AJCO Concert

Alright, where do I begin? I was late yesterday and that kind of pissed everybody off. So I'm not going to be late for KBox later today! Haha... Then why the hell am I still at home! Nah, I've still got an hour or so to go, but I've got to pack my bags for the stayover at least.

Well, it's an AJCO concert, so Shuming and Zhenhui met a lot of their CO friends there.

In short, the concert was really good! If I wasn't feeling a little of my stomach rumbling, or my eyes so freaking dry from the stupid contact lenses, I might've enjoyed it more. As usual, it was as educational as it was enjoyable. Zhenhui is like almost the encyclopedia of all the CO songs that are, and er, Shuming helps look out for the good-looking people on stage? LOL! Nah, joking! The whole performance wasn't as perfect as the one I saw 2 years ago, but still, it was worth every dollar, and more. The Beijing Theatrical School also came by to perform and they were really awesome. The girl who played the erhu was so freaking amazing (and so was the other girl who played the yang qin) that she could command every beat of your heart just by tugging on the string! Also there was Opera, and the lady could really sing. Her control of volume, tone, emotion was... really amazing. Could see that every note that came out of her was perfectly what she wanted to express. It's insane.

The AJCO fared rather well too. I particularly enjoyed the opening song, plus the very entertaining soloists. The Suo Na guy was a bloody pro, and probably the most memorable act. The flute guy looked like he had a cold, but did decently well. Then there's this girl who played four movements (I don't know what the instrument's called), and that was technically impressive too. The Sheng ensemble was something I've never seen before! The last piece (and the encore) was a combined effort and both were really stirred the atmosphere! There was audience interaction (clapping along and hey-heying!), there was drama (so the conductor points from left to right and left again and everyone blasted their instruments) and of course a solid ending to end it all with a bang. Powerful stuff. I'm honoured to experience the whole thing.

Well, while watching the whole thing, I was rather overwhelmed by nostalgia and a lot of thoughts. The erhu zhu xi looked a lot like my best friend in Sec 1 & 2. It was half-way through Sec 2 that he dragged me to join choir. That was where I learnt a hell lot of stuff that allowed me lead the Harmonica Orchestra rather competently in the musical sense. (With disregard for other random stuff like cohesion etc.)It also made me thing of the times when I was with the Harmonica Orchestra, how I practised with them, and of course my fantastic juniors. For the first time ever in my life I was treated as a senior, respected, listened to, joked around with, inspiring (to a certain extent) and it was great. Then there was the Gu Zhen which reminded me of Jun Shen. How damned good he was. How he came from a neighbourhood school (like me!) and he was really like a rolemodel, balancing studies and his duties as the Gu Zhen prez. Music has always been a huge part of my life, except now I'm listening more than I'm making it! I thought of how I made it so far to pass my Grade 8 piano, but now I've totally neglected the skill. How long has it been since I felt in control and at one with an instrument? How long has it been since I felt that I could make good music? (Other than some very nice supportive claps in KBox recently, I love those people.)

Too long.

I know, as well as anybody with a musical background, that the skill only comes from lots of practice. You have to be obsessed with mastering the instrument. Kind of like playing WOW or DOTA or Maple, working at it to make your level higher. I've to go find that kind of drive and enjoyment to be able to make it work. The worst part is now I'm of the standard to at least learn songs by myself, analyse scores and all, but I'm too lazy to do it! Hell, if I got on the piano now, the only thing I could probably play is my Grade 2 exam piece! Well, and Gymnopedie (which I got like 29/30 for).

Okay, I'm such a showoff, but now, I'm only a shadow of my former musical-self. Bah.