MusICian

a couple of days ago, my diploma appointment from ABRSM finally came; i’ll be re-taking my quick studies (failed only by 2 marks…) on 7th may, the day after i watch Phantom! haha. not an issue, the appointment is in the afternoon, so i can wake up late!

a big change in moods these two days. and also stress levels. a very lengthy discussion on interpretation induced a whole load of stress upon my shoulders; i shoulder the damage done to the ensemble, the distance they felt from mr png was enough to destroy all ensemble chemistry. i was over-zealous on my part, wanting to tidy up parts and create ensemble awareness. i did create ensemble awareness, till the point that they almost only respond to me. that was really damaging, and i felt the full effects from last night’s and today’s rehearsals. it was seriously a huge dilemma on my part, and i must say i didn’t exactly handle it in the best way. because i was so automated that i started making decisions my way.

well, we ironed out this issue, and by the end of music exchange today, things were sorted out and negative feelings were more or less resolved. i busied myself with the emcee job, being ‘arrowed’ to do it (haha), and i took the task seriously, trying to assure that the visiting schools have a good time under our hosting. everything went smoothly, except for little glitches in my speeches, and everyone went back to their schools having enjoyed the music exchange. or so i hope. my debut emceeing! so many debuts this year. i suddenly remembered this old ad’s slogan: when was the last time you tried something for the first time? i certainly achieved much this year. haha!

i realised now that being number 2 isn’t as carefree a job as i thought. and being number 2, i have a different set of stress, and a very different scope of duty. no doubt i have had very established musicians and band directors alike commending me for my capability, but i should always remember that i am number 2. i know i don’t have anything to prove to anyone anymore, though! that itself is assuring enough for me. from now on, i shall always aim to outdo myself, for my own sake. and never step over the boundaries of number 2! just like the good old days

SYF is just around the corner. NCWO sounded good today. i guess they really did make home advantage count! and also, the ensemble awareness was good, except that at one point, everyone was so afraid to stick out that they became very safe. the second session was much better, with a couple more intonation mistakes, but a lot more expression. i was at least comforted in knowing that they still can follow mr png! and they should, because mr png has enough expertise and experience to really bring them to glory. i will definitely be fighting alongside, never giving up.

we will bring glory to the school, and most importantly, glory to ourselves

go for GOLD! with honours

i’m exactly where i wanted myself to be right now in my life. i’m happy, just happy. despite working my butt off for my passion in music, leaving me to struggle with school, i’m just happy to be where i am right now.

thank you mus’art for the grand opportunity to conduct the band i love and have worked so hard for! thank you, juliano, italian maestro for showing me how your piece should sound! and thank you mr leonard tan for giving me the opportunity to conduct NUSWS, another band i love and have worked hard for! and of course, thank you mr png, sir, for giving me the opportunity to work side by side with you, and also to conduct NCWO, a band that i have grown to love, and also worked hard for!

and thank you dear, for being such a wonderful companion, always behind me in my passion, always so sweet, and always so unforgettably charming me with your lovely smiles! my success belongs to you too!

i may be stressed up, but i’ve never been happier

SYF!!!!

yeah, as you’d have guessed, this week is work, and nothing but work. livelihood, school. dropped by nan chiau on tuesday morning (after slacking for the whole day on monday, decided to be productive), gave them some prep talk just to boost their morale a bit, then headed back to school for multilingualism lecture. miraculously managed to stay awake throughout, had lunch IN the lecture, went down to meet mr png, su juen and doreen at swee lee music to buy accessories and percussion mallets and auxillary percussion. went down to fengshan late to teach. after that, went over to changkat changi to find a very stressed up mr png. basically the SYF balloting placements have added loads of stress to the instructors around me. mr ng wasn’t really in the mood to work, neither was mr png. eventually mr png gave the changkat recruits a short talk, then dismissed them. we went to buy satay from a pasar malam at tampines, then went over to joo chiat for very nice wanton noodles. settled down at coffee bean for planning and crap. haha. then headed home!

wednesday was also rather hectic; went to fengshan, saw the members, worked out some pieces, then ran through some older pieces. doreen was rather worked up, and understandably so cos the clarinet section really pissed her off. after fengshan, went over to nan chiau to talk to them again, this time about different issues. saw their morale go up and i left, satisfied, to go teach fiona. reached rather late, waited for jennifer, took mr ng’s car up the hill to the condo. taught till about 7:45pm, then finally went home for dinner. concussed not long after that.

thursday was also hectic. fengshan prac, after which i went down to NUSWS post-concert debrief. had fun crapping with some friends, stole the concert photos from someone’s CD, tried in vain to start working on my essay. borrowed the bass clarinet for mus’art, lugged it home somehow. that thing is real heavy!!! after i settled my mind and my stomach down (with a bowl of well-cooked instant noodles), i started to work on my pragmatics essay, which i took the entire night to finish. managed to catch a few winks of sleep along the way, got kind cloud to help me print and submit while i rushed over to nan chiau band prac. i was the only instructor there, so i had to make all the decisions. members were restless, but i got the juniors to work out loads of parts while the seniors taught the recruits. released the recruits early again (so sorry…), continued with a smaller band. to ease their restlessness, i played through El Cumbanchero with whoever’s there, and they loved the piece, much to my surprise. after the sec 4s left for parent-teacher meeting, i continued with the juniors again for the competition pieces. when the sec 4s came back, i was able to conduct a well-spirited run through of the 2 competition pieces. looks like the slight distraction worked! left at nearly 7 to go meet sweetie for dinner; had laksa at dhoby ghaut, then went to suntec toys’r'us to look for sweetie’s cutie crocodile keychain, which she eventually found, bought and had loads of fun with sent her home, went home. was real sleepy!

saturday, today. went to nan chiau after having only 3 popiahs that were not at their optimum taste levels cos they were hardly complete. did a very meaningful warm-up, cos after the chord warm-up, they played some delicate parts of 7th night beautifully! will do more of these warm-ups to really boost their awareness towards chords, along with the wonderful set of warm-ups designed by mr png. had a good session with the band without the trombones and euphoniums (mr ng and mr pisit were here already), mr png came, we split the rest up and i worked with the clarinets. really really good session with them, they looked happy with what they have worked out! most parts are coming up very very nicely. when the band eventually ran through again, the sound was very much more refined. nice sounds! gave them a talk to soothe them a little (but i think i ended up making them feel stressed, probably cos i’m stressed up myself), recieved a very cute bear from the saxophone section which i had to stuff in my bag to transport home. it was too big for the bag, so the head popped out of my bag. haha.

alright, shall update less these few days; gonna really focus and fight for these remaining 18 days!

give me strength. we’re almost there!

ok, all the energy from yesterday officially wore off, and i’m like a zombie today. rested like nobody’s business; i deserved it ok! a crazy week last week, and i survived it! band camps, band practices, my own practice time, short shopping trips for my shirt and shoes (eventually only bought a shirt), short meet-ups with friends, sound checks, band concert!

according to a few sources, Immer Kleiner was quite a success! personally, i’ve achieved that big step in my life. but i’ve got a feeling that Immer Kleiner has also caused a rift between me and a few NUSWS ppl. i somehow don’t feel that close to the members as i used to feel before i won the solo competition. well, maybe trying to be outstanding has its negative side-effects as well. but i’m glad that a few of my buddies from NUSWS have been by my side all the way. thank you, guys!!!

so sad, i forgot to take photos with many people! especially mr png, who got me that special bouquet of flowers. the shifu himself! argh, how forgetful can i get. also, my swiss student and her family, chenghuat, hansel, desmond and gang, joann and her date, josh HL and carrie… etc. SHARKS… oh yes, thanks for the spiderman, carrie!!! appreciate it loads man. all the way from USA

ok, some huge loads off my mind now, gotta focus on SYF. many members are now low on morale, be it PRSS or NCHS. and it seems like there has been some conflicts going on, something between members from both schools. i really hope there’s no bad blood, because it’s really the wrong time to have something like this cropping up. not that there’s a right time anyway. but we have to focus on the target. our target is SYF 2007. not getting the most attention from mr png. i for one knows that mr png loves all his bands, and however unfair you might think he’s treating you, he is always fair. if he isn’t, he will make it up to you. so many years with him, i can’t be wrong.

hmmmm, the band camp seems to have done loads of damage to the spirits of many band members. how come??

very few days remaining, and we should all focus on getting a good result for SYF! we instructors will be with you all the way. you have to trust us, and also trust yourselves. and most importantly, you have to think of your band, and work together with your band. it’s not the time for individual agendas and goals; it’s about having one mind, one heart, one soul for one common purpose. your individual motivation comes from wanting to be part of that bigger purpose, and not how many CCA points you’ll get out of SYF. you play music with and for your band. that is really important!

let’s go towards the bigger purpose

yes!!! i officially realised one more dream of mine, to play a solo piece with the band! and it was none other than Immer Kleiner, a piece i found interesting enough to showcase. no one knows how long the wait and the preparations took before this was put up! from deciding to take part in the solo competition to choosing the piece (from a few of the non-impossible stuff) to practising note for note to finally shaping the sound and the music to what you guys have heard today. i finally done it!!!

and i’m so touched to recieve that beautiful bouquet of flowers from the maestro himself, the person who taught me loads and loads more to come, mr richard png!

and of course, to recieve a great gift, courtesy of NUSWS clarinet section, presented to me by my most precious guest player, miss sweetie! so touched by the cute stuffed toy

and of course, thank you all who came and listened, and those who really wanted to come but couldn’t, and those who sat there believing i could pull it off. Immer Kleiner is for all of you!!!

i’ve got loads and loads to add, but i must go off now. i don’t fancy dozing off in front of my com! haha. real big thank you to all who supported me in one way or another

Immer Kleiner rocks!!!

no, my linguistic friends, it’s not about word stress. it’s about ME. haha.

yesterday was what i deemed a ‘bad reed day’. this term was basically coined by jennifer, while we were outside the CFA auditorium while the band was rehearsing The Merry Wives of Windsor. i was preparing for the rehearsal of my solo piece, when i realised ALL my reeds practically died on me! it was very very scary. none of them could work. and no matter how hard i try to produce a good sound out of any reed, it just didn’t work. paranoia and stress crept in and i was deeply affected. forced myself to purge all thoughts of getting a good sound while i focused on getting good expression from the solo. well that did work, but my sound was atrocious. for someone so obsessed with sound, that was a musical nightmare.

my paranoia drove me to band world today, where i did some ‘heavy shopping’ with the help of mr ong and miss sia, and also sean who happened to be there and who also bought the last of the Zonda 3.5 J strength reeds (and sweetie and i were forced to buy 3.5 I strenght reeds instead). he helped me check my instrument for leaks, told me a few ‘interesting’ things about my instrument and also fixed some problems! it must be fate. haha.

and so i bought a selmer reed case (a very cool looking one), a contact microphone and also a box of reeds. i think i eat reeds man. eventually, i realised that my reeds could’ve warped a bit under the temperature, causing them to lose thickness in tone and be lacking in response! so my nightmare was kinda officially over for now. and sure enough i sounded much better at Mus’Art practice today.

i gotta stop having nightmares of my solo performance man…

had a great meal (sakura buffet!) with sweetie and her family just now! it’s her parents’ combined birthday celebration and her mom graciously invited me to enjoy the occasion with them. so nice! met them 3rd week in a row though. next week will be the 4th consecutive week! haha. maybe marriage might be earlier than i think. wahaha…

btw, i just confirmed my booking, and sweetie and i are going to watch PHANTOM OF THE OPERA on 6th May!!!! wahaha…

NCWO band camp starts tmr. PRSS starts on thursday. CCSS starts on wednesday. i think. busy busy week!

oh yes! come for my concert! NCWO alumni! PRSS alumni! and CCSS alumni too!

The NUS Wind Symphony is proud to present to you InTempo 2007, part of the NUS Centre for the Arts’ series of
performances held during our annual NUS Arts Festival (Rhythm and
Rhapsodies).

The event is on 18th March, Sunday, 5pm at the University Cultural Centre in NUS.

We are proud to bring you an exciting night of 2 Alps, some merry wives, a clarinet striptease (haha), some sounds of music and some screen music!

Merry Wives of Windsor
Immer Kleiner
The Sound of Music
Soaring over the Ridges - Impression of the Alps (Singapore Premiere)
Silver Screen
Poema Alpestra (Singapore Premiere)

I will be performing a Clarinet solo piece with the band (Immer Kleiner) where I’ll be literally taking the Clarinet apart while playing the piece! It’s my solo debut so do watch and give comments

Do come support us! Tickets are at $11 and are available at all SISTIC
outlets. Alternatively, you can get your tickets from me, I can help get them through NUSWS or SISTIC.

For my current students (NCHS and PRSS) and also NCWO alumni, I still offer a $1 subsidy for every ticket. NCWO members who still want tickets together with your friends will be thrilled to note that I have 7 more tickets available in that row, but you’ll have to let me know by the 1st day of band camp (cos the tickets belong to other people and I have to relocate them, meaning get them new tickets)! And of course pay up

Come down to UCC on 18th March with us, and have an  unforgettable evening of mesmerising music