September 8, 2025
NWSS music students represent New West in Japanese sister city concert
New Westminster, B.C. – Music students from New Westminster Secondary School and Osaka International Junior and Senior High School came together this past March for a joint concert in Japan that marked a renewal of the sister city relationship between Moriguchi and the city of New Westminster.
The event was sponsored by Moriguchi City in Osaka Prefecture, the Moriguchi City Board of Education, and the Japan-Canada Chamber of Commerce. It aimed to strengthen ties between youth in both cities through music and cultural exchange.
“Our goal was to rekindle the relationship that was started in 1976 by NWSS teacher Doug Woodward, who had NWSS students travelling to Japan many times up until the 1990s,” said Steve Clements, NWSS band teacher and music director. “It was the trip of a lifetime for many of our students.”
The concert was the culmination of over a year of planning and co-ordination, involving teachers, parents, and volunteers from both cities. Ninety NWSS students, along with Principal Susana Quan, choir director Luke McAndless-Davis, music teacher James Paterson, and parent chaperones, toured Japan, visiting cultural landmarks in Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Miyajima Island.
The performances blended Canadian and Japanese musical traditions. Canadian students opened with “O Canada” and the Musqueam First Nation song Kawkiyawk Oskiyak, while Japanese students performed “Maple Leaf Dance” and “Galaxy Express 999.” Joint performances included “Canadian Folk Trilogy,” “Chasing Sunlight” by Japanese-Canadian composer Cait Nishimura, and an encore of “Gakuen Tengoku.”
“This educational experience would have been impossible without the help of parents, and the Japan-Canada Chamber of Commerce, who supported the music department’s efforts with great efficiency and care,” said Clements.
About the NWSS Music Auxiliary
The NWSS Music Auxiliary is a community that supports hundreds of students in concert bands, jazz bands, jazz and chamber choirs, guitar classes, a string orchestra, and music composition technology classes, along with teachers, parents, school administrators, music professionals, and interested community members.
Students always fill the NWSS band rooms, not just to attend classes but to hang out, practice, improvise, create, problem solve, collaborate, mentor and have fun.
The Music Auxiliary’s first concert of the 2025-2026 school year will be its Halloween show in the NWSS Theatre on October 30 at 7 p.m.
For more information, including regular updates on upcoming performances: