AYO on tour

My apologies for not updating this blog! It has been really busy on tour and I wish I could update at every city I'm at but it's not really likely.

Firstly, I am enjoying the travels! I have now seen Vietnam (Hanoi), China (Zhongshan & Dongguan) and Taiwan (Taipei) for the first time in my life. I didn't spend so much time outside the hotel in Hanoi, partly because I didn't seek someone to take me around and partly because I was practising before rehearsals. Since I did not actually see much of Hanoi, I can't give a fair point on how I feel about the city. I honestly didn't really like the tour in China. I don't hate it, I just didn't enjoy myself. The only upside was the stay at the Hilton hotel and that the city streets were relatively clean in both cities. The halls were actually theatres, audience were noisy and the general feel of the places weren't really comfortable. In stark contrast, I really enjoyed Taipei! From the first outing on the first day, I felt Taipei was a place I'm going to enjoy and it was! The food is great, people are nice, city is clean, hall is really nice and most things are quite inexpensive! The audience at both concerts were also really supportive and it made the concerts very enjoyable! Now the orchestra is back in Hong Kong for one charity concert and the two standard programs that we prepared.

I would like to talk about flights for a bit. So far every time I went to check in with my case intact, it has been questioned by the check in officer who insists I should check in my instrument in the Cronkhite until they get a supervisor who is more lenient and will let me board with the instrument. So far I have taken seven flights and I have not once been questioned by the cabin crew. My case has also successfully been in the overhead compartment on every single flight. I usually sit with a horn player and it has been dicey but the case's ability to separate the two parts has allowed us to store both our cases (she uses an MB5 case) in the same overhead bin! So what I have been doing nowadays is to separate the case and hand my slide to another trombonist while I check in. So for useful information, a Cronkhite 2-piece bass trombone case can be carried on the following: B777, A320, A330 and B747 (biggest bins so far). Generally I would pick the seats on the sides for wide-body aircraft (two aisles) as the bins are bigger on the sides and of course, do yourself a favour and pick seats at the back of the plane because those tend to board first. Other than that, the service on Cathay Pacific has so far been decent. Sometimes I wish the cabin crew smile more during actual service and not just during boarding and arrival. The entertainment system on the new economy class is absolutely fantastic and may have a shot at beating Emirates but I'm not completely sure because I haven't experienced the best of Emirates. The Cathay system is completely touchscreen and has the complete new seasons of the Big Bang Theory and other popular shows and movies. The system is also really snappy so less waiting and it accommodates the standard 3.5mm earphone plug! The new seat itself is very comfortable and it was nice to have it on the 3.5 hour journey to Singapore from Hong Kong. Other than that, we've been getting the shell seats and old seats which are ok for short flights but I can imagine they are a bit too cramp on long flights.

The music on tour so far has been pretty average at the most. I have not really felt like the orchestra has done a fantastic job at all for the concerts we have played so far and I seriously doubt we will actually play a musically fulfilling concert. There are way too many technical deficiencies and a lack of effort in taking care of those deficiencies. As such, I do feel what I have been getting most out of this experience is the networking with other musicians (some of which are not in AYO!) and the travelling which I have been enjoying (even though I don't actually like the city) because I love seeing the world and getting an idea of what each city and country is like. After Hong Kong, we have 6 days in Japan starting on Sunday! Till the next time, bye!

AYO day 19 and my musical journey so far

It has been a routine so far. Wake up at 7, wash up, head to the APA, breakfast, warm up, morning rehearsal, lunch, afternoon rehearsals, dinner and head back to hotel for almost 3 weeks now. Imagine a normal orchestra rehearsal you have in music school or in an amateur orchestra and multiple that by 3 for one day. The orchestra here goes through 17 days of that within a three week span! So imagine the brass players, we do have a lot of waiting but we have to stay alert! It can be very mentally draining. Today, we get a refreshing change when Steven Isserlis, cello soloist with us on the tour, arrived for rehearsal!

An even bigger surprise was when Joshua Bell, who happens to be in HK right now, decided to turn up for our rehearsal! Made for a really superstar-studded day!

Now, I'd like to write about the musical advice I've received being here in the orchestra. The conductors here do demand a lot of precision and it was quite a struggle for all of us initially to meet their demands but we're getting much closer each rehearsal. Precision not just in rhythm and pitch, but also in following all the text in the score. It feels like a really anal, perfectionist attitude to it. Every single dynamic marking, articulation, tempo, mood is scrutinised by the conductors and I do agree with this way of interpreting! We have to interpret a piece according to what the composer has written! We should not rewrite the piece. Any nuances we'd like to make should be done according to the composer's intention!

Maestro James Judd has also tried to instil a very singing way of playing the music which is great! He really makes us not play any note without intention and I believe that's what we should always aim for! Every note should have a purpose, an energy. Accents are very good targets to aim for when building a phrase. Whole bars can be pickups to an accent! Even the brasses are challenged to make our parts sound alive and musical even though it's very much accompaniment. We might always be thinking we should be really stable and in time and in tune but we have to get beyond those and start making music! It should never be boring!

Well that's all I can recall for now. 1 more full day of rehearsal followed by a morning rehearsal on Friday and off to Hanoi we go!

AYO week 1

It's a bit late to post about the first week of AYO but nonetheless, I shall!

After a couple of nights with little sleep, I woke up at 5am on 20 July to head to the airport. It was a great feeling knowing that in a matter of hours, I would be making music in an orchestra once again. After meeting the others at the airport, we went for check-in. This check-in was the first time I encountered resistance against carrying my instrument on into the cabin. Nevertheless we negotiated and we were on our way. I was seated away from the others but I won't be complaining because I had a pair of seats to myself! The rear section was half-occupied and that made for a very nice flight!

After disembarking we joined the very long immigration lines at HKIA and at the lines we bumped into the other musicians from Shanghai and Osaka I believe. After clearing immigration and luggage claim, we were met by the other musicians and AYO staff who were waiting and after a short wait, we were on our coach to the hotel. On the way we passed by the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, which would be our rehearsal venue for the next three weeks. Upon arriving at the hotel, we were briefed on our stay and then handed our room keys. The rooms here at Y-Loft are very decent. The only complaint I have so far is that the wifi gets cut off every once in a while. The hotel is connected by covered bridge to the shopping mall and the MTR station. Everyday, we have to take a 20 minute train ride to the rehearsal venue. That night, we had a full orchestra dinner and we met our faculty members who will coach us for three weeks. I had too much tea and couldn't sleep well for another night! zzz

So, next day, with little sleep, I went for the first sectional and man did I play like crap! Haven't practised much and lips were in bad shape with not enough sleep. Was really a nightmare. Anyway, we did some exercises together and practised Nimrod for the opening ceremony. Monday was the opening ceremony with speeches by VIPs and the orchestra playing Nimrod, following the tradition of the orchestra. After a catered lunch, sectionals continued for the concert pieces. The schedule everyday consists of three rehearsal sessions: 0930-1200, 1300-1530 and 1545-1815. Usually the first session is for sectionals and the afternoon sessions are for tuttis.

The orchestra members do have fantastic technique but many lack the skill of being able to count and be rhythmic which is such a pity! To me, rhythm is the backbone of music and if we don't play rhythmically, there isn't a structure to the music! It didn't give me a really good impression of the many players (who mostly come from the same country). All I can hope for is that they'll wake up their ideas and actually practise their counting, rhythm and pulse!

Of course, there are many fantastic ensemble players such as those in the horns, trumpets and the strings are actually pretty good!

The two sets of repertoire are rehearsed on alternate days. For the low brass, there isn't much to play, especially for Beethoven and Brahms and so we do spend a lot of time not playing. However, this schedule of rehearsing almost everyday makes me realise how mentally draining it is to just sit in rehearsal and constantly be alert and listening! I do hope the orchestra can progress quickly and have the technical stuff dealt with soon!

As for being a tourist in HK, I haven't been doing much! Haha =X So far all I have done is ate the local food, some of which are really good but most are average or something I'll only eat once and also visited places like View 62 where there's an observation lift that allows us to see most of HK island, Stanley Bay where we had really good pizza and some quiet moments by the sea and walking around Tsim Sha Tsui and Tai Koo. A full orchestra BBQ at the Grand Hyatt as well as a movie with other musicians made for a very enjoyable weekend!

Right, that's all I can think of and recall of the first week. I'll do a post soon on the musical things I have learnt here which are plenty and very useful (for me at least!). So far now, goodbye!

Just a quick update of what I have been doing for the past few weeks in which I have not updated my blog.

Firstly, the Slide That concert. It was last Wednesday on 26 June and I must say it did exceed my expectations of what the concert will turn out to be! Some things could have been more well thought out but overall I was really glad to hear positive feedback from most of the audience! We did a first half of instrumental music followed by a second half of pop music with singers and a rhythm section. It was rewarding working for this concert, not just on the trombone but I helped out with the slideshow of pictures as well. It did add a nice touch to the program. Much of the credit should go to Laurel for putting together pretty much everything else. The stage team for the lots of help in setting up the stage, Boon Hua for listening to our rehearsals and fine tuning our playing to make it that bit better. Kudos to all who performed and I hope to be playing again some time soon! Hopefully with more original trombone music! Hehe.

Secondly, the pair of concerts that I attended. I attended OMM's Tchaikovsky's Fourth concert and TPO's Rite of Spring concert. The OMM concert started of with Mozart's 40th symphony and I must say it really isn't the orchestra's forte. Lots of issues with impulse made it difficult for the orchestra to fit into one another's lines and made the music sound clumsy. The Tchaikovsky was a bit better but being in SOTA's hall, balance did suffer a bit. But there was fine playing nonetheless and much to enjoy. TPO's Rite of Spring was played to a sold-out hall at Esplanade and with good reason. The concert was a collaboration between TPO and the Arts Fission company which is a well-known local dance group. The dancing was very well choreographed and the orchestra's playing, although not spectacular, was enjoyable and both art forms did fit in to one another very nicely. Although the main dancers were very energetic youths who did put up a very good performance showcasing violent moves that symbolise the sacrifice that is depicted in the piece, there was a great community effort to involve old folks as well and their part of the show was very well done as well. Kudos to all performers!

Other than that, I attended Edward and Adeline's wedding on Saturday. I wish them both a very healthy and loving life ahead.

July is here and that means my cruise holiday on the 7th as well as the big trip to AYO is coming up very soon! Excitement is building up in me and I really can't wait to be sitting in an orchestra once more, listening to a conductor demanding and squeezing every last bit of effort from the musicians. Lots of new people to meet and new places to visit as well so I'm really hyped up and I can't wait! FOr now that's all and goodnight!

Why I chose to study music and some advice if you'd like to do so

First of all, I'd like to turn the clock back and look on the decisions that I made that put me where I am today.

When I was about to go to secondary school, I had a pretty strong belief that I don't want to study in junior college (here in Singapore that's where you study 2 years and take the GCE 'A' Levels). I wasn't really the studious kind who could stare at books or articles for an extended period of time. That still stands today. So I was pretty set on going to polytechnic, where after 3 years of mixed hands-on and theoretical studies, one gets a diploma.

At about the same time, I started getting interested in planes and I had a Flight Simulator on my computer and I would simulate flying a commercial flight, learning as much about what actually goes on in a flight and so on. So as a result, my aim was to do some form of aviation course in polytechnic and also take a pilot license at the youth flying club.

While all these were happening, I was still very happily playing the trombone in the band (something I've done since 9 years old) and enjoying band as an activity. It did feel like home to me. However, I didn't really consider becoming a musician then. It wasn't until after I went to Hong Kong with the band on an exchange that changed my decisions altogether. When the band was in Hong Kong, we exchanged with one of the youth bands there and they had a trumpet soloist, who currently plays in the HK Sinfonietta, who played the Arutiunian trumpet concert with the youth band accompanying. At that time I was just amazed at how he played. The band also played very well and it was probably at that time when exposed to such good music playing that something inside me told me, yes this is what I want to do, to play music at the highest level.

I had one more year of secondary school after we came back from Hong Kong. That means 'O' Levels and time away from the band. However, sometime in early in the year I decided to audition for the Philharmonic Youth Winds. I'd ask the teachers for the band room key almost everyday and would practise for an hour pieces that my band director had helped me pick. So I went to my first audition, not expecting much because I didn't know what the standard was. At the end of it, I was offered to join the band but on probation so that encouraged me quite a bit. I played my first concert at the Esplanade with with them and I really enjoyed myself. That gave me more intent to pursue music as a career.

Following my 'O' Levels I started to look through websites of professional musicians, particularly trombone players to find any useful articles that would help me understand the profession better. I then decided that I wanted to become an orchestral musician because I really liked playing in a group and from the orchestral recordings I have, I found I've acquired a liking for them. My first CDs contained music of Beethoven and I really enjoyed the emotion that came through from those pieces. I discovered IMSLP while trying to look for full scores of the works I was listening to and tried to follow it. I was really hooked onto music after my 'O' Levels.

I then took the audition to be admitted into the music preparatory course in NAFA and from then on, I worked hard and tried to gain as much orchestral experience as possible and today, I've been notified that I have met the graduation requirements for the diploma with a cumulative GPA of 3.25. Not really impressive but I'm really happy with my final semester grades and more importantly, how much I've seen myself progress through the 3 years in NAFA. Overall, I'm very satisfied.

If you'd like to study music at NAFA, particularly if you're a school band player who wants to head straight to NAFA right after secondary school, here's some advice. The most important thing is this: do not treat your music education as leisure. Too often I see music students who treat their music education as their CCA, as if it's some kind of fun activity with no professionalism at all. If you or your parents are paying money for you to study music full time, you are expected to get a job out of it and if you don't take your education seriously, how can anyone take you seriously? Studying music is not cheap, one has to buy scores, method books, instruments, accessories, etc. So take your education seriously. If you want a job at the end of it, work and study like you want one!

Next, have an end occupation in mind before entering. Is it being an orchestral musician, or wind band musician, school band director, general music teacher, music therapist or something else? Having the end occupation in mind gives you more reason to study music and it helps provide some motivation. Also, you'd start finding out more about that particular occupation and finding out who are the leading (insert occupation) in that field, what are the well-known institutions, etc. You'd also start networking earlier to hopefully put you in the market for jobs.

Finally, gain as much experience as you can in the local scene. Your education in school should be complemented with external engagements that help you get a closer feel of what it's like in the real world. If you want to be an orchestral or wind band performer, get out there and take as many opportunities to play for the local orchestras and wind bands. However, word of caution. Always think about value of yourself. If a project doesn't pay you, you need to ask yourself, is it worth playing? Will you get a good experience playing for the project? These are things that are more relevant the better your skills are but it's worth thinking about for every project you're offered.

So that's it. I hope you enjoy the article and find it useful. Do comment or write to me if you'd like to discuss the article or have some questions!

So almost 3 weeks have passed since my recital. I must admit I have eased my foot off the pedal and have been enjoying the free time and free mind so far. But I think I shall not stay that way too long. I have planned some work for myself to do and I should get on with them!

I've just about completed my A1 course in German. Really glad it's done. It has been about one year since I started. It was tough in the beginning but it's starting to fall into place now. My German teacher is flying back to Germany to visit her family for a month so lots of work she has set for me.

Slide That! rehearsals are under way and it's great to be playing again. We have set repertoire for the upcoming concert. More details to be settled but the first half will include pretty varied repertoire. Only thing now is that attendance might be a problem so I hope everyone will do their part.

An article is coming up on why I studied music and some advice for the student (particularly wind band players) who is thinking of coming to NAFA to further their studies. Stay tuned for that!

Life as a music student at NAFA

I'm done with my recital! So that's it, 3 years of my Diploma in Music Performance gone by. It has been a fulfilling journey so far and I feel in the mood to share my experience of how the course is like.

Entering the course, I already had set my sights on becoming an orchestral player. It was something I wanted to do from the moment I said to myself that I want to become a musician. However, experience and knowledge wasn't on my side. I knew very little of the repertoire, I have never played in an orchestra before NAFA. As I entered my first year, I think I was quite lucky to be able to play in orchestra straight away. It wasn't easy, and I had to come to terms with the precision needed. Technique was also in the way; I was very far from being consistent and intonation was always a struggle. But I kept the mentality of working hard, I knew I had to. Also, when I was in my first year, I had a senior who got me to come to school in the mornings to do exercises together and that's something that developed into a habit for me. Music theory was a slight struggle but I pulled through as I had classmates who had learnt the stuff before and I could always seek help from them. Aural was also a struggle especially pitch and throughout my three years it would be something I would quite unknowingly, become better at, although not fantastic even now! Between the first and second semester of first year, I took many projects and I really learnt quite a bit from there. More orchestral experience (especially etiquette) was gained during the break. After an uneventful second semester, the second year came. A change in the syllabus after the signing of the RCM agreement meant our academic syllabus especially for theory changed quite a lot. We now had to do both piano and actual theory in less contact hours per week. That was a big struggle as I have absolutely zero skill on piano; I just know which key plays what pitch. So for one year under this program, I did struggle quite a lot but again I pulled through somehow. A very influential trip to Italy really opened up my mind as to what the industry is about. Standing in the circle of big name players, playing for them, learning from them and hearing them play for one whole week was really big inspiration for me. I found I approached music almost completely differently when I came back. I paid a lot more attention to what really matters, playing whats on the page, bringing the notes to life. At this point I gained a lot more confidence in my playing. I would know when I put on a bad representation of myself and when I didn't, I'd know I should take it to the next level. Positive feedback was always an encouragement for me to further my standards. In the second semester, Mr. Lim Yau was appointed head of orchestral studies and he too really opened my mind a lot. His thought out way of dealing with the orchestra and improving its standards can be very easily seen today. Under him, I gained even more understanding of how an orchestra functions and what are the demands we can expect out there. Overall, it was a really fruitful year in school. Following that, I took the challenge of playing 2nd trombone in OMM for 6 months. Playing tenor itself was a challenge, but playing 2nd really opened up even more of my perspectives as to how important the part is and that it takes a lot of sensitivity to play the part correctly. As I got more comfortable on the tenor, I'd push myself even further to make myself a better 2nd trombone player. The need to constantly be listening to the 2 players either side of me, adjusting sound, intonation and articulation was kinda forced upon me and I'm glad for it because it's something we should all be doing as high-level musicians but it might not be apparent to us unless in cases like playing 2nd trombone. Had lots of fun on tour with OMM and looking back, my confidence grew and grew as I started to know more through knowledge gained in school and experience gained from being actively playing. At this point, with this knowledge and experience, I start to wonder how some people can get through music school with the attitudes they carry. They don't seem to have a goal to aim for nor do they seem very keen or motivated to working hard towards achieving something truly useful. It begins to dishearten me what kind of people we have here who are supposed to be representatives of the music scene here. Of course there are really good examples, but to me they are far outnumbered by the others. I really did find the school dry of initiative, of creative juices and encouragement. I'd see myself trying to help but I did feel that I lacked support. Perhaps it was because I didn't try hard enough and it's probably stuff I should continue working at and putting even more effort into. Third year did feel a bit of a routine. A trip to Holland gave even more inspiration, taught me a lot about phrasing, how to practise more efficiently and network as well. My first professional audition came and even though I didn't win the freelance position, it gave me really valuable experience as to how I should prepare for an audition. A change in teacher in the second semester did mix things up a bit but it was refreshing to be learning from someone else and have insights I wouldn't get had my previous teacher stayed. I won my first big audition under him (AYO), and although not professional, I consider it to be of high level. There was one module I didn't really like and it was Instrumental & Vocal Teaching. To me, the outreach part in the second semester didn't really help me at all and didn't seem to fit what the module should be about. I was glad when we finished it off. After that, all I had to do was focus on the exams and recital and they went through quite smoothly, save the history exam. Recital was quite a nice experience, most things went to plan. And so, poof! Here we are! Yes I know slightly over a week has passed since but most times I'm trying to enjoy life, exercising, playing more games, watching more TV. These were things I didn't do while I was focusing on my studies. It didn't seem like sacrifices to me because I enjoyed mostly what I was doing in school. I definitely enjoy playing my instrument and it really kept me going all these years. I really do not regret going down this road. It is not easy, it requires a lot of hard work, patience, humility and dedication but in the end, it is enjoyable if you can combine those.

So yup, that was a very brief summary of my life as a music student at NAFA. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to write to me on Facebook! I'll try to keep updated throughout the holidays with my activities. That's all for now, goodnight!

It has been a full month since my last update. Much has happened. Probably the most important thing is that I've received my enlistment date and that will be 12 September. The very fortunate consequent of that is that I now have full relief that I'll be able to play for AYO 2013!

Right, so NAFA's 75th Anniversary Concert was played on 12 April and boy was it enjoyable! It was a blast, literally, I mean I never expected myself to be playing the excerpt from the 4th movement (Starts at Andante Maestoso) with so much effort! But after all the encouragement to make the sound even bigger, I'm glad people actually like it that way! Comments from rehearsals and the concert itself were really encouraging and I have found a new perspective to play that part. Kudos to everyone for the performance, especially the chorus which did a fantastic job and did the work justice and not forgetting the vocal soloists as well! Here's a picture of the trombone section for the concert [L-R: Edmund Chang (alto), Damian Patti (tenor), Foong Jun Jie (tenor) and me on bass]

This concert also marks the last concert I'll play with the NAFA Orchestra as a student. It has been a great run in the orchestra ever since I played in year 1. I've been fortunate to play lots of great repertoire, among them Brahms 3 (which I'll be playing many more times with AYO), Brahms 2, Wagner's Overture to Die Meistersinger, Rossini's Overture to The Barber of Seville, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Schubert 8, Strauss' Vier letzte Lieder, Tchaikovsky's Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture, and many others. It was also great to have played with an alto in the section for Brahms 2 and Beethoven 9; it really opens a new sound world that needs tailoring in the section especially with a comparatively larger instrument like the modern bass trombone.

Now, on to a bit of AYO. The schedule of concerts has already been posted on the AYO website but for convenience I'll put it here: after rehearsals from 22 July to 8 August, we travel to Hanoi and play 2 concerts on 10 and 11 Aug, then to Singapore for another 2 concerts on 13 and 14, then to Zhongshan for a concert on 16, followed by Dong Guan on 17, then to Taipei for 2 concerts on 19 and 20, then back to Hong Kong for 3 concerts from 22 to 24, then to Osaka for a concert on 26, then to Kamakura for a concert on 28, then finally 2 concerts in Tokyo on 29 and 30. What a tour it sounds like already! I am really really excited to meet more great musicians, hopefully make wonderful music and basically be away from the comforts of home and do what I love doing. I'll perhaps start brushing up my mandarin (something I've struggled with since young) since about 1/3 of the 98 musicians are from China and more from Taiwan! Definitely should be something worth improving before setting off. Right, now I shall wait for more details to come from AYO and I'll keep this blog posted on new relevant information from the orchestra!

Finally, I'm in the exam period of school and I'm left with just one, my graduation recital! It has been a nice journey leading to this recital and I have enjoyed every moment of preparing for this important performance. It'll be this coming Thursday with details to the right. I hope to see you there! I've created a Facebook event for it: https://www.facebook.com/events/573283402706370/

So that's about it for now! Hope all of you are doing great and I hope you come back soon for more updates from my world!

Wow, almost a month since I last updated and I think it's time to update because there has been a major happening in my life. I'm very honoured to be selected for the 2013 season of the Asian Youth Orchestra! It was a really big surprise to me; I never really expected myself to be selected and it was one of the most hormone-rushing moments I had in a while! I am really grateful for the opportunity to be part of the orchestra and I am very excited to meet other fine Asian musicians and work together with them for 6 weeks! But right now, I have some hurdles to clear, the biggest of them is NS enlistment. I still have not received assurance that my enlistment will be after I come back from the tour. I can only guess my chances are high that I will not be enlisted before I come back. This will be a major issue that will be casting a grey cloud over my participation in the orchestra so I'm hoping everything turns out fine.

Next week will be a week of many rehearsals for the NAFA Orchestra and Chorus as we make the final push for Beethoven 9. I feel very fortunate to be playing this masterpiece of the classical repertoire, especially whilst still in NAFA. Do get your tickets soon! I have a $20 discount for each ticket for a maximum of 2 tickets so if you'd like to take advantage of this discount, please contact me!

Alright, that's all for now. Goodnight world!

I have finally completed all the group work in school! It feels really great because now I have much more time to practise! Really an awesome feeling. I had a good practice session yesterday practising Lebedev and Beethoven 9. The session actually started out pretty rough because I really couldn't find the spot for the chops to function properly, but after spending a bit more time than usual on buzzing and long tones, it started to get there. And playing some scales helped too! So yup, I felt great after yesterday's session, and I haven't felt like that in a long time!

Last night, I attended a concert by the YST orchestra which presented Beethoven's Coriolan Overture, David's famous Concerto for Trombone and Dvorak's 8th Symphony. I must say, the orchestra has a really nice sound. Unfortunately, it kinda ends there. Lots of intonation, impulse and counting mishaps here and there. The concerto was also not balanced well with the soloist. But, having said those, it was still an evening worth my time. The finale of the symphony was really good and the Beethoven was actually pretty good too!

Alright, it's now time for me to get some work done. Till next time, bye!

It has been busy times since the last post and here's what's been happening.

Firstly, I'm back in the NAFA Orchestra after they put up a very decent performance of French music. It's really nice to be back and what better piece to prepare other than Beethoven's 9th Symphony? Here's a shot at my first rehearsal back in the orchestra.

I'm really enjoying the new height-adjustable chairs and the risers! I'm feeling so much more comfortable in rehearsals. The only thing that's not so contributing to my comfort is the timpani part! Haha! I mean I completely understand why it's loud (Beethoven + wood sticks) but it's about the first time I have to wear earplugs in a concert hall situation! Something new for me! I hope we can prepare the symphony well and pull off a great performance at the Esplanade on the 12th of April.

Next, I auditioned for AYO yesterday. Honestly, it was one of my least prepared auditions. I didn't know the Sibelius symphony very well and even at the audition, I was just playing what's written on the score with no aural aids of knowing other parts to help me. But, having said that, it was one of my more enjoyable auditions! I played almost everything exactly how I wanted (just a shaky low F in the Brahms soft excerpt), I didn't feel particularly nervous (just during that shaky low F! Haha) and the general feedback from the jury was positive so all in all it was a good experience to take away. Now that I'm done with auditions, I can now concentrate on the school excerpts and recital exam!

Right, that's all for now. Goodnight world!

A very blessed Lunar New Year to all! May you be blessed with good health and have a fruitful year ahead of you!

It's been a while since I posted and so much has happened. First of all, I played with OMM at a wonderful concert featuring American repertoire. The concert went well and it was certainly one of the most rewarding concerts I've played. Partly because the parts are challenging, both technically and endurance wise. But we pulled it off quite successfully and a job well done to all OMM members for that! Here are some pictures.

On stage at rehearsal.

Happy faces after a tiring concert! All of us must have been feeling it on the face at this moment!

Next, I have started lessons with my new teacher, Damian Patti, who's a trombonist in the SSO. He brings lots of fresh new ideas to lessons and I'm glad to be learning under him. I do however, miss Fredi, especially his bass trombone playing because Damian doesn't play bass trombone and his knowledge of the bass trombone repertoire is not as in depth as Fredi's. Damian, however, does have a beautiful singing sound on the tenor and it has been inspiring me to produce such a sound. His exercises are also a bit more "mainstream" I'd say and some of them are still challenging so it's more stuff for me to improve on! I hope to have a good semester ahead with Damian and play a good recital at the end of it!

Finally, last week, I did a recording audition for the Pacific Music Festival (PMF). It isn't the first time I was sending a recording for an audition but the reprtoire they requested was pretty tiring! I basically had to play the entire Sachse Concertino, excerpts from Hungarian March, Haydn Creation, Hary Janos and Ein Heldenleben. The requirement is that I have to play the pieces in this sequence and it has to be in one take. This made the takes really tiring but I had lots of fun making the recording! I do not have very high hopes of getting the seat but I did this more for the goal-oriented practice for these excerpts to produce a good recording. My next audition will be for the Asian Youth Orchestra and that will be in 2 weeks time so one more audition to prepare for!

Alright, that's all for now. Goodnight world!

First week of school is over! It has been a tiring week with lots of playing. I haven't gotten used to playing so many hours a week again and hopefully by next week, it'll be ok. I also just got my Laskey 93D! It has a bigger rim and less weight than my Greg Black and it has helped in many ways. Articulations are now easier, low notes speak better without sacrificing high register and it is more comfortable with the rounder and thicker rim but doesn't compromise flexibility. I'm really enjoying it now.

Yesterday, professor at the Guildhall School, Peter Gane, came to NAFA to conduct a trombone masterclass and brass ensemble rehearsal. Although he is very old, he still has an amazing level of energy that he channelled into his teaching. I played 2 excerpts for him and he worked on things like articulation and emphasised what wins an audition panel over. It was a fruitful masterclass.

OMM's rehearsal yesterday was good! Some progress was made and having low brass sectionals the day before really helped. Things are starting to fit together. More work to be done for the orchestra but it was a good rehearsal!

Alright, time to get some work done and attend an SSO concert tonight.

Happy new year everyone! A new year has arrived that I hope will have new learning, positive and fulfilling experiences that await me. 2012 has been a fun year that saw me travel twice to Europe with very meaningful and enriching objectives and experienced a year under Mr. Lim Yau who took over as director of NAFA's chorus and orchestra and subsequently became Head of Music. His guidance in NAFA has definitely increased the standards of the orchestra and chorus at least and I feel very fortunate to be able to spend a great deal of time under his guidance. He has inspired and fuelled knowledge and curiosity in me for music and I've enjoyed every chance I had to play with an orchestra under his direction.

And that includes the New Year's Eve concert by The Philharmonic Orchestra that I just played for. It was a blast of a concert and it was a great second instalment to the countdown concert held by TPO. Cheers to the low brass section for doing a great job! Was really good playing!

Alright, time to catch some sleep. Goodnight world and may you have a great new year!