Extending one of Dwight’s most time-honored traditions, Dwight School Seoul hosted our annual global concert in person this year for their community at the Lotte Concert Hall. As students and music faculty from our other campuses were unable to be there, the live concert included videos of performances by Dwight students, which were embroidered into the evening’s production.  

The theme of the concert was aptly “Souls in Harmony,” underscoring that while those from Dwight Schools in New York, London, Shanghai, Dubai, and in the cloud, were not present, we were joined together in the spirit of music. 

It was a special evening in Seoul, made even more celebratory as this year marks the School’s tenth anniversary. As Seoul’s first IB continuum school, Dwight is proudly and widely recognized for its excellence and innovation in the most wired city — and what Bloomberg’s 2021 Innovation Index ranked as the most innovative country — in the world. The tenth anniversary in Seoul coincides with the 50th for Dwight School London and the 150th for Dwight in New York, making this quite a milestone year for our family of Schools!

An Inspiring Concert 
The most anticipated cross-campus collaboration of the year, our global concert has traditionally been the culmination of a week-long music festival, which has brought as many as 150 students from around the world together in a creative and cultural exchange. While sharing their talents and passion for music, students have forged friendships — and reconnected with friends made in previous years — while putting the finishing touches on their performances before gracing the stage of such iconic venues as Carnegie Hall and the Shanghai Concert Hall.

Due to the pandemic, last year’s concert, also hosted by Dwight School Seoul, was entirely virtual. It was designed to bring the best of technology to help Music Directors and faculty reinvent the collaborative experience in unprecedented times — and it certainly did that with great success. 

This year, while not all students were able to have the in-person experience, they still had the opportunity to perform pieces that showcase their musical sparks of genius. “We knew very early on in this school year that all of our music teachers and administrators across all Dwight campuses were committed to continuing the global concert tradition,” explains Eric Novod, Head of Performing Arts. “By mid-year, we all found ourselves at vastly different levels of COVID-19 protocols, so we decided to use that to our advantage and present a very wide range of creative performance videos, which makes the experience of watching the concert more inspiring than ever — every campus ‘made it happen’ in a successful, unique, and special way.” 

Here in New York, the performances were recorded in the Quad on a fantastic day of music that marked an important return to live performance on our own campus. From Broadway to rock and original folk, and from pop to classical, the selections truly reflected the wide range of talents and musical interests of students. Mr. Novod adds, “It was also wonderful to send off this year's senior performers in style: Carol Arap, Everton Bennett, Blaze Cameron, Akhil Karra, Harry Rich, Bernardo Sequeira, and Enzo Palaci Zani.” 

Please click below for a behind-the-scenes look at the recording of performances by our New York student-musicians, featuring some inspiring words from a few of the seniors.
 

For many students in Seoul, the concert was their first time back on stage in front of a live audience in quite some time; for others, it was their first big performance and all wowed the audience! They were joined on stage by some faculty and fellow students from the Yongsan International School of Seoul. The performances ranged from solo piano and violin pieces and a percussion-based ensemble, to a K-Pop rendition complete with instrumental music, choir, and dance!

As “Souls in Harmony” took place during Spring break in New York, we premiered the concert footage for our community upon returning to school. To enjoy the concert, or to listen to it again, click below. 

Bravo to all!

Click here to enjoy the concert