Hello I am back!

I am back from Shah Alam, Malaysia after an exhausting 5-day stay! It was an eventful trip, and the good news is that we achieved what we set out to achieve - 2 Golds and the Best Interpretation of the Set Piece in the Voyage of Songs choral competition! (= Kudos to my two SCs - Weiwei and Yanting, as well as to the extremely young choir we have for this competition - many of them are first-time choristers and performers. It is an extraordinary feat, and I am glad that we made it.

Although we did not perform as well as we expected ourselves to be (some of the songs had funny chords and stuff like that), we can't stop accidents from happening onstage. All I know is that the choir can perform much better than they did onstage, and they'll definitely have that chance to do it again - whether in the upcoming Varsity Voices 06 (our annual concert) or future competitions. I guess the thing we have to work on now is on strengthening their vocal technique and making them more aware of their own voices. In short, to heighten their sense of musicality. It's a great start, and I know Varsity Voices will be a good concert.

Weiwei got his first big break as conductor for nuschoir (open-mixed advance) and tpjc male chorus. He also sang solo for tpjc choir in their folklore category. I am very proud of him being able to handle all that pressure, negative and positive, and conduct his best onstage. He's developing his own style, deviating from the usual and cliche _____ style of conducting and I am glad that he's on his way to become a good conductor. He looks absolutely handsome in his black suit! =p Photos will be up later.

I got to know some people better, in a sense, during the competition, in both good and bad ways. In a good way, I know some juniors better, people like Adyll, Raymond, my Alto gals and so on. I know I am not exactly a very sociable girl, and it is to my regret that I didn't initiate convo with most of the juniors. But nevertheless, I know I still have 1/2 year to go. Perhaps I will work on that? =p I also got to know Wey Ling, my ex-president better. Previously, we used to be quite awkward around each other due to some issues, but through this competition I feel that we had a better understanding of each other and are slowly becoming friends. It's a great feeling. In a bad way, I don't want to mention that person's name, but I just don't wish to talk to that person anymore for as long as I can. I just don't like hypocritical people, that's all.

In all, the competition trip was a fulfiling one, filled with good and bad experiences. But I know no matter how good or bad it is, it made us stronger as a choir, and we are definitely on our way to make ourselves a better choir. (=

The next big thing: Varsity Voices 2006 in March. We will be performing a night of Flower Songs, by composers Benjamin Britten (5 Flower Songs), Eric Whitacre (3 Flower Songs) and John Wilbye (2 madrigals). On top of that, we will be presenting a comtemporary work of Missa Brevis, vastly different in musical style from last year's Hoffman's Missa Brevis. It'll be a promising concert, and I hope you guys will come support me. It'll be my second and last Varsity Voices as I will be leaving nuschoir after this academic year.