Competition Report: String Ensemble

“Serial number ST 23: Hwa Chong Institution”

As we walk through the black backstage and into the light of The Republic Cultural Centre, our senses flood us. The stands and the chairs (“ahh where am I sitting why is there a huge empty space here”), the judges (“woah they’re all really old”), the audience (“oh look our juniors!”). Yet all these fade away as our conductor picks up his baton – the universe shrinks, and there is naught but us and the music.

The Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging has always been a highlight of any performing arts member’s life in their CCA. It represents an opportunity to play with the very best of musicians from across Singapore, an opportunity to showcase our own caliber, an opportunity to perform in front of among the most qualified musicians in the world.

All of us had slightly differing perceptions of the Central Judging. For some, it was an opportunity to come back after less-than-ideal previous Central Judging results. For others, it was their first endeavor of this nature. Whatever our views, our goals coincided – to play to the very best of our ability. And we all knew that the path ahead was marked with difficulty and intense work.

And work we did.

All that work culminated in a short, ten-minute performance on stage. It hardly seemed enough to warrant our effort, yet we all knew what was at stake.

The performance itself was a blur. We breathed as one, and played as one. We were acutely aware of tiny mistakes that we made, yet all that served was to spur our determination to play the rest of the music as close to perfection as possible.

As we left the stage to cheers and applause, we were filled with anxiety, exhilaration and sadness – leftover anxiety from the performance, exhilaration that we had played our music to the best of our ability and a tinge of sadness that it was all over. But above all we felt hope – hope that our music had spoken, and that others had heard.

“ST 23, Hwa Chong Institution: Gold with Honours.”

Screams and tears of joy and exuberance. Hugs and high fives. And an overwhelming gratitude – to our conductor for guiding us, to our teachers, family and friends for being with us for this journey, and to each other: for contributing to this ambiguous whole we call our CCA.

And a few days later, work begins anew.

Tags: Strings Ensemble
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Season Preview: String Ensemble Concert

After taking part in the Singapore Youth Festival 2009 and clinching a Gold award, Hwa Chong String Ensemble is proud to present the next programme of the year, Inspirations IX: Reminiscence. The theme for this concert, as the title suggests, is Reminiscence which is in conjunction with the Hwa Chong’s 90th Anniversary. The concert aims to bring you through the ups and downs of the Hwa Chong String Ensemble with pieces like Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber which tugs our heartstrings. The concert will also feature our SYF pieces, bringing back fond memories of the countless rehearsals to each and every member. This concert promises an exciting line up of pieces pieced together to bring you a night of nostalgia and recollection. We hope to see you there!
Details are as follow:
 
Details of Concert
Date: 14 May 2009
Time: 7.00 pm
Venue: Hwa Chong (College) Cheng Yi Auditorium
Ticket Price: $5 (Free Seating)
 
Tickets can be bought at our ticketing booth in the canteen or through the CT order forms. Just a small reminder to all CT reps, please submit your forms with the money to our canteen booth by Thursday, 7th May. Alternatively you could just approach any member from the ensemble to purchase your tickets. Thank you!

Tags: Strings Ensemble
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