
"We're one of the smaller band groups," Bataluna said. "But crossing two oceans is quite an adventure. Part of learning is playing for an audience that is not familiar with you. Generally, your home audience is always appreciative of you."
