We Moved !

Sirius web site already moved to the new URL.

http://sba-music.org/

Yugawara Yassa Festival

On Sat. Aug. 2nd, the Sirius Odawara Marching Band participated in the Yugawara Yassa Festival. This festival is the biggest event of the Yugawara hot spring resort area, with mikoshis (portable shrines) parading with shouts of "Yassa Mossa".

Although there was extreme heat of over 30℃ by midday, it began to decline and a cool wind had been blowing when the parade started in the evening. The audience in front of us cheered during the parade and we enjoyed this event so much. We would like to thank all of the support staff.

Odawara cho-chin summer festival

On Sun. Jul. 27th the Sirius Odawara Marching Band participated in the 17th "Akarino Saiten~Odawara cho-chin summer festival" at the Odawara Castle Ninomaru special stage. Unfortunately the O.M.B. could not perform because of a shortage of members, however, the players were able to support this event at this time.

We strived to support all the bands to play better. It was very hard to support under the burning sun, however, it was a good opportunity for us to understand how difficult the event staff support every time. In conclusion, all the members assembled and played “Kawano nagare no Youni” and “Zip-A-Dee-Doh-Dah” together, with lots of cheering and clapping from everyone there!

(Participants: Hakone 21, Izumi JHS wind ensemble club, Kozu JHS wind ensemble club, Hakuou JHS wind ensemble club, Odawara Marching Band)

Practice with Kotsubo Marching Band

On Sun. Jul. 20th, the Sagamihara Marching Band practiced at the gymnasium in Yokohama Shiritsu Kotsubo Primary School.



At first, we played a ball game which is our annual event ! We then started to march, play, and ensemble together. We had a good time same as last year. We would like to thank all the teachers and the parents who prepared for this opportunity just before the event.

Practice with Hodogaya Marching Band

On Sun. Jul. 6th, the Sagamihara Marching Band practiced at the gymnasium in Yokohama Shiritsu Hodogaya Primary School. We had a good time during marching practice and warm-up with the Hodogaya P.S.Band for the first time in two years. We would like to thank all the teachers and the parents who prepared for this opportunity just before the event.

The 60th anniversary celebration of the Fuchinobe Preschool

On Sun. Jun. 3rd, the Sagamihara Marching Band and the C.G. Unit participated in the 60th anniversary celebration of the Fuchinobe Preschool, which is located in Sagamihara City.



We entered the hall where the children and their parents, over 500 people, assembled with our street beat, after which, we played our 7 repertoires. We added the introduction of the marching instruments and unique attractions with our performance. All of the children were excited to hear the pieces they already knew, as they crooned, sang, and danced to our music. We enjoyed it all together. We would like to thank to the staff of the Preschool who supported us and the audiences who cheered for us from the bottom of our heart.

The 31st Yamato Shimin Festival

On Sun. May 11th, Sirius Sagamihara Marching Band was supposed to have participated in the 31st Yamato Shimin Festival, but canceled because of rain. We would like to thank all of the support staff, and the public who wanted to watch our parade, however, we hope to perform in this event if we are fortunate enough to in the future.

The Hojo Godai Festival

At the beginning of the last half of the Golden Week holiday, Sirius Odawara Marching Band (O.M.B.) participated in the 44th Hojo Godai Festival, which is one of the biggest festivals in Japan. Approximately 2000 people participated in this parade. It was scattered light rain in the morning, and although we were worried the weather, it was finally getting fine and we started the parade on time.



The O.M.B. enlisted the help of the Sagamihara Marching Band and the Color Guard Unit Sirius this season. The band made coherent sound this time because the rehearsal was methodically good.

Other years there was a slight waiting time during the parade, but this year it went smoothly and it made us feel the parade was short.

We would like to thank those who supported and cheered for us from the bottom of our heart.

The 52nd Tanzawa Festival Parade

On Sun. Apr. 20th, Sirius Odawara Marching Band participated in the 52nd Tanzawa Festival Parade. The high wind created the conditions difficult, however we concluded the whole show. It was the first performance of this season, we enjoyed collaborating with the S.M.B. and the CG Unit Sirius during the parade.

We would like to thank to the people who came to see our show and all of the support staff.

Music Party! in ODAWARA was completed

On Sun. Feb. 10th, we completed our annual event Music Party ! without any difficulties.

The Music Party ! in YOKOHAMA was called off last week because of heavy snow. The day and night before The Music Party ! in Odawara kept us wondering whether this event would be called off as well. We tried to exploit the experience and prepare as much as we could. Although it was snow in Yokohama and Sagamihara Area, there was no snow in Odawara so we could open our event.



　　☆　　☆　　☆　　☆　　☆　

We began to prepare our instruments, mark the positions on the stage in the morning. Although all players of the junior High School bands did a run through the previous day, it was the first time to meet us, the Sirius players. They seemed  little nervous.



We had the rehearsal together around noon. Our music piece "I Go To Rio" is the good to bring players together emotionally. The players who were nervous opened up little by little during the rehearsal. We all looked forward to the show :-).

　　☆　　☆　　☆　　☆　　☆　



The Color Guard Unit performed the first time with their new music. It seemed more up-tempo than the preceding repertoire.





This year's Music Party! the collaboration of Japanese Drum and Marching Parcussion was tried for the first time. Canadian Japanese Drum player Kevin Meloche and Zeckey  performed together and the audience were absolutely-fascinated with their parformance, it was so powerful with a sense of speed and enjoyment.



The story of the perc. Show went on to our original show which thrived powerfully.



The O.M.B. and The S.M.B. had been making their own show respectively this season. O.M.B. performed "How High The Moon", "Sing,Sing,Sing" jazz pieces with casual expression. They danced a little while playing.



"When A Man Loves A Woman", "My Heart Belongs To Me", "Bird Land" S.M.B. played them cool. Each group's color appeared.



Finally we played "I Go To Rio". Although the rehearsal was intense, we were eager to play it to conclude our own show and relax.


　　☆　　☆　　☆　　☆　　☆　

This event in Odawara used to be named Music Festa and it was a different event. The planing committee took the Music Patry idea into it, so we've got a great chance in the future and rise to a different level for each bands. We would like to thank from the bottom of our heart the people who came to see our show although it was cool day, also those who supported and cheered for us.

Season's Greetings !

It is excellent all the participants have been able to have such a fulfilling band life through the anchorage of many people this year. On 23rd Dec. we had a good time at the mini X'mas Party ! while eating cakes. We concluded our activities in 2007 in a friendly atmosphere.

Unfortunately we drew losing number, so the annual event at the Mori-no Hall Hashimoto won't be held this season. However, we are preparing for the Music Party ! event in which many school bands will assemble and play together in Yokohama and Odawara in Feb. 2008.

We anticipate to have a great impression with many people through music in 2008. Hopefully we will have a good year !

The Hakone Daimyo Gyoretsu Parade (M.B.Sirius & C.G.Unit)

On Nov. 3rd, M.B.Sirius and C.G. Unit participated in the Hakone Daimyo Gyoretsu Parade.



It was a brilliantly autumn morning, as we marched from the Hotel Nampuso to the Tenseien into late morning. We went on to the Yumoto Fujiya Hotel and performed there as we arrived immediately. The audience cheered during the parade. We were warmed up with the beating time of their hands.

We enjoyed an autumn day at the beautiful Hakone resort. We would like to thank the people who came to see us and all of the support staff.

The Halloween Festival (M.B.Sirius & C.G.Unit)

On Sun. Oct. 28th, M.B.Sirius and C.G. Unit participated in the Halloween Festival held around Sagamiohno Station on the Odakyu Line.

The weather was perfect after a typhoon. The promoter closed the street which is so crowded usually, and we started to do a run through there. The area became crowded with people by our sound.....Some people took pictures with their mobile phones, bursted into applause......Although it was just a public rehearsal, the players could have a good warm-up in a tense situation.



Under the vaulted ceiling in Sagamiohno station building, at 1pm, the crowd of people might have felt an impact just from the marching band costumes that they have never seen before. Many people and children who were wearing halloween costumes rallied around us. We started our show.



Many children and the promoters were wearing costumes, they enjoyed to make frequent appearances. We performed our jazz repertoires in the town decorated with halloween colors.



For the finale, we performed at the entrance of the Isetan Sagamiohno store, and then we went back to begin the parade.



This event was the first time for us in sirius, everything was new. The audience in front of us cheered during the show and we enjoyed this event so much. We would like to thank all of the support staff.

Sagami Nebuta Carnival (M.B.Sirius, CG Unit)

On Sun. Oct. 7th, The M.B.Sirius and The CG Unit Sirius performed at The Sagami Nebuta Carnival.

Although the hot weather persisted to the end of Sep., it was finally getting cool and breezy, just on parade day. All the members got together in a gymnasium in front of the city government building and started the rehearsal. We enjoyed preparing for the show enthusiastically. The opening ceremony started at 4pm and we started to perform just before 5pm.



Every year various bands, drum corps, and the US army band join this event. The audience, as always, cheered wholeheartedly. It was the first show for the many rookies we have this season, and they were able to conclude the whole parade course. We were all satisfied with our performance. We would like to thank to those who supported and cheered for us from the bottom of our heart.

B.B.Q.!

OMB,SMB,CG Unit Sirius wound up season II (Mar.~ Sep.). On Sep.16th each group came together for a B.B.Q. party at the Ikoino Mori in Odawara City. We rented eight grills and splited up kitchen and fire detail, afterwards cleaning up a lot of left over food, vegetables and pan-fried noodles. :-)



It was very hot mid Sep. However, we were surrounded by forest and a stream located in the park, so we could enjoy it a lot, much different from a lesson. We were very quick to prepare and clean up, the result of goof team work.

Yugawara Yassa Festival (OMB)

On Thu. Aug. 2nd, OMB articipated in the Yugawara Yassa Festival. This festival is the biggest event of the Yugawara hot spring resort area, with mikoshis (portable shrines) parading with shouts of "Yassa Mossa". OMB had invited SMB and CG Unit members to this event, and we enjoyed parading together. A cool wind had been blowing when the parade started in the evening. The temperature had been rising risen after we started the parade and our standstill show, however, no one folded up and we enjoyed this event wholeheartedly.



We would like to thank to the people who came to see our show and all of the support staff.

Odawara Cho-chin summer festival (OMB)

On Sat. Jul. 28th from 12pm to 13pm, the OMB participated in the Odawara cho-chin summer festival and had a standstill for about fifteen minutes at the Odawara Castle Ninomaru special stage.



The players performed in accordance with their individual colors; The OMB members put on dark blue polo shirts, Hakone 21 put on red polo shirts, the members of Izumi Junior High School Band put on fresh mint green T-shirts, the members of Kouzu Junior High School Band put on summer kimono, and the members of Joto High school Band put their stage costumes on. In conclusion, all the members played “Kawano nagare no Youni” and “Zip-A-Dee-Doh-Dah” together, with lots of cheering and clapping from everyone there!

(Participants: Hakone 21, Izumi JHS wind ensemble club, Kozu JHS wind ensemble club, Joutoh HS wind ensemble club)

The Dynacity Summer Paradise 2007 (OMB,CG Unit)

On Sun. July 22nd, OMB and CG Unit Sirius performed at The Dynacity (a local department store) Summer Paradise 2007.



It was the fourth time for us to perform at this event. We played pop music mainly at a standstill for about forty minutes, and for the time, we provided an opportunity for some children from the audience to try the color guard flag with the CG Unit. They danced to the song "Believe" that OMB played to conclude the show. The audience cheered during the show which made our concert very delightful. We would like to thank the people who came to see and enjoy our show to the end.

Practice with Kotsubo Marching Band (SMB)

On Jul. 16th, we practiced at Yokohama Shiritsu Kotsubo Primary School. We had a good time during marching practice with The Blue Robins, the marching band of this school.



At first, all the participants were a little nervous, so.....we separated into two groups; a brass team and a perc.＋tuba team, and tried to play a ball game ! Finally the perc.＋tuba team won! (^^) We soon opened up to each other during the game and we then started to march, play, and ensemble together. It was a meaningful day.

The members of SMB enjoyed playing seriously more than usual. It was a good opportunity for them to explain a lot of things to the younger players, whom they have rarely played with.

In spite of the fact that the members of SMB were accustomed to practicing amongst themselves, it was quite difficult explaining to such a young group of students. They realized again the importance of leadership and the pleasure of music activities.

We would like to thank all the teachers and the parents who prepared for this opportunity just before the event.

Practice with Soyo Wind Band (SMB,CG Unit)

On May 27th, SMB (Sagamihara Marching Band) and CG (Color Guard) Unit Sirius had practiced together with Sagamihara Shiritsu Soyo Junior High School's wind band. We had a good time.

Even though the members of the Soyo Junior High School's wind band had no experience marching, they enjoyed to challenge the marching while holding their instruments in position ! The rookies of SMB joined and started the marching basics from the beginning.

The gymnasium was crowded with over 100 players screaming with enjoyment. Finally we tried to play a part of the music and march together.



We are truly appreciative that the Yumeno-oka Primary school offered their gymnasium. We would like to thank all the people who supported us and who prepared for this opportunity.