...by Samuel Barber.
That was my first performance, ever, with an ensemble. It's slightly sad, if you consider the fact that I've been a music apprentice for 9 years. It's slightly insane, if you consider the fact that I was given 3 days' notice and no full rehearsals.
Let's rewind a bit. The Carine SHS mid-year concert was held last Friday and Saturday, as part of the school music programme and also to raise some funds. And raise some funds it did!
That was my first performance, ever, with an ensemble. It's slightly sad, if you consider the fact that I've been a music apprentice for 9 years. It's slightly insane, if you consider the fact that I was given 3 days' notice and no full rehearsals.
Let's rewind a bit. The Carine SHS mid-year concert was held last Friday and Saturday, as part of the school music programme and also to raise some funds. And raise some funds it did!
The dough from Friday night
The people who collected the dough and did odd jobs on Friday night (Person #5 was behind the camera)
Friday was the Juniors' night and I went to watch my brother play. Was gonna get some good photos too, but... I was still collecting dough when the Junior Band started. There, hard proof that money has detrimental effects. Another Proof Of Detrimentalness is the Black Fingers Syndrome after long periods of handling money at a cashier. I haven't contracted the disease myself, but it was a topic of discussion earlier this morning and I take my friends' word for it.
The rest of the night passed quite unincidentally... there were some rather awesome performances, but that's expected. ;-) The Seniors' Night (Saturday), on the other hand, was plagued with falling objects. During the Senior Band's first appearance, a loud crash from the back of the stage marked an accident from the percussionists. As the Orchestra came on, a certain Double Bassist signalled his presence by sending his (rather large) bow to the floor. Back in the rehearsal room, a wall was banged rather hard.
The rest of the night passed quite unincidentally... there were some rather awesome performances, but that's expected. ;-) The Seniors' Night (Saturday), on the other hand, was plagued with falling objects. During the Senior Band's first appearance, a loud crash from the back of the stage marked an accident from the percussionists. As the Orchestra came on, a certain Double Bassist signalled his presence by sending his (rather large) bow to the floor. Back in the rehearsal room, a wall was banged rather hard.
What happens when shock waves are sent along a wall which bears a framed photo
Back to the performance I was talking about. The Senior Band was up first, oh joy... Blind panic ensuds! It was like... like reliving all the memories of going to lessons after a without practice! Aah! My teacher's gonna kill me! The audience is gonna think I suck! They...... hold on, they have no idea what the song sounds like. I can play wrong notes and they wouldn't know. Mwahahaha!
Well, ok, the above scenario didn't actually happen. Sure, I was nervous, but it was more of a "Meh, whatever..." feeling. The years of making a fool out of myself in school and at BB, the Si Kebayan* trip, and all the ngenjenning** practice must have done something to me: I'm not that badly affected by stagefright anymore, even when I was about to perform, for the first time, for a song I had never even heard before! =P
So, all panic aside, I proceeded to enjoy my first view from within the collection of band players and instruments. Sitting next to a French horn was an... ear-catching... experience. ^_^ The following photos aren't of the best quality, but I rushed because I didn't know how much time I had left before the curtains opened. The audience probably wouldn't be too impressed by a flashy light show by a camera-wielding monkey on stage.
Well, ok, the above scenario didn't actually happen. Sure, I was nervous, but it was more of a "Meh, whatever..." feeling. The years of making a fool out of myself in school and at BB, the Si Kebayan* trip, and all the ngenjenning** practice must have done something to me: I'm not that badly affected by stagefright anymore, even when I was about to perform, for the first time, for a song I had never even heard before! =P
So, all panic aside, I proceeded to enjoy my first view from within the collection of band players and instruments. Sitting next to a French horn was an... ear-catching... experience. ^_^ The following photos aren't of the best quality, but I rushed because I didn't know how much time I had left before the curtains opened. The audience probably wouldn't be too impressed by a flashy light show by a camera-wielding monkey on stage.
The conductor in front
The percussionists behind me
The brass section to my left
The saxophonists to my right
EDIT 29/6/06: The 2nd person from the right is Kimmi, our beloved MC who did a vocal solo with the Jazz Band and was ticked off because I did not mention her in my post.
There you have it, a view of the band through the eyes of a sakai***. PRET-ty amazing huh? This sakai sat there for the first song, Tempest Rising, then made his way to the piano for his debut appearance in Fantasy on a Theme by Samuel Barber. The introduction went well (except mybe it was a tad bit soft), and then there was a long resting period for the piano. Thus, the problem was revealed: I tried counting my way through the silent bars but the speed changes threw me off. Uh-oh.
What happens when a performer doesn't know when to enter? Well... one thing he can do is to pretend to know what he's doing. My part was only simple accompaniment in repetitive style, so I dared to play what I THOUGHT was the correct part for the ending 'solo'. Turned out that it WASN'T the correct part and I added an extra bar when we were supposed to stop, but meh. It sounded suitable enough. ^_^ I have learnt something new, however: Performance without prior full rehearsal or prior experience in improvisation will result in grey hairs and possible heart failure.
What happens when a performer doesn't know when to enter? Well... one thing he can do is to pretend to know what he's doing. My part was only simple accompaniment in repetitive style, so I dared to play what I THOUGHT was the correct part for the ending 'solo'. Turned out that it WASN'T the correct part and I added an extra bar when we were supposed to stop, but meh. It sounded suitable enough. ^_^ I have learnt something new, however: Performance without prior full rehearsal or prior experience in improvisation will result in grey hairs and possible heart failure.
After that fiasco though, I was free to enjoy the rest of the performances. Here are a few more photos...
Guitar ensemble
Orchestra
Clarinet ensemble
Musical theatre. Oh wait, this wasn't one of the items. Whoopsie!
I'll upload more photos to http://spaces.msn.com/axfangli/ ...soon. ^_^
* Si Kebayan - The title of the drama in which Sze Howe was transformed into a girl.
** ngenjen v. Talking crap in a believable and authoritative manner.
*** sakai n. An easily-awed person with no knowledge of the world around him.
7 comments:
Clearly, Kimmi's ticked off! Aww... *pinches Kim's cheeks*
Sze Howe, explain to me again why we don't have anything like this in Kuching (That's in Sarawak, Malaysia btw).
Just looking at your pictures makes me wish real hard i was there, what to do, I love performances, dance or no dance.
Ahakz! *Koffijamhasreturned?koff*
i neva knew ngenjen meant dat ;) i tot it meant ...lol..."improvisation"...(toot! bhsa swak word!)
synonym of sakai = sua ku!!!
=) I love the net.
What are you talking about, Sam? St Mary has an orchestra (containing electric guitar + drum kit summore... =P), choir (SECOND PLACE!!!!! =D) caklempong, gamelan,...... I even heard that you've got males enrolling in your school for music class now...? =P
Besides, you have your new auditorium. Just pester Cikgu Reduan to host more concerts lah.
'Ngenjen' is Bahasa St Thom, I believe... =) Check with Adin.
Heh.
Heh.
Heh.
Right...St Mary's had all that, but after the Form 5 of this year leave, we will be quite empty...They held the top spot rather firmly...and fully...the ppl under dem...gonna take a long time b4 can b lyk dem
and cikgu reduan is so bz we have classes wit him 1/3 times on a month...
bhsa st thom? o.O wah liew...u ppl buat bhsa lagi ar?!
Rajin....Kamus ST Thom. I expect it to be out soon? =P
Start working lor... Get together a little group which you can work well with, and pick some songs you like. Mini ensembles are just fine... Our senior flute ensemble has a grand total of 3 people.
It's not worth publishing material containing only a handful of entries ler... =P
hey!
awesome photo of me & ash! we are soooo incredibly cool ;-)
Crazy. =P
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