Every big event starts with the setup. Making a variety of banners, creating the streamers, making the food, and most importantly, welcoming the guests. The International Music Festival put their own unique spin on it by emphasizing a global culture. With a variety of cultures represented by their own booths, guests experienced the culture of each country.
One of the main showcases was the culture’s food. From chilaquiles to cookies to spicy ramen, the guests had a chance to try many different kinds of dishes, from traditional to more contemporary food, from around the world.
Not only did different cultures show off their incredible skill with food and design, they also were able to share their culture through their music.
“Music is our way of life,” Venezuelan representative Mia Hough said. “I feel like it has a lot of life in it and energy.”
All cultures have various different kinds of music. “We incorporate a lot of reggaetón, especially our reggaetón artists, which is basically kind of like rap with Spanish,” said Hispanic Honor Society representative Mariana Ayala. “It’s the most popular kind of Latin music, especially for young people like us.”
The JHS Choir made sure to represent the tapestry of backgrounds that make up its diverse community. They danced in a variety of cultural styles and they sang in 12 different languages including Spanish and French. Not only traditional songs, but contemporary songs were sung as well.
The Warrior Acappella and Chorale opens the concert with “What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong. This portrayed American culture in a very fitting way with the song being about unification of people in the world.
Asian culture was showcased with songs like, “Uji River” from Japanese culture, “Wau Bulan” from Malaysian culture, and “고풍의상 (Traditional Attire)” from Korean culture.
The Jordan Choir also displayed European culture with the German song “Er 1st Gekommen” and French song “Ah! Si Mon Moine Voulait Danser”.
Many other cultures were exhibited in the concert. “Lamma Badaa Yatahanna” represented the Arabic culture, “La Sopa De Isabel” showed the Dominican Republic culture, and “Jerusalema” incorporated lively dancing and emotions to represent the South African culture.
The various cultures’ music from all over the world blend and compliment each other in this dynamic, meaningful concert.
The choir concert expressed how music is a medium unlike any other: a way of expressing culture and background. “And we also want to show how our community is very united and all of us are kind of family to each other,” said Marianna Ayala. “It’s like what keeps us as family and makes us united.”
