It all started with a friendship. I have known band director Samantha Chong for many years since she played bass trombone in orchestras I conducted. At that time, Ms Chong played for Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and the two of us have collaborated on a variety of classical concerts across the course of several years.

Ms Chong recently began teaching CIS students as an instructor for vocal and instrumental lessons, which is when I discovered she was the band director at Fuhua Secondary, the school next door!

An idea was born!

We discussed a cultural exchange to plan a collaboration between Fuhua and CIS. The purpose was for students to make friends with a neighbouring school's band, get to know their students, learn about their standards and practices, prepare one of their repertoire pieces, and play a mini-concert together.

Once ideas were considered, principals gave their approval and the date was fixed for Tuesday, 11 April.

On that Tuesday, Fuhua Secondary School students walked over to CIS carrying tubas, euphoniums, bass clarinets, and even a gong, to join forces with CIS Symphonic Band 9-12 for an extended rehearsal.

The afternoon was a huge success, and the stage was set for about 90 musicians as we combined our 45 members with their 45 students. Ms Chong was introduced to CIS students and I was introduced to Fuhua students. Musicians began with traditional instrumental warm-ups and then each band gave a mini-concert for the other. Then, the bands combined to play one piece of music from each band’s repertoire.

The experience was very rewarding for students of both campuses. CIS learnt that Fuhua students work very hard at their CCA’s, as they practice three times a week for 2.5 hours each. Then they played games and activities until 6pm. Students from both campuses indicated they would like the opportunity to play together again, therefore Ms Chong and I are exploring another collaboration opportunity for next school year.

CIS students are to be commended for serving as ambassadors for our school. They were respectful, welcoming, engaging, and helpful to our guests. It was an experience students won’t forget.