SYF Instrumental Ensemble

I went to watch the SYF Instrumental Ensemble last Tues, expecting a fiesta of various instruments. I was glad to have attended the event. Although my friend had expressed his worries that the 2nd half of the show would be more disorganised than the 1st, I beg to differ. I felt the 2nd half had more interesting programmes lined up compared to the first.

These are what I felt to be the highlights of the entire concert:
1) Lap Harp by Nan Hua High School
There aren't many such ensemble around, and I don't hear it often.
2) Angklung/Kulintang by Siglap Sec.
First time seeing a Kulintang. The members were most sporting by swaying to the rythmn. Gives a very good overall feel to the pieces when you see all members swaying and shaking the angklungs. Also saw the conducting of such a group in detail for the first time. There was also a mimicry of a frog croaking in the song "Janger Bali". Interesting.
3) Gamelan by Evergreen Sec.
The melody of the gamelan may be repeated at various parts of a piece, but it's the coordination of the players (who are seated facing different directions) and the hypnotising effect of the music. There were also 6 dancers who danced to the tune of the song, improving the overall presentation. Very enjoyable.
4) Handbells & Handchimes by Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School.
First time hearing them perform. Truly worthy of their gold with honours. The playing of different bells and chimes throughout the whole song and players having to swap bells without mistake was already well done. The songs chosen were also wonderful, especially the piece "Crazy Little Thing Called Love". Added quite a bit of fun factor into an already wonderful performance.
5) Guzheng by Xinmin Sec.
My most favourite Chinese Orchestra instrument coupled with my favourite piece "Dance of the Yao Tribe". Need I say more? Although the effect when played by a guzheng ensemble and combined orchestra is very different, looking at 40 odd young guzheng players and listening to them playing Orchestra pieces is already a heartening experience.

It was wonderful that I managed to secure tickets for this Ensemble performance, and I will be looking forward to future performances as well. Many thanks to my friend who was nice enough to offer his help in his already hectic schedule. A concert well done, my friend! :)

July

A former student was asking what I was busy with. Well, here goes...
29th Jun: Discipline Workshop Part 1, SYF Opening Ceremony
3rd Jul: SYF Instrumental Ensemble
4th Jul: School Marketing Committee Meeting
5th Jul: Sec 2 Faculty Meeting
6th Jul: Discipline Workshop Part 2
10th Jul: SMC Meeting, SYF CO Presentation
11th Jul: Meeting for Metamorphosis Teachers-in-charge
13th Jul: Sec 2 Faculty Assembly
14th Jul: Technical Rehearsal of Metamorphosis
17th Jul: SMC Meeting, Sec 2 Subject Selection Exercise Briefing
20th Jul: Racial Harmony Day
21st Jul: Full Dress Rehearsal for Metamorphosis
28th Jul: Metamorphosis
Late Jul: Sinapore Poly Open House for Sec 2
and all these are on top of setting class test 3, CA 2, marking of daily work, preparing of lessons, running of CCA. I think my stock of chicken essence is not helping at all...

Movie Sequels

This year seems to be a year of movie sequels, especially episode 3. There was Spiderman 3, Pirates 3, Shrek 3 and there was also Fantastic 4 sequel and the fifth part of Harry Potter.

I guess movie watching isn't really a regular activity of mine, beacause I missed watching Spiderman 2 (I didn't even catch the entire film on tv!) and didn't bother with Pirates 2. As for Shrek, I didn't complete Shrek 1, missed out Shrek 2 and will not bother with Shrek 3. With a busy July schedule and most of my friends having watched F4 sequel, I think I'll just settle for a DVD compilation when it arrives. Harry Potter is another story. Having watched all 4 movies and the theatrical trailer of the movie, I would want to catch the fifth part of the story. The trailer speaks for itself, so I shall go no further.


Something fresh this year is the release of Transformers the movie. Transformers was a series of cartoons (3 seasons) in the 80s with a 2hr long cartoon movie. People who were born in the 70s & early 80s would have known about this cartoon series while those from the 90s will only know Beast Wars or Armada. "Transformers" actually tells a story of 2 groups of shape-changing robots fighting against one another. The autobots are the good guys, and mainly take the form of cars and other land vehicles. Decepticons are the bad guys, and most of them are planes or able to fly. In the cartoon, some of the transformers could actually combine to form a bigger and more powerful robot.

Things are much simpler in the movie, probably because it is an adaptation of the cartoon. Hardcore fans of the cartoon series will be disappointed at the differences, but the action of the movie is something worth watching. I'm sure after watching, audiences new to Transformers will join the ranks of the fan club as well. The only thing I have to complain is that the fighting scenes were too fast. Within moments of contact, someone would just be destroyed without clearing seeing who did what. For those interested to know more about Transformers

Trailer of Transformers


A cool song but not the theme song of the movie