In April, I was asked to do something very cool. I was asked to participate in the brass band club concert and to play trumpet with the Kajiki High School Brass Band.

I played trumpet in my high school days in the United States. I practiced every day and sometimes didn’t leave school until 22:00. It’s been seven years since I graduated high school and stopped playing trumpet but I was excited to be invited to play with the brass band.

Saitou Sensei asked me to play trumpet and a few days later, he also asked me to sing Ai’s “Aldebaran” in the concert. He had heard that I sang a lot in high school and in college. At first, I was worried if it’d really be okay for me to have a solo. However, he reassured me that I could do it. I took a minute to think seriously about whether I could commit to singing, playing, and all the practice required, but then I said, “Okay.”

The way that I practiced singing was to listen to the original recording of “Aldebaran” by Ai, then practice singing the song with her voice. Next, I practiced singing the song by myself. After I sang the song many times, I tried to memorize the song by understanding what she was saying, not by memorizing the sounds of the Japanese words. By memorizing the song’s meaning, I could personally relate to the song and I’d be less likely to forget the words.

Concert day was very busy! Before singing, I watched some of the concert with two friends. I really enjoyed the song “Hanamizuki” because all brass band members sang while doing sign language. I saw some students getting teary eyed while singing and I felt moved.

Before going onstage in stage three, I turned to Saitou Sensei and said, “I’m so nervous.” He looked nervous for me and said, “Please calm down.” I entered the stage, walking while singing. I thought I was moving too slowly, and I also noticed my voice sounded weaker in comparison to the way my voice sounded during rehearsals. Fortunately, when I reached the center of the stage, I was able to calm down as Saitou Sensei told me, and I sang better. I didn’t really know what I was singing because muscle memory controlled my singing when I was so nervous.

After the performance, I felt a little disappointed because I thought I did much better in my rehearsals. Inspite of my worries, the audience seemed so happy and I was congratulated many times. It made me really happy because I worked hard to sing well. I didn’t want to disappoint the brass band or the Kajiki community.

I am thankful to Nagai Sensei, Saitou sensei, and all students and teachers involved in the concert. I hope that the students in the brass band continue to play their instruments and also find ways to keep music in their lives. Even though I stopped singing in choirs after college, I sometimes get the opportunity to sing. It reminds me of my high school days when every day after school was filled with music and I think that those were probably some of the happiest times of my life.

Lyrics - 歌詞

Sign language - 手話

Teary eyed - 半泣き

Muscle memory - 条件反射的に動くこと（考えずに体が反応すること）