Saturday, December 10, 2005
Assalamualaikum. 3 days have gone so fast and now we'll just have to wait for the big day on Monday, 12th December 2005. The 3 days experience is something that will never fade away from my mind.
On the first day, when I stepped into the Tutorial Room at the NIE, reserved for the Smith Band. I wondered who Mr. Tay Jun Ngiap was but felt relieved to know later that he was Northbrooks Secondary School 3rd conductor after Dr. Matthew Lim. Although I left band when took charge, at least I've heard about him. My second conductor is none other than my own Innova Junior College conductor, Mr. Lim Tee Heong. I am pretty happy to know that I am in a band that is under the baton of 2 nice conductors. 'American Elegy' was slow but nice. It was written by Frank Tichelli in the remembrance of the Columbine Tragedy and those who survived. I got a solo part. Very scared at first but manage to get hold of it. 'In a Persian Market' by Albert W. Ketelbey was refreshing. It got an Arabic Music influence. Mr. Tay got us to imagine a scenario in a market near the Sahara where people travel on camels and on an auspicious event, a pretty princess came to the market and there were a few of armed soldiers securing her safety. Therefore, we played better the 2nd time. 'Emperata Overture' by Claude T. Smith was so much faster than I thought. It happens to be a majestic piece with the solid intro by the Timpani. I love the melody in this piece. 'Howl's Moving Castle' theme song by Joe Hisaishi and Yumi Kimura was splendid. Beatiful. If you really put your heart and soul in listening to the melody, it will move you to tears. I am sure that the movie must be nice and of course, sad. Last but not least, it was 'Amporito Roca', my greatest fear. There were so many running notes. Just imagine, I have to run 25 different notes in 14 seconds. Luckily, there was another tenor saxophone player from Raffles Junior College who can play so well to cover me. This piece by Jaime Texidor was of a Spanish dance genre.
The games organised by the WASBE volunteers were pretty stupid and sucks. All they can do is shout and shout. Darn it! It is a shame to musicians. Musicians supposed to be respectful and of gentle demeanour unless you play the drum set and those rock music. Luckily, my chaperons were nice people unlike some other rude ones.
I got to know more people from other Junior Colleges and the best part I got to talk with students from Raffles Junior College for the first time. Before this, I've talked to students from all JC except Raffles'. Pathetic, isn't it!
The sectional practices were not bad though. Mr. Lim took my woodwinds section. He asked us to play so many different scales. Some I’ve not heard before and oh ya, the musical terms such as pantomic, ditomic and etc. (if I remember clearly) Imagine, Concert G Major Scale is written in A and Concert Bb is written in C and etc.
Oh ya, the Malay guys went to Friday prayers in a car. No big deal? It is until you hear this. There were 10 people including the driver and we squeezed into a 1.6 car. Hahahaha! We went to the mosque just adjacent to the cemetery. Through this trip to the mosque, the Malay guys got closer. I only manage to remember some; Faidhi, Hadi, Khairul, Khairuddin, Nabil and …
On the Innova Junior College Band side, we got closer through this. So much close I must say. There were 9 of us; Lixian and Izwan from Smith Band, Maslyn, Jacelyn and Yong Ting from Barnes Band, Xin Yi and Qing Yun from Reed Band and last but not least Nabil and Jennifer from Sparke Band. We had lunch together everyday and gossiped about the conductors and students from other JCs. I left home at 7.00 am and reached home at 7.30 p.m daily from Thursday to Saturday. Gosh!
Assalamualaikum. 3 days have gone so fast and now we'll just have to wait for the big day on Monday, 12th December 2005. The 3 days experience is something that will never fade away from my mind.