Performer Details
Performer Bio Synopsis
Inagakuen Sogo (Inagakuen Comprehensive High School) is a large public school, established in 1984, located in Ina, Saitama, approximately an hour north of Tokyo. It is co-ed with a board-based liberal arts curriculum focused on international relations and business, offering 190 classes for students to select from, including French, German, Chinese, and English. Inagakuen Sogo High School values each student’s individuality and encourages individual learning and teaching to help them become responsible and knowledgeable citizens of the world.
The Inagakuen Wind Orchestra, established with the school’s founding, earned 16 Gold ratings during their 23 successive appearances at the national final All Japan Band Competition and received numerous prizes at the All Japan Ensemble Contest and All Japan Marching Contest. The wind orchestra has also appeared in TV programs.
In 1998, the wind orchestra won “Highest Honors” awards at music festivals in Schladming, Austria, and Saas Fee, Switzerland. At the 27th Vienna International Youth Music Festival, it has placed first in the wind band division and was awarded the Vienna Grand Prix, and in recognition of its achievement, it received a commendation from the Governor of Saitama State. The band was awarded the Grand Prix at the 15th Pacific Rim Music Festival in Honolulu, Hawaii in 2000. In January 2003, they gave a one-week concert tour in Florida as a guest ensemble for the FMEA All-State Convention, repeated in 2006 and 2018 due to their overwhelming success.
Inagakuen Wind Orchestra presents numerous concerts throughout the year and has performed for audiences of more than 20,000 in one year. The 200-member club (including the school’s junior high school section) ambitiously works under the wise motto “Let’s Play Music.”
Inagakuen Sogo High School Wind Orchestra
Conductor's Bio
Born in Tokyo in 1968, Tomoki Ubata was, in 1984, among the first students to enter Inagakuen Sogo High School. He majored in trumpet at Musashino Academia Musicae, studying with Susumu Kitagawa, Mineo Sugiki and Yuji Inoue and also conducting with Kinji Inoue. Ubata then accepted his current position at Inagakuen Sogo HS as an academic music teacher and band club director. He led the band to earn numerous prizes and awards, including prestigious Gold prizes at the All Japan Band Competition. He received recognition from the Saitama Board of Education in 1998, the National Band Association in 2006, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the All Japan Band Association in 2012.
Tomoki Ubata has led the Inagakuen Sogo High School Wind Orchestra to 23 successive appearances at the national finals All Japan Band Competition with 16 gold ratings and received numerous Gold prizes at the All Japan Ensemble Contest and All Japan Marching Contest. In 1998, the wind orchestra won “Highest Honors” awards at music festivals in Schladming, Austria, and Saas Fee, Switzerland. At the 27th Vienna International Youth Music Festival, the group placed first in the wind band division and was awarded the Vienna Grand Prix, and in recognition of its achievement, it received a commendation from the Governor of Saitama State. The band was awarded the Grand Prix at the 15th Pacific Rim Music Festival in Honolulu, Hawaii in 2000. In January 2003, they gave a ten day concert tour in Florida as a guest ensemble for the FMEA All-State Convention, repeated in 2006 and 2018 due to their overwhelming success in offering fundamental training and side-by-side clinics with bands from throughout Florida.
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