Love and Life Concert Series presents

The Music Teacher?

2007-11-24T20:20:00.000+08:00

Hi, this is Adeline and myself in Salvador, Brazil.
Normally when I show my students this picture, I will point out 3 things:
1. the cobble-stone streets,
2. the short and quaint buildings,
3. the small balconies on the buildings.
I will then ask why the streets and buildings are like that (because of colonisation) and what kind of feeling they give (definitely different from Singapore). Ultimately, it'll all lead to Samba music.
And I still have a 2500 word essay due next Monday which I am still deciding on what to write.

gone for a while...now back!

2007-11-23T02:21:00.000+08:00

just came back from beijing...will post some photos and post-concert comments in a bit...oh gosh...seemed like a long time ago!

catcha later!

How Ironic....

2007-11-17T23:50:00.000+08:00

I don't know, i just feel it was kinda ironic
I was the one who told Yingning to enjoy himself when performing. Sometimes i just feel that he is too preoccupied with "playing it well" to enjoy himself...
but today what happened was entirely opposite! Yingning was obviously enjoying himself on stage and he was playing so beautifully, while i got ... well, kinda stressed out and i screwed up on a few occasions... so i obviously don't practise what i preach
sorry Yingning, i should've done a better job, but hey, at least we held it together right? :P

Comments, Thoughts and Opinions

2007-11-17T22:49:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone, thank you for your support! Do leave comments on anything- your thoughts, opinions or suggestions. Thanks.

Beach in Brazil

2007-11-15T22:39:00.001+08:00

Hello, this is a picture of Yee San (left) and Adeline (right), taken in Rio de Janiero in Brazil. Look at how beautiful the beach below is.
The little pxmq!

Who You Will See At The Concert

2007-11-15T22:14:00.000+08:00

Hi, another picture to draw the crowd. (Yes, its meant as a joke, haha)

Linkin Park Live in Singapore

2007-11-15T21:59:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone, this is a picture which I took in Linkin Park's concert here in Singapore on this Tuesday night. It was in Indoor Stadium.
The concert was supposed to start at 8pm but it started only slightly past 9pm. The crowd went absolutely wild once it started. 2 words to describe the whole concert right from the beginning till the very end: 'powerful' and 'electrifying'.
There were certainly lots to learn from this concert.

Run Through Last Saturday 3pm

2007-11-14T00:33:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone, this is a picture of our run through last sat at my place. Sorry it doesn't have everyone inside, but this is the picture with the most people inside.
I wonder if this picture can help us attract a bigger audience...

nobody tok rite?

2007-11-13T00:37:00.000+08:00

nobody tok i tok? tok wat also dunno.

at least, ppl cum visit, got new things to see lar...i think my frens here all busy practisin...i also practise wat...but still can blog lor....

anyway, i m still working v hard on singing....i hope i won't disappoint u audience! (if i do, at the most u eat more food lor.....)

i tink i shall take more leave from work to meditate over the songs......hope customers and bosses dun comprain....heee....

so boliao..........bak to translatin bella sicome....

(my 1st time in some sort of singlish on this blog!...i think...)

Mr Heger, Clement and Me

2007-11-08T23:58:00.000+08:00

Hi,
This is a picture of (left to right) me, Clement Huang and Mr Heger. This was just taken today after our run through of the Brahms 3rd violin sonata at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory.
Clement played really well today. I was so impressed that it was really distracting my playing. Mr Heger was all praises. Well done Clement!
Mr Heger has also told us he'll be attending our concert. Hmm.. seems like I'll need to try playing better.
We're so sorry for delaying Xuan Rong's lesson time. She was also the one who helped us take this picture. Thanks!

Status Update: Voice

2007-11-08T00:09:00.001+08:00

Ever since Acis and Galatea just two weeks ago, I feel like I have mastered a little bit more of my voice...I think I sound better now...so, my vocal condition can be said to be fine.

I am almost done with full memorization of the opera segment, but halfway through for the Lieder segment. But my memory should be able to help me finish the job in about two days.

As for the interpretation and the finer details, trust that they will be well-honed by 17 Nov! =)

Oh man...I am forever working on a tight schedule...no worries...as long as I make it...

I WILL!

Quan Hui's Bio

2007-11-07T01:20:00.000+08:00

Quan Hui first ventured into classical singing five years ago. He has studied with William Lim and Reuben Lai in Singapore, Pamela Turner of West Australian Opera, and Russell Smythe of the Royal College of Music, London. In the U.S., Quan Hui was under Bruce Tammen's tutelage in his three undergraduate years studying economics at the University of Chicago. Subsequently, while pursuing his Master’s degree in Regional Studies – East Asia in his one year at Harvard, he continued to study voice with James McDonald and Mark Pearson of New England Conservatory. Quan Hui held his first solo recital Love and Life – A Musical Journey in Singapore in August 2005. Bidding farewell to his four years in the U.S., he held a second solo recital Vocal Crossroads at Harvard in May 2006. Back in Singapore for good, he sung in his third solo recital Live and Love Again in August 2006. He performed in his first opera production, Handel’s Acis and Galatea, singing the role of Damon just a month ago. He currently studies with Thomas Manhart. In addition to singing, Quan Hui plays the piano and conducts RWinds, a symphonic band composed of alumni of the three Raffles bands.

Yingning's Bio

2007-11-06T13:37:00.000+08:00

Hello, this is my bio and yes, it would be boring. So... I've included another not so boring picture of myself and some of the other younger and wonderful colleagues from New Town Sec. (Left to right: Pearl, Yvonne, me, Chiu Shuan and JieLing.) If you are smart enough, you'll see that it was Racial Harmony Day!

My bio:

Low YingNing studied the violin first with Mr Lee Yuk Chuan then with Mr Jiri Heger. He did ‘O’ and ‘A’ level music and went on to study violin performance and electrical engineering in University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, where he studied the violin under Jiang Danwen and Sibbi Bernhardsson. He is currently undergoing teacher training in National Institute of Education and also teaches the violin privately. Besides music, Yingning’s other interest lies in travelling, especially with pxmq.
Yingning would like to thank Mr Heger for his help in the preparation for this concert.

Johannes Brahms

2007-11-06T13:26:00.000+08:00

Hi, anticipating how boring program notes can be, I've included a less boring picture from New Town Sec with some of the Sec 5 students this year. (Left to Right: Kaiyun, Joanne, me, Melissa, Charis and Yulin) Yes, it was Racial Harmony Day.

Program notes for Brahms:

Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108

I: Allegro
II: Adagio
III: Un poco presto e con sentimento
IV: Presto agitato

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) is probably well known for destroying many of his own compositions in his lifetime due to his intense self-criticism. Genres to which Beethoven had significantly contributed especially caused Brahms to doubt his own abilities. It was not until 1879, with 2 symphonies and the Violin Concerto under his belt, that he felt confident enough to publish a violin sonata.
The 3^rd violin sonata, composed between 1886 and 1888, is the last sonata Brahms composed for the violin. That its technical difficulties should not be underestimated was brought home to the composer himself and to Joachim at a concert in Berlin in October 1892, when they decided to play the piece without first rehearsing it beforehand, only to come to grief in the final movement.

Eugene Ysaye

2007-11-06T13:23:00.000+08:00

Hi, the program notes for Eugene Ysaye (hope not too boring):

Sonata for Solo Violin, Op. 27 No. 4 in E minor

I: Allemande
III: Finale

Eugene Ysaye (1858-1931) was born in Belgium into a musical family where it was taken for granted that the son should inherit his father’s instrument. He studied the violin with Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski in Brussels and was named the ‘ultimate violinist’ by his contemporaries having fused the brilliance and elegance of the French school, as exemplified by Sarasate, with a musical approach that was as laudably honest and dedicated as that of the German school headed by Joachim.
The Six Sonates pour violon Seul Op. 27 were published in 1924 and were composed long after Ysaye’s performing days were over. The idea of writing these sonatas was originally inspired when Ysaye heard a performance by Szigeti of one of the Bach solo sonatas. Lamenting the paucity of works composed for solo violin, he then shut himself away in the study of his seaside villa, emerging triumphantly some 24 hours later clutching detailed sketches of these 6 solo sonatas. It remains his only composition receiving any attention today.
Each of the 6 solo sonatas are dedicated to one of his friends – all of whom were celebrated violinists – and were cleverly designed to reflect the individual temperaments, strengths, even idiosyncrasies, of their dedicatees. Ysaye’s own favourite was the 4^th sonata which he dedicated to Fritz Kreisler. It perfectly embraces the charm and rhythmic incisiveness that were the very essence of this peerless Viennese player.

The PROGRAMME for Love and Live III - Three's Company

2007-11-06T00:36:00.000+08:00

I. ROBERT SCHUMANN - Selections from Liederkreis, op. 24
Morgens steh' ich auf
Es treibt mich hin
Ich wandelte unter den Bäumen
Schöne Wiege meiner Leiden
Lai Quan Hui, voice
Nicholas Loh, piano

II. JOHANNES BRAHMS - Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor
Low Ying Ning, violin
Clement Huang, piano

~ intermission ~

III. EUGENE YSAYE - Violin Sonata No. 4 in E minor, 1st & 3rd movements
Low Ying Ning, violin

IV. KARL PILSS - Trumpet Sonata
Low Jia Hua, trumpet
Cheng Shih-Wei, piano

V. OPERA SELECTIONS
Wolfgang Mozart
Deh vieni alla finestra, from "Don Giovanni"
Gaetano Donizetti
Bella siccome un angelo, from "Don Pasquale"
Charles Gounod
Avant de quitter ces lieux, from "Faust"
Giuseppe Verdi
Per me giunto, from "Don Carlo"
Lai Quan Hui, voice
Nicholas Loh, piano

Where is Yingning?

2007-11-02T22:31:00.000+08:00

A big hello from the citizens on my brother's bed. They've since moved up to mine!
I am sorry that the pxmq is facing with some trouble with her research right now... I have prepared a list of solutions which, however, can only be delivered when I go over:
- Seaweed egg-drop soup
- Help to read up on all the biology text books
- Buy shoes(?)
- Boil water
- Give a big bo-bo and another one after that
I would also like to congratulate Chong Kian and Faith for their upcoming wedding. I hope our quartet will play well for the wedding.

Glimpse of New Town 2

2007-10-31T23:05:00.000+08:00

Hello,
As promised, more pics from New Town! Hmm.. teachers actually look happy?
The teachers shown here are (Left to Right): myself, Choon Hon, Roy and Jeffrey. Guess who's the odd one out? I'm the only non-Geography teacher.

I want to use this post to also thank my NIE classmates from both my music and maths classes for showing their support! Maybe should take pictures of you all and post here also.

What's the Programme?

2007-10-28T17:06:00.000+08:00

Hey 3's Company people, we need the full programme up on the webbie and in a copy-able form so that I can do proper advert and marketing for our recital!

Let's have your items please!

Tribute to Nice People

2007-10-28T16:39:00.000+08:00

OK! Tribute to some nice people who came for my opera performance, Acis & Galatea, exactly one week ago:

Presenting...Mamee, Me and Dairdee...

...and...Yingning (the violinist of the LnL fame), Anthony, Me and Hong Yi!

Needless to say, all of them will be at Love and Live III - Three's Company!

Glimpse of New Town 1

2007-10-26T00:45:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone,

This is Miss Lee and me in the staff room in New Town Sec. This was taken on the last day I was teaching there, which was near the end of July this year.

I'm very thankful to have a desk at such a wonderful location. Miss Lee used to sit right beside me. If its not for me, Yvonne could have moved to my desk much sooner, sorry!

New Towners visiting this blog please leave comments so that it'll be more fun leh.

Acis & Galatea: Damon

2007-10-24T02:02:00.001+08:00

Finally, the first of my three concerts is DONE!

Strange things do happen.

I have two arias.
The one that I usually did better in ("Would you gain the tender creature") turned out worse...I forgot the words (but I guess it's not too obvious to the audience) and almost missed one entrance! I am glad "Shepherd, what art thou pursuing" went quite well!

Through the video recordings, I have clearly improved since a year back...BUT...

1. I moved too much (so much so that it is very difficult to take photos of me).2. I was so preoccupied with acting that I severely compromised my posture (lifted my head too much; leaned too much backward, etc.). In recitals where acting is not encouraged, I believe I am much more conscious of being in a correct posture.

...so...I had problems holding my phrases and so on and so forth...(It's hard enough that I am singing so high...now I make it harder for myself by being in a bad posture.)

All in all, a WONDERFUL learning experience!

...a timely LESSON...Love and Live III - Three's Company...will be great!

By Dover In Clementi

2007-10-23T22:45:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone,
It seems like some of us are quite busy since there are fewer posts recently.

Anyway, I've sent out some SMSes to my ex-students from New Town Secondary School (yes, its by Dover in Clementi). So, look out for pics I took in New Town in the subsequent posts!

I want to use this post to wish all students in New Town all the best for their exams, especially students from 51 and 52 who're doing their 'O' Levels now.

Poster Draft 4

2007-10-18T23:06:00.000+08:00

Hello again, this is the latest draft, after I found that the lighter coloured one is nicer and that we're having another musician joining us.

What you think?

All xxx pics finally in!

Poster Draft 3

2007-10-18T19:39:00.001+08:00

Hello all, I've inverted the colour of the background and have made it greyscale as I think it may bring more attention to use bright coloured words against a dark background.

How?

Still waiting for Nich's dirty pic.

Poster Draft 2

2007-10-18T07:10:00.001+08:00

Hi all, the latest draft of the poster. The pictures look alright I think. We just need Nich's xxx pictures that's all.

Any comments or any ideas?

Tentative Ticket (courtesy of Jia Hua who has problems posting)

2007-10-17T23:55:00.000+08:00

What Yingning is Practising

2007-10-15T23:43:00.001+08:00

This is a picture of my brother YingLiang sleeping. Little Bah Kuah is also sleeping with his face down and hands sticking out.

Do comment if this picture is entirely irrelevant or inappropriate.

Actually, besides the Brahms 3rd Sonata and Ysaye 4th Sonata, I am also working on the Beethoven Concerto. Which is really quite nice. I am hoping to put it up with piano accompaniment sometime next year.

Thanks to all too...

2007-10-15T21:11:00.000+08:00

Well, i guess this shall be the first (blog) post of mahbadself...haha
First I would like to think Yingning for inviting me to play with him... haha when you're not even a full-time musician and gets invited to play for something like this u gotta be grateful... and also it has forced me to start practising again, otherwise every night after work i will cheong home and play sango 11 or C&C 3 or something.... this is where i found the joy of practising... so yeah thanks guys!!
And another big thanks goes out to Jia Hua for working so hard to organize this stuff... i know the logistics part is always very hard to take care of, and i'm sure you'll do a great job!
of course i have to thank Mr Heger as well... his coaching certainly has been enlightening!!

now thanks but no thanks... to my technician... who claims that he is going to repair my piano, took the entire internal assembly away for more than a week, and comes back un-repaired because he couldn't get the parts!! ARRGGHH.... my morale was damn low after he returned it un-repaired, as i thought i would be able to practise on something good for a change... well, guess gotta stick to the status quo :(

Alright, guys, no matter what, let's smash this!

Acis & Galatea (20 & 21 October 2007)

2007-10-14T23:31:00.000+08:00

Hi everybody! I will take the chance to advertise the chamber opera that I am performing in, Handel's Acis and Galatea, this coming Sunday (21 Oct 07) 5pm at Singapore Art Museum Auditorium.

What is chamber opera? It is simply a small-scale opera in every sense of the adjective...shorter, performed in a small hall, limited staging, limited acting. Our Singapore Lyric Opera does BIG BIG BIG operas! Singapore hasn't seen much of chamber operas...so this is a niche operastudio is trying to fill!

I will be playing the role of Damon, Acis' sidekick...basically telling everybody what they ought to do. This will be my first operatic role! Though not a very comfortable one for me initially as Damon is cast as a tenor....when I am not really a tenor (maybe not yet?)...hmmm...not too sure what my fach really is...

Took me months' of work to be comfortable with the tessitura of the two arias that I am singing... Finally, I think everything is in place. And I am glad I took up this challenge, without which I won't have made audible improvement! If you are free, please do come! Contact me for tickets at rimb97@yahoo.com.sg.

But if you are tight on budget (this opera is $25 bucks!) or time, then I would prefer you come to Love & Live III, as my air-time in the recital is at least three times greater than in the opera.

Check it out at everyone's fave encyclopaedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acis_and_Galatea.

Yingning Returns

2007-10-13T20:08:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone. This is Adeline and me somewhere in Napa Valley, California.
As you can see from the picture, she is the pink xmq while I am the blue xmq.
I must thank Clement for his enthusiasm in playing the Brahms with me. Of course, I am grateful to Mr Heger too, for his extremely helpful coaching.
I feel that this year is really going by so fast. 1st I was still in New Town Sec then now I am in NIE and this love and life concert will be coming. I often wonder what I've accomplished.
For those interested in finding out more about Carl Sagan: http://www.carlsagan.com/

Pix make blogs popular...

2007-10-12T23:54:00.000+08:00

OK...we learnt last year that pictures make a blog exciting and popular....so, here's one...

...OK OK...did it work? maybe not...maybe the pic must show some porn star or some hot chick to attract attention...but no no...this is a clean blog...we don't want unsavory people using our blog for their own night-time entertainment...

but in any case...there ARE indeed two hot chicks in the pic!...and many hot dudes!

this pic was taken at last year's megahit "Live and Love Again"! we expect them to be yearning for more in "Love and Life 3: Three's Company" (not a hint...it's a shout!)...

Love and Life 3: Three's Company

2007-10-12T23:36:00.000+08:00

It's been just decided that this year's concert name will be Love and Life 3: Three's Company. "3" because, obviously this is our third edition, and "Three's Company" because since the first Love and Life in 2005, three out-of-whack guys with TOTALLY different ideas about what this series should be are STILL here, going at it.

Of course, none of this is possible without the support of our collaborators over the years, and this year is no different. Thanks Nicholas and Clement! And in case you, the reader, haven't noticed - I'm not playing this year! Having a full-time job, with no place to practice means I don't have any time nor chance to put together anything at all. Plus the fact that I usually end up taking care of things on stage and off on the concert day, we've decided to let that be my main item this year hahaha

Wah...Esplanade Library not so big hor...

2007-10-12T01:28:00.000+08:00

OK! I don't care where the others are...as I said about a year ago, I can make this my own personal blog! I hope I am interesting enough to keep the bloggie alive! Of course, our blog design can be improved...(we are very aware of that...)

Anyway, I borrowed my first scores from the Esplanade Library. Got what I wanted...the high voice score of Schumann Liederkreis op. 24! But...was kinda surprised at how small the library is...erm...I kinda expected more from a national arty-farty library. I can't help but compare it with the Chicago and Harvard collection of music scores that I totally love.

In any case, a good library is one where I can find what I want. So, I guess...for now...Esplanade Library fits the bill.

Where's everybody?

2007-10-12T01:27:00.001+08:00

to esplanade library

2007-10-08T01:47:00.001+08:00

ok...i am going to borrow my first scores from esplanade library on monday or tuesday to get the Schubert Liederkreis op. 24 score for höhe Stimme, which for the first two songs fits me better...failing which i will have to borrow from someone...whoever he/she may be...

Retrospection: To be Satisfied or Not

2007-10-08T01:23:00.000+08:00

I am sure many of you have experienced the same issues with retrospection. When I listen to my old recordings, I can't believe I sang like that in the past and was actually satisfied with it. But, I guess, at any one point, when you don't know enough, you think that is good enough. But, no problems with that...imagine the converse: because you know so much, you are never satisfied...then...you must as well never perform.

So, now that I am committed to perform on 17 Nov, I believe by then I should (or rather, must) be satisfied (or more ideally, delighted) with my standard. To enable me to achieve that, I shall not be stupid enough to perform a song cycle again without adequate preparation (to my teacher, Thomas Manhart, that's at least a whole year..."we Germans show respect for song cycles"...). And, with my crazy fulltime (+ overtime) JTC work, Acis and Galatea, RWinds concert and my exam, so that I can assure that I can be at least satisfied with myself on 17 Nov, I shall:

1. cut down my performance time
2. not learn too many new songs
3. use the most appropriate key for my voice
4. learn the text and story so damn well!

...but of course I know when I look back at this episode next year, I will be far from satisfied...which is good news actually, because that means I will have made improvement over the next year!

More Info

2007-10-01T23:33:00.000+08:00

here's more info from mahbadself...
Jia Hua i think there is a slight error here
Yingning will be accompanied by mahbadself... and QuanHui will be accompanied by Nicholas, not the other way around as you have posted
QuanHui and Nicholas, please contact mahbadself on MSN by wacky_jhawk@yahoo.com for the score of Liederkreis (yes Jia Hua you are NOT that rusty after all =P)
However for my score it seems to be transposed after all.
For the first 3 songs, the first song is in F-sharp minor, the second in G major (but it says originally in A major) and the third in E major... any problems with that? if there's a problem then better check out the originals...

What's in a name...

2007-10-01T23:08:00.000+08:00

Okay, first off, we'll need to think of the name for this year's concert. I guess we don't necessarily need to include both "Love" and "Life", but definitely something that will tie the various threads in the programme together.

Off the top of our heads just now came:

Love and Laughter
LHLL?
Living in Love
Loving in Life
A Life without Love
Music Passion
Love Lost

Quan Hui: perhaps you can provide some background about selected songs?

Ying Ning: can relevant trivia about your pieces?

Nic and Clement: we'll wait for your ideas about your own items, okay?

Myself, I just flipped through my Emily Dickinson anthology, and came across this:

That I did always love
I bring thee Proof
That till I love
I never lived - Enough -

2007 Programme

2007-10-01T22:56:00.000+08:00

Hi guys, welcome Nicholas and Clement to the Love and Life team!

We've just had our first meeting for this year and have come up with a rough sketch of the programme. Stay tuned for more exciting updates in the coming weeks as we work towards 17 November at YMS!

At present,

Ying Ning, accompanied by Nicholas

Brahms. 3rd Violin Sonata in D Minor (20 mins)
Ysaye (where does the umlaut go?). 4th Sonata, 1st and 3rd movements (10 mins)

Quan Hui, accompanied by Clement

4 Opera Arias from
Gounod. Faust
Verdi. Don Carlo
Mozart. Don Giovanni
Donizetti. Don Pasquale

Schumann. 1st 3 songs of Liederkreis (?) - sorry, my music history is a bit rusty!
Mendelssohn. 2 other songs.

Guys, it's up to you to update full details, okay?

hey there again!

2006-10-11T23:52:00.000+08:00

it's been a very long time since anyone updated this blog. lemme provide you some much awaited statistics on Live and Love Again!

we sold 134 tickets in all. but including complimentary tickets...

150 PEOPLE IN OUR AUDIENCE!!!

we are very happy with the attendance! it's been nothing short of exhilerating!

Thank you, everyone!!!

My Family @ the Reception!

2006-08-31T00:22:00.000+08:00

We thought it would be nice to have a reception to thank all of you for your kind presence. Hope all of you enjoyed the food! Here's my family!
A wonderful lot! They have silently borne the unimaginable torture of my singing night-in night-out. And that's extremely commendable already!...not forgetting the healthy drinks that mamee made, the errands that dairdee ran and the flowers that chieh-chieh bought!!! and of course, E.T., for being as crazy as ever!!! A peerless combination!

QH's Thoughts on Live and Love Again

2006-08-30T23:17:00.001+08:00

I knew it would be over soon.

I am happy I went through all these...organizing all these recitals and making myself go through them all. On hindsight...a worthwhile experience. If I had nothing to work for, my singing would have stagnated and all my money (eh...lessons are damn expensive!) and effort over the past four years would have gone to...waste...(I believe this principle applies to most people!)

I started out my German set shaky...maybe because it's the very first song...and also because the first two German songs were soft and slow. It's much harder to begin with soft and slow songs because they just require so much energy, so much focus, so much control, so much flow. But I am glad I did because now I would have had the experience of having done so. How can anyone calls oneself a singer when one can only have as one's first song a loud one!? By the time I reached Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen, I felt great...very lively...a nice and comfortable song to sing...and...in fact, the only song in the entire evening that fits my natural voice range most ideally!

When I returned backstage, I was contented with my German set (I always had an affinity to German songs!) and the butterflies all left my tummy. But then as Ying Ning played with such flourished and the intermission passed, I grew more nervous. But I knew it would all be fine since I would take out my score onto the stage!

Songs of Travel started fine. I told myself to focus on the story. Story! Story! Story! First three songs went fine. I enjoyed Let Beauty Awake among all three. Leslie liked that best too. Someone on the net also remarked that that song was the gem among all the nine songs in the cycle. Then came...Youth and Love. That's when I began to look at the score for the first time. Not such a good idea. I lost track of the story and just began to think about the notes and the rhythm...BAD BAD BAD...it's all over when anyone starts to do that! It's all about the music! About the STORY! But it's not all that bad...I think most people could not tell...but I could and that's all that matters. The root of the problem is that I was not familiar and hence not confident enough of the song in the first place. The next song, In Dreams, was better but the score was still in front of me...so I couldn't trust myself enough to know the lyrics and rhythm well enough. Again, the story was lost. The rest of the cycle was enjoyable and I did not refer to the score at all. But then someone asked me why I still flipped the pages of the score. That is because I still wanted some assurance in case I forgot my words!

Now I know: throw away the scores and get onto the damned stage. Strangely, Live and Love Again was the first time I ever performed with a score in front of me. A bad experiment musically. But a good experiment too: at least now I know never to do that again! =) On another positive note, I think this recital is to date my best one, in terms of vocal timbre, vocal control, composure, music and story-telling. Of course, I still have a long way to go and I will go work on it!

Live and Love Again certainly has provided me with much experience and helped me understand myself more. And I hope I did tell you a very good story about love and life that very afternoon!

If you have any feedback, thoughts or anything at all about our individual performances or the concert in general, please please please let us know! We would really like to hear from you!

Thank you all for coming! =)

E.T. and his brothers at Live and Love Again!

2006-08-30T00:53:00.000+08:00

E.T.'s "fake" korkor, Gabriel Ho Jimin, feeding him food at the after-concert tea reception! How sweet!

Fantastic HOT XXX CONCERT PIX!!!

2006-08-30T00:50:00.000+08:00

...by our official photographer, Mr. James Chan Lianghong!...

at http://www.data1ore.com/ (click on Live and Love Again)!

We thank him for the FANTASTIC HOT XXX PIX!!!

SO EXCITING!

2006-08-28T01:02:00.000+08:00

so exciting! it's over! i will talk more later!

2006-08-27T22:44:00.000+08:00

Hi. I would like to thank everyone who attended the concert this afternoon. I though the concert went quite well.
However, I'm just a bit sad that the pxmq had to sleep so late... Oh dear.
My dad has made a DVD recording of most of the concert. I'll be reproducing copies of it over the course of this coming week. Those who miss the concert may drop me a message to request for a copy of this recording =) I will then decide whether to give you a copy or not.
Well, I'll be posting even more thoughts about the concert soon......

THE CONCERT IS TOMORROW!

2006-08-26T23:00:00.000+08:00

It's so exciting! It's great! We can't wait to share our music with all of you!

In appreciation, we have provided some small tea reception after the concert! Come and join us!

See you tomorrow!

Sim Keng Boon

2006-08-26T09:21:00.000+08:00

Sim Keng Boon started learning the piano at 7 and attained a LTCL in Piano Performance at 16. He made his concerto debut with Grieg’s Piano Concerto, and read Music and Mathematics at the University of Birmingham where he majored in piano performance and graduated with 1^st class honours. Keng Boon furthered his piano studies with Jonathan French at the Birmingham Conservatoire, and performed Rachmaninov’s 2^nd Piano Concerto with the University of Birmingham Orchestra. In Singapore, he has performed in various events including SSO’s annual Piano Marathon. He teaches music at Yishun JC, and is under the guidance of internationally renowned pianist Tedd Joselson. Keng Boon will be having his debut piano recital on 16^th and 17^th of September 2006 at Alliance Francaise.

Seow Aik Keong

2006-08-26T09:20:00.000+08:00

A pupil of Ms Lim Tshui Fang, Aik Keong won several prizes in the Intermediate, Senior and Open categories of the National Music competitions. He represented Singapore to participate in the Pan Pacific Advanced Piano School Camp once in 1995 as an oboist and again in 1998 as a pianist for the Advanced Piano School Camp in Sydney, Australia. He was selected twice to perform for the President of the Republic of Singapore, first in 1996 in a shared recital, and again in 1999 as a soloist with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra for the President’s Charity. In his first year of study in RJC, he appeared as a soloist twice, first as an oboist in a Handel’s oboe concerto and second time as one of the pianists in Le Carnaval de animaux. In his second year, he re-orchestrated the RJC anthem, was the Music Director of Raffles Symphonic Band, obtained an ‘S’ Paper distinction in Music and won the prestigious Creative Arts Awards. Aik Keong studied the piano with Professor Patsy Toh from the Royal Academy of Music while completing his music education (Honours and Masters) in King’s College London. Apart from being the principal oboist in the College orchestra, the Music Director of the Kings College London Wind Band, he also had the honour to perform as a soloist with the University Orchestra.

Pianists Galore: Seow Aik Keong & Sim Keng Boon

2006-08-26T09:17:00.000+08:00

Hi everybody,

We would like to inform you that one of our original pianists, Beatrice Lin, is unfortunately and quite untimely down with chicken pox. We wish her all the best in her recovery.

Her replacement will be Seow Aik Keong and Sim Keng Boon! Here are the bios of our two newest members in the Love and Life family in the following two posts.

YingNing's Bio!!!

2006-08-23T22:56:00.000+08:00

Low YingNing graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in 2004 with degrees in electrical engineering and violin performance. While in Illinois, he studied the violin with Jiang Danwen and Sibbi Bernhardson. In Singapore, YingNing still seeks the guidance of Mr Heger and has taken lessons from Yew Shan. His other music training includes obtaining an ATCL in piano and having done ‘A’level music.

Currently, YingNing teaches music and mathematics in New Town Secondary School. He also teaches violin privately. Besides music, YingNing also enjoys traveling, especially with Adeline.

Quan Hui's Bio

2006-08-23T00:25:00.000+08:00

Quan Hui started his music education with piano, obtaining an ATCL in piano performance. In his teens, he picked up the trombone and then led the Raffles Junior College Symphonic Band to top honours in the All-American Music Festival in Orlando, Florida in 1999, inspiring the judges to create an Outstanding Student Conductor award just for him. Subsequently, he decided to venture into singing, beginning his first classical voice lessons four years ago. Still a young singer, he has studied with William Lim and Reuben Lai of Singapore Lyric Opera, Pamela Turner of West Australian Opera, Russell Smythe of the Royal College of Music, London. In the

U.S.

, Quan Hui was under Bruce Tammen's tutelage in his three years at the University of Chicago. Subsequently, while pursuing his Master’s degree in his one year at Harvard, he continued to study voice with James McDonald and Mark Pearson of New England Conservatory. Thus far, Quan Hui has participated in four vocal showcases in Chicago, before singing his first recital Love and Life – A Musical Journey in

Singapore

in August 2005. Bidding farewell to his four years in the

U.S.

, he held a second recital Vocal Crossroads at Harvard in May 2006. Live and Love Again marks his third recital in his very short singing "career" and he hopes to share what he has learnt over the past four years with you today.

4 Reasons Why I am MIA

2006-08-17T00:18:00.000+08:00

i hv been missin in action...cuz i hv been...

1. ...talkin so much and so loudly (cuz it's noisy) last thu, fri and sat evening until my voice got really really tired...

2. ...figurin out which key suits me the best in songs of travel...go ask beatrice how fickle i m...not me really, but my voice...OK! i hv decided: just one semitone up!

3. ...busy wif all other things...like makin my new (quite expensive) suit (which won't b used for de concert), like playin soccer (actually, tryin to) after months of absence, like tryin to play de freakin trombone until my lips r all busted (despite de pseudo-alexander technique dat i claim to b possibly experimentin [much qualification in dis statement...hehe...])...

4. ...watchin cool liverpool beat de hell outta arrogant chelsea (actually watchin my 1st full-length soccer match in a decade!...erm...apart from some 10 mins of recuperation towards de end...)

not much time left...but i will make it...i know it...YAY!

The Little Ducky and a FREE Concert on Wed

2006-08-14T20:35:00.000+08:00

Hi,

This is the little Ducky. He may look a bit sad, but actually he's very happy! He is a good friend of the Little Babo. He thinks of the pxmq very often, just like what the bxmq does all the time.

I have a free concert coming up this Wednesday (tomorrow) in NUS LT13 at 7:30pm. For more details:

http://www.nus.edu/cfa/aug_2006.html

I just started work yesterday and it was really really very tiring. I am teaching maths and music in New Town Sec. I would like to thank Mr Ho for providing me with a comprehensive and helpful orientation of the school. Also, my fellow music teacher Yvonne, who made me feel much more comfortable in school as well as other fellow teachers/HODs/Staff like Miss Ng, Ms Chan, Siti, Alfred, Mr Malik, ChiuShuan, Miss Lee, Pearl, Roy, David, Helen, Barnabas, Mrs Goh, Mr Colin Koh and Mr Poon. Thanks!

Oh dear.. I feel like I'm down with flu/cold which I thought I fended off on Monday. I'll just think of my dear little Adeline.

Football Bulletin: FA Community Shield

2006-08-14T00:14:00.000+08:00

LIVERPOOL 2 CHELSEA 1

How Could I Not Practise the Violin?

2006-08-13T22:08:00.000+08:00

Hi,

Yes, I don't practise the violin the whole day. Besides explaining why I'm not exactly really good at the instrument, it's also why I manage to kill so many bad robots in the virtual world.

This is a picture of my brother (behind) and I (in front) playing the computer game 'Fantastic 4'. Its one of the few pc games available now which can allow 2 players to play on the same comp at the same time! Plus, there are just tonnes of enemies to trash! Also, it's really not that hard to lose.

Oh dear... Beatrice might be thinking 'why isn't yingning practising when he actually still reads the notes wrongly in his Grieg Sonata?'. OK, I promise I'll practise seriously tomorrow. I also promise my little xxpxmq that I'll not forget to call/ delay calling her because of computer playing. I'll also sy her and bb her more.

Program Notes for Grieg 1st Violin Sonata

2006-08-10T19:14:00.000+08:00

Sonata no. 1 in F major, op. 8

Edvard Grieg was born on 15 June 1843 in Bergen, Norway. He is perhaps best known for his piano concerto, orchestral suites and numerous piano lyric pieces. His 3^rd violin sonata is also a favorite work among violinists. However, it will not be performed here. In contrast, the 1^st violin sonata, which will be played, is less well known and performed less frequently. When describing his 3 violin sonatas, the composer remarked: “The First is naïve, reflecting many antecedents; the Second national and the Third reveals wider horizons”.

Grieg’s 1^st sonata was written while he was living in Rungsted, Denmark, in the summer of 1865 – a period which he later described as “a happy time of triumph and accomplishment”. It contains many attractive melodies, most memorable of which would be the opening of the 2^nd movement, characteristically Norwegian folk. The middle Trio section of this same movement evokes the springar of the Hardanger fiddle (Norwegian folk violin), with the use of open string drones. Though not as nationalistic as his 2^nd violin sonata, the 1^st was claimed to be the first “Norwegian” violin sonata for the use of these folk features.

Grieg was devoted to the idea of expressing a Norwegian voice in his music, and created a unique and individual style through his expressive lyricism and pronounced nationalism. Other personal touches in this sonata include the two mysteriously out-of-key minor chords which begin the 1^st movement, and the Andante minor-key transformation of the opening theme which precedes the development section and returns to end the movement.

Programme Order

2006-08-09T23:13:00.000+08:00

Telemann

Selections from 12 Heroic Marches
La Majeste
La Grace
La Vaillance

Jia Hua, trumpet
Shi Mei, piano

Schubert

Der Neugierige
Am Meer

Schumann

Ich grolle nicht
Wenn ich in deine Augen seh'
Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen

Quan Hui, voice
Aik Keong, piano

Grieg

Violin Sonata in F

Ying Ning, violin
Keng Boon, piano

** Intermission **

Joaquin Nin

"1830" Variations

Shi Mei, piano

Grieg

Last Spring
So lokka me over den myra

Jia Hua, trumpet
Shi Mei, piano

Vaughan-Williams

Songs of Travel

Quan Hui, voice
Aik Keong, piano

Special Ensemble Item prepared by Yuan Peiying

my (almost) confirmed repertoire...

2006-08-09T19:17:00.000+08:00

1st Half
Franz Schubert Heidenröslein
Franz Schubert Der Neugierige
Franz Schubert Am Meer
Robert Schumann Wenn ich in deine Augen seh'
Robert Schumann Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen

The above set of 5 songs revolves around love and evil women...*chuckles*

2nd Half
Ralph Vaughan-Williams Songs of Travel (cycle of 9 songs)

This song-cycle talks about a vagabond and his pursuit of life and love. It will be transposed a tone up to better suit my voice range (thanks to Mr Reuben Lai for his suggestion).

as requested by Jia Hua...my 1st half repertoire...

2006-08-07T23:30:00.000+08:00

Franz Schubert Der Neugierige
Franz Schubert Am Meer

Robert Schumann Wenn ich in deine Augen seh'
Robert Schumann one more to be confirmed

sorry ppl out there...prob not doin Erlkönig as stated in de poster...still thinkin abt Heidenröslein...

if only i could be half as successful as him...

2006-08-07T23:13:00.000+08:00

quiz: anyone knows who they are?

Programme Notes

2006-08-07T02:03:00.000+08:00

I did a little bit of research on Oskar Lindberg and Telemann last Thursday afternoon.

Is everyone working on your programme notes??

Another Trumpet Update

2006-08-07T01:40:00.000+08:00

Things are slowly falling into place on the trumpet side. Up till now, I've been focusing on the Grieg songs and the Lindberg, and going through the Telemann in my head.

As I've mentioned before, all of these are arrangements from pieces originally meant for different mediums, so I don't actually have "trumpet"-published music to work from, with the exception of the Telemann.

I'm reading the Grieg's Last Spring off the voice-piano score, and another piece I've decided to throw in, So lokka me over den myra, off the piano part. The Lindberg exists as a handwritten transcription of the melody, while I still have to clean up the midi version of it, so that it is actually readable on the piano staves. In any case, I've decided that it makes most sense to perform from memory, so that one can focus on the musical atmosphere instead of being guided onstage by the printed score. Of course, this is easiest for me to say, as I probably have the least number of notes to play among all the performers!

Shimei just performed her Spitze concert tonight (Bravo! to all performers by the way), so I'm hoping to kidnap her soon to read through the music. Also tonight, I received the piccolo trumpet I'm borrowing from one of my teachers, Yap Thien Soo, so I can start physically working up the Telemann. Heartfelt thanks to Mr Yap!

More updates as and when they occur!

Thomas Quasthoff....

2006-08-07T00:44:00.000+08:00

...says that, one should take risks during performances. And plenty of them too. It's the excitement of performing, and I'm sure we all like that kind of feeling. That's why we are doing what we are doing now! This man is fantastic. Although I can't remember every single word from his (one! unfortunately!) masterclass that I attended, he was really inspiring, and to me, a true great artist. It was interesting seeing how he worked with cellists during the session, and how much many string players don't know about the similarities between their instruments and the way they play, as compared to the voice. On top of that, he's a really humourous fellow as well. He liked to use examples of little children to add pictorial images to musicians' emotions, for instance, to imagine your child was running towards you, flying to give you a big, warm hug. Also, examples of nature, like, flowers popping up everywhere (something like beavers popping up from holes in the ground or something...)....

Little Fozzy Bear!

2006-08-06T23:23:00.000+08:00

Hi,
Here is the picture of the little Fozzy Bear. He wears a little helicopter cap and guess what.. he's also a supporter of our concert!

Besides this upcoming Live and Love Again concert, I'll actually be putting up another one in NUS. However, this is a free concert and it'll be entirely Mozart.
It'll be on 16 Aug, 7:30pm, LT13 NUS.
More details (& 1 pic of us): http://www.nus.edu/cfa/aug_2006.html

I would also like to thank Mr Heger for giving me a lesson yesterday evening, where he provided valuable insights to the musical interpretation of the 1st Grieg violin sonata. He gave me many ideas which I'll put to use. He also lent me a recording of Oscar Schumsky playing all 3 of Grieg's sonata on Biddulph, a very rare recording by Singapore's standards.

Lastly, I want to assure my dear little Adeline that she's the one that I love and the one I'd want to bao-bao now!

you won't see me like this during Live and Love Again...

2006-08-05T22:48:00.000+08:00

The Little Ba Kua

2006-08-04T23:49:00.000+08:00

Hi, this is a picture of the Little Ba Kua. He is thus named because he's flat and made of pork!

I would like to thank some of my colleagues who have shown their support for our concert. Since I will be ORDing next Tuesday, their support is quite a special farewell gift for me.

Of course, whatever kind of support would not be as meaningful if the audience does not gain anything from the experience of the concert. Well, I promise a good show and hope that they'll enjoy it.

especially for my colleagues...

2006-08-03T01:06:00.000+08:00

u know...i m de only fella out of de 5 of us dat is actually full-time working (ok...yingning will b teachin soon)...and...

i m proud to say i m workin in JTC corp!

here's some education for u guys out dere...JTC corp is nt jurong town corporation...yes, it was jurong town corporation...now, "JTC" is not meant to stand for anything!...it's plain n simple JTC corp! so pls get it straight!

i must say my colleagues in JTC corp is a wonderful lot...giving me lots of food all day long n makin me fatter n fatter (but thk gdness it's nt heaty; if nt, my voice - how?)...eh, dey r not wonderful cuz of de food, k? but dey r very frenly, very fun, very "a**tie" (ok...for some of dem...=p)...haha!

i m writin all dese now cuz i know many of dem wld b (or at least i hope!) lookin at dis post when i officially advert dis blog n my concert to dem tmr!!! nope...but i m damn serious...dey r great ppl!...if u dun blieve, join JTC corp to find out!

eh...n dey r very sporting leh, regardless of age!...check out de comments of the blog entry "One of Little Babo's Friends"! Check it out!!!

k...i was tinkin of puttin up an old pic of mine for de benefit of my colleagues...but too bad stupid blogger.com once again fouled me up...so next time lar...

ok...for de rest of u non-colleagues out dere...u must b wonderin wat dis post has gotta do wif de mission of dis blog (which is actually at de top of de page if u hvn't already realized...)? lemme tell u...
de take-home point is:

"full-time non-musicians can be nite-time/wkend musicians"
(erm...at least when there's no OT)

ok...so live out your passions! good nite!

E.T. peeks out...

2006-08-03T00:16:00.000+08:00

ok...babo babo babo...E.T. peeks out of the bag n wonders wat the commotion's all abt...

E.T. the official mascot is back!

One of Little Babo's Friends!

2006-08-01T23:40:00.000+08:00

Dear all,

This is Little Kermity the Frog. He is one of Little Babo's friends and is also a supporter of our concert. He is also very happy.

He likes to just sit around on the bed doing nothing much.

I just started advertising my concert in my office in MINDEF. The response is quite encouraging. Some of my colleagues have also promised to help promote this blog!!

Hope they never bluff me...

Practice Thoughts

2006-08-01T01:12:00.000+08:00

Been really busy in school, helping with the move into the new building, and juggling that with practicing and helping another friend set up a business. But I find that such situations actually help you focus your mind, and you stop doing the unnecessary things, and instead concentrate your energies on what needs to be done, and how to accomplish it in the best way, so that you don't have to waste time back-tracking and cleaning up work.

Practicing is like that too. If you're pressed for time to practice, you're forced to practice what you really need to, and not indulge in pointless playing that feels like you're working very hard. You can still experiment and learn, but you quickly learn to not play things for the sake of playing them, but instead work on your fundamentals in the most efficient way possible, so that you ensure that you can play whatever you need to, and not have to work up to it each time.

And because playing an instrument is such a mental endeavour, one realises that you have to know and feel the music before you even touch your instrument. Otherwise, you'd always be at the mercy of your instrumental characteristics or technical limitations. By sometimes deliberately not allowing yourself to practice, or putting yourself in risky situations, you learn to accomplish a lot more without spending more time than you really need to on the instrument. It's not a matter of training your body to survive the music, but of not letting your body get in the way of it, and that, is more mental that anything else.

Our Supporter The Little Babo!

2006-07-30T22:45:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone,

I have the picture of one of our little supporters- the Little Babo! As you can see from the picture, he is really happy that we're putting up the concert.

Well, if you want to be as happy as him, do come and watch our performance!

Do look out for Little Babo's friends who'll also be appearing on this blog soon!!!

THE POSTER

2006-07-30T22:27:00.000+08:00

Hi All,

I've finally managed to put an image of our poster for the concert on this blog!

Yes, tickets are available at the door (YMS Auditorium) or for advance booking, please contact me (YingNing) 97865503 or koombaiya@gmail.com.

I dedicate this little poster to my girlfriend Adeline, even though she thinks its oogly. =( maybe I should have consulter her 1st... However, it somehow reminds me of her (which of course won't be a good thing now since she finds it oogly). Hopefully the playing will not be as bad! =)

Getting down to business

2006-07-30T12:58:00.000+08:00

To members of the "L-family",

It's time we started preparing the printed programme, so could everyone please send me your "blurb" with the following information and specifications:

Profile
- Include a section addressing "Your thoughts on the Live and Love Again concert"
Full details of the pieces you are performing
- Full name of composer, as well as years of birth and death
- Notes for individual pieces, and if applicable, how it applies to the L&L theme
- Projected performance durations
List of specific people you want to thank in the programme and their special contributions

Also, QH and YN, we need to plan on what external help we will need with ticketing, ushers, stage crew(?), etc.

Checking back in

2006-07-30T12:52:00.000+08:00

Hi guys,

I dropped off the radar for a few days because I got quite sick of the internet after spending hours and hours trying to figure out the html code for Blogger in order to make the modifications to our page. I emphasise that this was from scratch, and which involved tedious trial and error, as well as detailed scrutiny of the original html for the page. Hopefully, the changes made helped to make the page easier to read and important information more visible.

My Second Voice Teacher

2006-07-27T23:01:00.000+08:00

When I was studying at the University of Chicago for three years (September 02 - June 05), I took lessons with Bruce Tammen, a voice teacher in the neighborhood. Bruce has conducted choral programs in several universities and has studied extensively in France with Dalton Baldwin and Gerard Souzay. Here is Bruce and me at the end of our last lesson in June 05!

Bruce has been a great teacher! Admittedly, I was not very committed to singing in my 1st year with him, cancelling lessons when I was sick, less than prepared or overloaded with work. In my 2nd and 3rd year, I was a whole lot more passionate, practising 5-6 times a week! In my previous years of studying piano, I have never been that dedicated and disciplined!

I have learnt alot from him. In particular, he has introduced me to much repertoire, emphasized diction and most importantly, hammered the necessity of smoothening the registers. With regard to register smoothening, his favorite exercise for me is what he calls "hum-glide", which is to portamento/glissando from falsetto to chest voice (i.e. normal voice, or more professionally, modal voice) and back to falsetto an octave apart, without having any breaks or "clicks" during the transition from one "voice" to another. I tell you, this exercise was killer especially for me! The "click" is always there! One possible reason is that my falsetto was extremely bad and weak, worse than most guys'! Most guys would be able to eliminate the "click" maybe after few months, one year. But I could never do it...even after constant drilling for three whole years!

Albeit initially frustrating, smoothening the register eventually produced incredible results for my voice (which I will relate more later). For that, I thank Bruce for making this the top priority during lessons!

A Little Picture

2006-07-27T20:49:00.000+08:00

Hi all, this is a picture of Adeline and myself. We took the picture when we were touring a nature reserve in the states. I hope to use this picture to let everyone know me better. I really like the picture.

Anyway, the little concert in Art Cafe yesterday was still ok. Maybe we could have practised more. At one point, our pianist was still asking me how many pages was one of the pieces we were playing.

We like to thank the boss of the Art Cafe for giving us the opportunity to perform there.

one word...

2006-07-27T19:35:00.000+08:00

i was keyin in de url to get to dis site and bingo...i got dis bluish page wif arabic words...i was like "wat de @#$*"...must b a virus man...must b blogger.com's fault....

den i saw de url => http://love-and-life.blogspot.com/

AMAZING...u can rotate between singapore and de arabic world at will all thanks to one word (ok...plus a dash)!

talk abt globalization, abt convergence, abt a flat world!!!

Of Criminals, Musicians and Technicians

2006-07-26T22:48:00.000+08:00

in jiahua's (do you think he minds if i don't use caps for his name?) post "trumpet update," he talked about how brass players steal for their own use music originally composed for other instruments...interestingly, mr lindberg (the real one, the "christian" one, neither oskar nor charles) had entitled two of his albums "the criminal trombone"...of course, they are albums containing tons of arrangements/transcriptions of songs and instrumental favorites...

the first: "the criminal trombone"...and the second: "los bandidos - the criminal trombone 2.5"...not sure how he got from 1 to 2.5...but ain't that cute??? and what cute pictures!!! and you don't need a spanish to tell you that "los bandidos" is probably spanish for "the bandits"...and in the plural form since there are two of them, lindberg and the pianist pontinen...

first off, mr christian lindberg is great because he is a really great guy...i mean he is famous but he has zero airs about him. how i know? because he had a nice photo with me when he was doing the motorbike concerto! and he signed many of my CDs happily (unlike barrenbum who was so damn rude). he's so friendly!

and of course, he is an amazing musician...he is trombonist...yes, the...i mean some ppl might dispute his status as the best, but he's the man who put the trombone on E.T.'s map! and he is an accomplished composer and conductor too (ok...maybe because he's so famous to begin with)...but in any case, his technique and tone on the bone are wonderful, though not necessarily unparalleled...but that's not the point...the essence of his greatness (at least to me) is his musicianship, his artistry, his sincerity - things that truly matter. and yes, jia hua, he has a voice, unlike so many other "professional" musicians...

musicians out there...are you listening (to lindberg)?

are we musicians or technicians?

blogger played me out...

2006-07-26T00:44:00.000+08:00

i wanted to post post post...but yest, blogger.com was just hangin arnd for such a damn freakin long time like some stupid kid at some even stupider shopping mall tryin to look very very cool indeed...that my post just got hung...and hung posts dun get resurrected...

its so late today once again...so i shall not post wat i wanted to post...but say hi instead...

Hi.

Posters Will Be Printed Soon!

2006-07-25T20:27:00.000+08:00

I struggled a few times to decrypt and thumb out the poster from my computer in MINDEF (where I work) and somehow managed to successfully sneakily use Jane's account(the Branch IC). In the end, Mr Song (a DXO) kindly offered his computer for my use. Alas, the final version of the poster was sent to the printer.
The printer was quite efficient and I saw a sample copy of the poster a few hours later. It looks just like what it looks like on computer. Cool.

I would like to add here that I am sorry for neglecting my girlfriend Adeline, the little squishy cottondumpling. I miss her a lot and will be putting her little pictures beside our little friends when I go to bed tonight. She has given me a lot of encouragement and motivation for practising the violin and among many other things. But most of all, she's my best companion. I hope that she'll cheer up a little, although the fact that the water supply to her apartment was cut off would not help.

Classical Music in Art Cafe!

2006-07-25T19:47:00.000+08:00

For all those folks who are interested:

Tomorrow night (7pm 26 Jul 2006), another group of friends and myself will be the 1st classical group to be performing at the Art Cafe in Esplanade Library. Many of you must have heard the singers and jazz performers at that venue, but classical music under that setting can be quite ground-breaking.

Performers are:
Jack Tan (piano)
YingNing (myself, violin)
Hongting (viola)
Kenneth Tham (cello)
Zejun (sorry, not so sure about spelling! violin)

We'll be playing some easy listening classical and contemporary music, as well as 3 mvts from both of Mozart's piano quartets. Well, wereally practised quite hard!

Another Concert Series

2006-07-23T23:14:00.000+08:00

Shi Mei is involved in another concert on 6th August at the Esplanade Recital Studio presented by SPITZE. Do catch them if you can - these people are real pros who know what they're doing, and do it well. It should be a good show.

Visit their page! SPITZE

Trumpet Update

2006-07-23T21:55:00.000+08:00

QH insists that we should update everyday, or maybe even a few times a day, so here I am again.

I'll be playing 3 items for the concert:

Telemann. Selections from 3 Heroic Marches
I. La Majeste
II. La Grace
III. La Vaillance

Edvard Grieg. Last Spring

Oskar Lindberg. Gammal fäbodpsalm från Dalarna

The interesting thing here is that none of this music was written originally for trumpet. Telemann was written for oboe or violin, Last Spring was for voice and piano (yes, the famous string orchestra version came later), and the Lindberg is an organ piece.

As someone once said in jest, "Brass players are like thieves, stealing tunes from here and there", which is of course quite true, due to the lack of quality music written for brass instruments, especially for trumpet, trombone and tuba in the 18th and 19th centuries. This was because brass instruments during this period faced musical limitations as a result of their inability to play outside of the natural harmonic series.

In the present day, we of course have the miracle of the valve system which allows us to play all 12 notes of the western chromatic scale. Thus, we are now able to dig into the past for the treasures which were denied brass musicians and "reappropriate" them for our own and the audience's enjoyment.

After all, which violinist is going to perform the gems of the Telemann, which a string player might dismiss as "elementary" musical exercises, but like a Mozart, demand pristine execution and certainty of style. And wouldn't you rather hear an original vocal melody in a medium closer to the original, than floating in a sea of meshed string tones. And indeed, how often would you hear a classic organ tune played on an organ anyway?

I'm just joking, right?

My First Voice Teacher

2006-07-23T02:53:00.000+08:00

My very first teacher was Mr William Lim. He is a bass-baritone and recently performed as Bartolo in the Singapore Lyric Opera (SLO) production of Marriage of Figaro. I started lessons with him about two months before I was to fly off to Chicago for the first time. Here he is on my right (in white). The other guy is my piano teacher, Mr Gan Choo Kheng. The photograph was taken at Love and Life last year!

I am fortunate to have begun my vocal exploration with him for he has imparted valuable foundational concepts of singing, notably on breathing and resonance, to me. Above all, he has inspired and urged me to carry on singing even as I embarked on my first of four years abroad. I have certainly heeded his advice...

Who am I? Rojak.

2006-07-23T02:02:00.002+08:00

Out of the five of us, I am the least known in what I am going to do on August 27. The rest are famous names in their own respective circles. As I have mentioned before, all of them have or will be getting their degrees in music. For me, the highest certification of my musical ability is only an ATCL in piano. Not in singing. Nobody in the vocal/choir scene even knows me. As a musician, I am probably better known in my own narrow circle (simply, people who know me personally!) as a trombonist or an amateur conductor. Not as a singer. The last time I played the trombone for any period of time longer than 1 hour was 7 years ago. But I intend to pick it up again (somehow), since I actually own a trombone (for those interested, VB 42BO with a gold-plated VB 5G Megatone mouthpiece). The last time I conducted was quite recently actually. I took a whole-year's worth of Orchestral Conducting course (that contributed absolutely zero to my degree in Regional Studies - East Asia) while at Harvard. Prior to that, I conducted RJ band and RI alumni band. Where's singing then?

Few actually know that I used to sing even before I started with trombone in secondary school. First, I sung in my primary school choir. Then, in a Singapore Children's Choir (SCC) that represented Singapore in some ASEAN festival. Thereafter, in Seraphim Voices, the choir into which the SCC morphed. I was boy soprano then. Not just a soprano, but a very high one, hitting at least a D above the top C. Then, when my voice broke, it all stopped.

Then, just before I flew off to Chicago in September 2002, I decided to rejuvenate my hoarse and yes, manly voice, destroyed by many years of shouting and screaming and speaking really low (the last being the preferred method which many guys use to make themselves sound manly...also a sure way to traumatize your voice). Then began my four-year exploration into the world of classical singing, guided and inspired by the many teachers to whom I am really indebted. I will introduce them one at a time over a series of entries.

yet another day...and TICKETS and DETAILS!

2006-07-22T03:36:00.000+08:00

i m not sure whether i shld post when i dun hv anythin interestin to say. m i just postin for de sake of it? wat in my life can i relate to the concert?

ok...TODAY...when jiahua passed me de printed tix, i met shimei for de 1st time, the missing piece in de jigsaw puzzle...ok...dat's the update...and of cuz, de tickets...

TICKETS are ready! and i m de ticketmaster. but for some reason or another, the poster (which will be revealed soon) indicates ying ning as de ticketmaster. two ticketmasters? confused? not really. as a (fake) economist, i believe in de division of labor. i m the ticket-owner and i assign tickets to be sold to all five. n dey come bak to me for more when dey hv sold deir allotted share. as for yingning, he is de main contact for outside ppl. in other words, he distributes tickets to outside ppl! SO SIMPLE! Now you know...

actually, it suddenly seems like complicated arrangement...but watever...it's trivial!

OK! for $8 TICKETS (yes, only one price and it's free seating! how wonderful!),
contact:

either
Quan Hui at 98719166
mobsterboy@gmail.com

or
Ying Ning at 97865503
koombaiya@gmail.com

if u r deciding which person to contact, just contact de person whose name u like better. somehow i tink "quan hui" sounds better. =P

for de absent-minded or de newb visitors of de blog,

DETAILS OF CONCERT
Live and Love Again
Aug 27 (Sun) 3:00PM
Young Musician's Society (YMS) Auditorium, 54 Waterloo Street, SINGAPORE
Piano, Trumpet, Violin, Voice (Baritone...to be a precise, a high one...which is me...nope, my voice...)

evidence for "behind every musician is..."

2006-07-21T01:17:00.000+08:00

...see what i mean...in the photo, it is in front...but of course, you know he's standing (nope, he can never stand; he only sits) behind the audience...

Schools!

2006-07-21T00:05:00.000+08:00

I was looking at QH's post about backgrounds and caught on about the idea of schools. For those of you familiar with my ERI mechanism, it's inevitable that I would have done the following, sooner or later, haha.

All of us came from different secondary schools! No overlap at all.

Quan Hui: Raffles Institution
Ying Ning: Chinese High School
Beatrice: Methodist Girls' School
Shi Mei: Dunman High School
Peiying: Anglican High School
Jia Hua: Victoria School (yes, for those of you who thought otherwise, I'm actually a half-breed Rafflesian, and damn proud of it! haha)

And...it's interesting that, even though they're all secondary schools, none of their official names carry the word "Secondary" in them.

Interessant, gar nicht?

A Violin Lesson Today With Yew Shan

2006-07-20T23:15:00.000+08:00

I just had the privilege to have a lesson with Yew Shan today and I would like to post what are some of the things which I can improve on. We worked on the Grieg 1st violin sonata in F (what I'll be performing). We looked chiefly at some of the general things and corrected a few details.

1. PAY MORE ATTENTION TO PHRASING. I think sometimes in my urge to copy almost all the details I hear in recordings, I forget to do what would be logical, especially in phrasing.

2. DO NOT STOP VIBRATO BETWEEN NOTES. I think I am both too lazy to correct this and also a little insensitive to this aspect. Will definitely improve.

3. VIBRATO SHOULD SOUND JUST AS WIDE ON DIFFERENT POSITIONS. 2 main things to vibrato: amplitude and frequency. I'll have to try to vibrate such that the listener won't be able to tell which string/position I'm playing on.

4. PLAN THE BOW MORE CAREFULLY. Something even I tell my students ALL the time. I should be more vigilant than actually allow myself to be this lazy. I've to work backwards sometimes to see where my bow should end up, then plan from there.

5. BE CAREFUL TO NOT SLANT THE BOW TOO MUCH. This happens quite consistently when I've more down bow beats than up bow beats. I would then slant the bow away from my head on the up bow. This may be due to my sudden movement on the violin when changing string. Solution: look at mirror and practise a few times.

6. DO NOT OVER BEND RH THUMB/ BOW ARM CAN BE SLIGHTLY HIGHER TO BE 'ON TOP' OF THE STRINGS. My RH thumb tends to overbend especially when playing loud passages. This will affect the natural 'suspension' when holding the bow. It will also cause tension and possible/likely injury. Making the bow arm higher is related to this, but the problem of having a bow arm which is too low mainly caused me to have some difficulty playing the e string near the frog as my RH would tend to bump into the violin. I forsee that this will require a fair bit of experimentation and time to improve.

7. PRACTISE CERTAIN SHORT PASSAGES WITH METRONOME. When you think you've done enough of it, you actually haven't. The metronome still comes closest to a miracle when practising certain problematic passages. No easy solution!

I will try my best to improve. I would like to thank Yew Shan for his help and guidance.

Tickets Printed!

2006-07-20T20:26:00.000+08:00

Tickets have been printed and will be available be sale from this Saturday!

I don't have a digital camera, so I can't take a picture of a ticket and post it here. But we do hope you will reserve/buy a ticket, and come enjoy the afternoon of 27th August with us at YMS!

Tickets are selling for $8 a-piece, and it will be free-seating inside the auditorium.

somebody asked for MY pic...so i give him OUR pic

2006-07-20T00:16:00.000+08:00

This is a picture of JH (wonder whether he minds acronyms?) and QH (me) at McDonald's at Ghim Moh, right outside the old RJC in June 2004. Caveat before viewing: this is by no means my preferred pic.

BUT...Ghim Moh McDonald's is NOW gone. I was at Ghim Moh last week and to my horror, it's gone! WHY? I couldn't think of a reason since it's usually pretty crowded. A few seconds ago, I think I might have found the answer. Maybe it's because RJC has moved to Bishan and there are less rich kids around to eat the grub. Hmm...I need more research on this!

Fate or What? The Story of YN & QH

2006-07-19T23:42:00.000+08:00

It's strange how Ying Ning and me came together again. We used to be coursemates in the Junior Music Course and Junior Piano Course at Yamaha, when we were baybees. Then, we lost contact. I mean, it's not surprising friends lose contact in the era without handphones. Do you remember the times in the not-too-distant past without handphones? But even now, with handphones, friends still disappear from time to time. And we were at 4 years of age? 5? After that, we went on with our happy lives. Then one day, I found him in the same JC as me! Oh well...but so what?...never did talk much to him...

Then, on yet another day, I found him in the same bunk as me!...not only the same bunk...but in adjacent beds (NOT on the same bed, mind you)! We turned out to be "buddies" in our 7-week Very Modified BMT (i.e. no swimming, no running, no gym, no route match, no SOC, no IPPT etc., at least for us). As you might know, both of us are PES C9 but are actually super-fit (actually not me...but Ying Ning ,, the only triathlete performing on stage on Aug 27). Since then, we have kept in contact. And so Love and Life and Live and Love Again became reality. Fate or what?

Of Letters and Names

2006-07-19T19:28:00.000+08:00

I don't usually make a fuss about it, but seeing it in print here on the web startles me everytime. My name, is Jia Hua, not Jiahua... not a big problem, but it always catches my attention. heh

And if anyone's interested, in Chinese characters, it's

刘嘉桦

Yes, it's a very feminine name, and I do know a number of girls who have exactly the same, the most famous of whom is Ella Chen of S.H.E. fame. For the record, 桦 is a birch.

I also noticed that all our surnames start with the letter L. I'm not sure how the chinese characters line up, but it's pretty interesting anyway. And the concert's Live and Love again, so go figure!

An Accompanying Announcement

2006-07-19T19:17:00.000+08:00

Hi guys, here to announce the addition of a new member to our team:

Lee Shi Mei

Shi Mei is currently an undergraduate at Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio, USA, majoring in both piano AND violin. (Powerful!) She's back in Singapore for her summer break and has graciously agreed to take part in Live and Love Again in spite of her busy schedule. She will be playing the keyboard part for me in the Telemann, Grieg and Lindberg.

Thanks Shi Mei, and welcome aboard!

About ME and US

2006-07-18T23:43:00.000+08:00

Inspired by Ying Ning's "Low Ying Ning here!" post, I have decided to make a formal introduction of and for myself and ourselves.

I am happy, I am happy, I am happy.

I am crazy, I am crazy, I am crazy. So are we.

I am 24 still...same age as Ying Ning (Ying Ning is ONLY 24...he lied...he's the baby boy of the year!)...same age as Jiahua...3 of us are born in 1981...and hail from the RJC of the broken fence, "artistic" toilets, tiny classrooms, strange corridors (and whatever-have-you) fame...yes, the Mt. Sinai RJC...

Beatrice is a little younger...not sure how much younger...but younger...she looks younger too...

YING NING plays the violin and the piano, but will play the VIOLIN in this concert.
JIAHUA plays the trumpet and likes the piano and singing, but will play the TRUMPET.
BEATRICE plays the violin and the piano, but will play the PIANO here.
QUAN HUI (that's me) played/plays (depends on what happens) the trombone, plays the piano and sings, but will SING this time round.

Both JIAHUA and BEATRICE are in the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music at NUS, while YING NING, as he told you, graduated with a Double Major in Electrical Engineering and Violin Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Unlike my illustrious peers with peerless credentials, I graduated from the University of Chicago and Harvard University with NO music degree but one in economics and one in Regional Studies - East Asia. What a stark comparison!

I will continue another day...I am tired...=)

poster and tickets soon to be in print

2006-07-18T23:22:00.000+08:00

OK! the poster and tickets will be finalized by tomorrow (wed jul 19)! and will go into print! YAY! when designs are done, we will post them up here for all to see!

Draft Poster by Ying Ning

2006-07-18T21:22:00.000+08:00

Thanks Ying Ning for preparing the poster. It looks great, and I'm all okay for it. We'll need to confirm the pieces though.

Life is...

2006-07-18T21:12:00.000+08:00

Going to the Esplanade Arts Library to make a copy of some music for Peiying, only to bump into her there!!

Bad news is, Peiying can't make it to our concert again as it's on a Sunday again, and our responsible hardworking composer-friend has to teach on Sunday! I think we should put a picture of her in our programme, so the audience will at least know what she looks like. After all, she'd be involved with us this year and last.