[Report] Percussion Festival 2024 in Hiroshima

westJapanPercussion Instrument Association Percussion Festival 2023 in Hiroshima
@ March 20th Elizabeth College of Music

westJapanPercussion Instruments Association Vice President Hiromasa Ogawa

Percussion Festival 2024 in Hiroshima was held on a cold day that felt like winter had returned, but it was a great success.

At this festival, we set up a kids booth for children, where they made handmade maracas.

The idea is to create instruments before the performance begins, line up on stage at the opening of the main concert, and have the audience liven up the venue with a percussion ensemble in the background.

To make handmade maracas, fill a plastic container with red beans, secure the lid with vinyl tape to prevent it from coming off, and then decorate it with stickers as you like. It was a simple task, but the children enjoyed the sound they made when they picked up each azuki bean, carefully selected stickers and masking tape, and seemed to enjoy spending time making their own musical instruments. Also, after the instruments were made, some of them came to show us to our staff, ``Let's take a look!'' and some of them were playing the instruments, saying to their families, ``This is the kind of sound it makes!''
Approximately 60 children, ranging from 3-month-old babies to junior high school students, visited the kids booth. It was a lively and lively time filled with the warm atmosphere of families and the cheerful voices of children.

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For the percussion instrument maintenance course, participants brought their instruments that they usually use, and the instructor provided explanations while adjusting the small drums.

The course lasted about an hour and a half, covering everything from routine care, re-stretching the heads (this time I only used the striking head due to time constraints), tuning, and simple adjustments to the resonant lines.The course was very fulfilling, as the tones of each instrument improved completely.

It was at this time that I felt the need for a seminar not only on playing techniques, but also on how to handle these instruments.

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At the exhibition booth, there were concert performers, people who came to the show after seeing it on SNS, children making instruments at the kids' booth, and people purchasing small drum heads for maintenance classes, who visited each store to try out and purchase drums.

The children were happy to play the drum set and glockenspiel that they had prepared for the trial performance. The students purchased the sticks, mallets, and sheet music they were looking for. It was an exhibition booth where I was able to see many smiling faces.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to all the musical instrument stores and manufacturers who cooperated with our exhibition, as well as their representatives. Thank you very much.

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At the opening of the main concert, many children held handmade instruments at the kids' booth and joined forces with local music college students to liven up the venue.

The first half of the program was an ensemble concert featuring a junior high school group from Hiroshima city, a high school group from Yamaguchi and Shimane prefectures, and a sister duo (AMODA) from Kitakyushu. The colors of each group were clearly expressed, and a wonderful ensemble performance was developed.

This was followed by a solo performance by the three winners of the percussion solo competition held at the end of January this year. The pleasant sound of the marimba filled the venue, and everyone gave a magnificent performance.

The second half of the program featured performances by students from local music universities in Hiroshima (Hiroshima Bunka Gakuen University and Elizabeth College of Music). At the end, members of the percussion association and performers performedJapanThe percussion association's annual ensemble ``Disco Kid'' ended the performance with great success.

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westJapanThe Chugoku-Shikoku Branch of the Percussion Instruments Association plans to hold a percussion festival in the second half of March every year. Additionally, a percussion solo competition will be held in January as a related event. Since it will be held at the end of the academic year, we look forward to your participation as it will be a chance for students to demonstrate the results of their studies and practice over the past year.
For other information, please visit NishiJapanWe will update the information on the Percussion Instrument Association homepage (http://jpa-west.daa.jp/) from time to time, so please check it out as well.

westJapanPercussion Instrument Association | Together with everyone who loves percussion instruments
West, where percussionists from the Kyushu, Chugoku and Shikoku regions gatherJapanThis is the website of the Percussion Instrument Association.