我们拿荣誉金牌

坐在观众席上, 我屏住了呼吸。安初华乐团在台上了。

几天前还在担心 juniors 们似乎还没进入状态, 心想: 一个星期多了，都没机会听到他们演奏, 不知道进展如何?

黄老师走向指挥台, 曲子也随着指挥棒的摇摆轻轻响起。在台下的学长们都不敢动, 只是听着音乐的旋律, 凝视着台上 juniors 们的一举一动。

Wow! 他们还动得蛮厉害的, especially cello and bass. I could see them oscillating. Ok, sorry no offence.

大家都好多了 although 只有让其中一位 senior '一点' 感动。*clap clap clap* Ok, sorry no offence again.

两首曲目一晃而过, 等待成绩公布的时间是漫长的。好久以后, 所有学院的师生们陆续入场, 听着成绩的公布。

安初华乐比赛次序被排在最后, 因此也是最后一间成绩被宣布的初院。这时大家都不敢呼吸...

"安初华乐团... 荣誉金牌"

众人顿时哗然, seniors 们也给了 juniors 们 a standing ovation.

They cheered, hugged and cried, especially those without musical background.

一路走来, 他们辛苦了。也辛苦了他们的指导教练、老师、学长。

Everyone has done a great job leading to the success of this batch of AJCO, including the helpers.

Juniors们、老师们、学长们长年累月来所付出的努力并没有白费, 换来的是无限的喜悦与荣耀。

回到了AJ, 一路上都可以听到 '荣誉金...' 的欢呼声。

I’m so proud of every one of y’all! *still very excited*

(more photos n videos will be posted when they're ready)

Another Successful AJCO Concert (2008)...

The 3th of May is an exciting day for the AJCO 24th batch. It is also a time of get-together for all the AJCO alumni. From Tanjong Pagar MRT station to Singapore Conference Hall, it is inevitable to see familiar faces of EX-AJCO peeps. Other than the forthcoming Lim Kian Kiat's wedding (First Official AJCAACO President), the biannual AJCO concert is always the biggest gathering for all ex-members of AJCO.

After months of intensive practices, the 24th batch of AJCO members have put up a wonderful performance for the audiences. Many of them are first-timers on a performing stage (because AJCO has a long standing culture of recruiting and training greenhorns). Congrats to the 24th AJCO batch. You all are wonderful!!! We want more encores!!!

Top: Our Beautiful AJCO

Top: Encore Encore Encore!!!

Top: AJCO Concert 2008 Encore Piece - 菊花台

While watching the concerts, many of the alumni felt a surge of nostalgia while feeling the impulse to take up their musical instruments and join the AJCO in their performance. However, there are so many constraints after we have left AJCO (such as work and family commitment). Nevertheless, most of the alumni still feel a love for AJCO despite the generation gap and the bond between the different batches of alumni. Here are some photos to share:

Top: The Youngest Alumni with An Old Man. And who is the old man??? It is none other than Zhiliang.

Left: This row comprises of the older alumni group (The oldest AJCO alumni in SCH on that day). Peijun, Wenyin, Huiyi (President) from the 14th AJCO batch. Followed by Tat Kuan (from the 18th AJCO batch) and company (from the relatively younger batch, though still quite old). This group of alumni has been supporting AJCO for the few 8 years and they never fail to attend the biannual concerts.

Top: Alumni sitting together to cheer for AJCO

Top: Benjamin (23rd AJCO), Zhiliang (16th AJCO) and Nigel (23rd AJCO)

Top: Everyone is so happy to be part of the AJCO family

Liang Ah Lucas
~ AJAACO: Always Part of the AJCO family ~

FORMIDABLE - A Multidisciplinary Artwork...

AJCAACO, as a music-based group, should promote music to its members. Thus, I am going to recommend this interdisciplinary work - FORMIDABLE - involving Pipa and other art forms that will be held in the Arts House this month.

Ghost Opera & The Mad King

Having seen another interdisciplinary art work - Ghost Opera & The Mad King (with pipa, cello, violin, viola, Flute/Piccolo, Clarinet, Percussion, Piano/Harpsichord, Singing) with Xiao Ting, Siew Hwa and Lijia, I will strongly advise music-lovers to explore beyond the purist intepretation ('orthodoxy') of Chinese orchestra music. I believe FORMIDABLE, like Ghost Opera & The Mad King, will bring to you a novel and entertaining musical journey:

Concert Title: FORMIDABLE
Performance Group: Ah Hock and Peng Yu
Date: 27, 28, 29, 30 September 2007
Time: 8.00pm
Venue: Chambers - The Arts House
Ticket Price: $36 (Full Price), $21 (Concession)

FORMIDABLE is an interdisciplinary work, dealing with Pipa, Visual Arts, Dance and Sound Design which involves artists and musicians like Samuel Wong (musician - pipa), Darren Ng (sound artist), Hayden Ng (costume designer), Michael Loke (sculptor) etc.FORMIDABLE stems from our research of war. We were particularly intrigued by the epic that happened when the collapse of the Qin Dynasty, the final battle of Xiang Yu (Chu) and Liu Bang (Han). There are two very interesting pieces of pipa traditional music that depicts the very same battle, one from the perspective of the victor and vice-versa.

Interesting synopsis of this artwork right? Probably, this can be a AJCAACO outing for those who are interested in finding out more about the plethora of musical forms available out there. Believe me that there is no boundaries in how music can be juxtaposed after attending similar performances.

Interested people, please let me know and I will find out the ticketing information from Samuel.

@@ AJCAACO ~ Exploring Music Beyond 'Orthodoxy' @@
~~Ah Liang~~