Grady Philharmonic Wins National Music Contest

The Grady High School Philharmonic Orchestra is one of four high schools nationwide to win the Kishi Bashi National Music Contest. The artist will perform at Grady on April 26 and will provide $1,500 worth of strings and accessories to the school.

By: Alicia Sands Lurry

The award-winning Henry W. Grady High School Philharmonic Orchestra is among four finalists nationwide to win the Kishi Bashi National Music Contest. In conjunction with the release of “String Quartet Live!,” Kishi Bashi launched the contest for student orchestras around the country to showcase their talents.

This spring, the singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter – whose real name is Kaoru Ishibashi – will perform at all four finalist high schools and will provide $1,500 worth of strings and accessories to each winner. He will perform at Grady on Tuesday, April 26, at 7 p.m. as part of the school’s annual spring concert. The contest is sponsored by the D’Addario String Music Company.

As part of the contest, students were required to make a music video with the music of Kishi Bashi that showcased ingenuity, creativity and higher performance. In doing so, students framed, arranged and practiced the music together. They then recorded the video, which featured singers and the Grady Knights orchestra players. The video has since received more than 2,000 YouTube views.

Sergio Rodriguez, orchestra director for the Grady High School Philharmonic, said the students’ hard work paid off.

“We were so excited to find out we were one of the best groups,” said Sergio Rodriguez, orchestra director for the Grady High School Philharmonic. “We’re very, very proud of what we accomplished. We didn’t expect this. This was a very difficult to do, but we learned that when we work hard, we accomplish great things. The music was gorgeous, invigorating and charming music to work on.”