Cebu’s Classic Youth Orchestra (CYO) performed at the 26th International Junior Orchestra Festival in Saitama City, Japan, on Nov. 3, 2024. The Philippine delegation was led by Prof. Reynaldo Abellana, founder of CYO and CoMS Chamber, and included student musicians Fea Dean Shane Vale (violin), Kesler John Ababon (violin), Rhian Jeuel Casinillo (violin), Keifer James Ababon (viola) and Reuel Jethro Casinillo (double bass).
Abellana also serves as music director of the Hong Kong Adventist Academy Orchestra (HKAAO). The festival saw 200 participants from 12 countries — Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, the United States, Brazil and France — performing a multicultural repertoire.
Young musicians from Grades 1 to 12 joined together for an afternoon celebrating diversity through music.
The festival program began with the Saitama Junior Orchestra performing “Plink Plank Plunk” and the “Thunder and Lightning Polka.” Following this were beginner classes with the Shinjuku and Metropolitan Junior Orchestras, playing popular themes from Ultraman, Detective Conan and Aladdin’s “A Whole New World.”
The intermediate class delivered memorable pieces, including “Moonlight Legend” from Sailor Moon, a medley from Howl’s Moving Castle and the theme song from Doraemon. Several Japanese orchestras continued the program, including the Tochigi Junior Orchestra with the prelude of Grieg’s Holberg Suite and a medley from Les Misérables. The Tokorozawa and Sakura Junior Orchestras performed the third movement of Sibelius’ Karelia Suite and the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean, while the Gunma Junior Orchestra played Bizet’s Farandole from L’Arlésienne and Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance.
The advanced class captivated the audience with the first movement of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in C Major, Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld Overture and the fourth movement of Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, “New World.” The event concluded with Albert Ketèlbey’s dynamic piece, “In A Persian Market,” as an encore.
On Nov. 2, a religious concert took place at the Urawa International Church in Saitama, where CoMS Chamber and the HKAAO also performed.