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)

Rabobank 2009 + Post celebration

Rabobank performance 2009
Date: 5&6 February 2009

Moving of instrument & speakers



Liza moving cello onto the van.



It's time to set off!




Self-practice before the start of the performance.
[Kwangying(yangqing), Erik(liuqin), Huiling&Tzy Shing(zhongruan)]



商量对策-ing



"Listening" to the speech



We're the audience not performers. LOLX
Other than us, the other performances were Lion&Dragon dance. Plate Spinning, chinese dance and软骨功. It's so entertaining that we became the audience and started to take pictures.



Smile^_^
Performers on the second night.

Thanks everyone for the hardwork!!

And so

It's time to celebrate after the performance

Date&venue: 8/02/2009 @ KK's house

The group of people who arrive early for the sake of Wii

Shake your body to the beat of the music!!

Peow ee getting so high and Mervin was trying to concentrate to use all his strength. From the picture, u all can know how fast their hands were moving. [That's the reason for muscle ache over the next 1-2days]

捞鱼生 for dinner!

Toss it high high high up to the air!

Time to attack! Where's the salmon?

The before and after look so different. As someone said, the more messy you get during 捞-ing, the more luck you'll have in the coming year.

Pizza and Chicken wings.

Want to know how good it taste?

Look below :)

From their expressions, can see that the chicken wings taste good. Or are we just too hungry after playing Wii? LOLX

[Qiling(left)&Mervin(Right)]

After dinner activities
1) Wii part II .

Everyone was so concentrated that none knew that candid photos were being taken.

All the hands move so fast that it looked so blur in pictures.

2) The mahjong group

The stress table behind and the not-so stree table at the front.

3) Hongbao Lucky draw

KK explaing the rules while Peow ee was trying to figure out where was the big prized. Hope everyone is satisfied with the result of the lucky draw^_^

Thanks to all who helped to make the performace a great success!

Annual Christmas Gathering

20th and 21st Dec is the last weekend before christmas day. Many of us might be busy with xmas shopping, getting the last minute bargains in shopping malls, but a few of us chose to make time out and gather at chun ming's house (as usual, thx chunming and lilian for the venue ^-^) for our AJCAACO annual christmas gathering! =)

Preparations for the event started right from the beginning of the day. Our dear president, Qiling went to the wet market early in the morning to buy the ingredients for our steamboat buffet. Reason? "因为巴刹的比较新鲜，味道比较好！" haha.

So while qiling is busy preparing the food at his house after his market trip, me and serene went to ntuc and bought some drinks and things that qiling lacked. (Its good to have a house-husband coz you never really need to crack ur head on what is needed, just follow instructions =x)

After all these, chun ming kindly came and fetch us (and all our big and small bags of food) to his house. Frankly speaking, this type of host i dunno where to find sia... provide venue, do a bit of cleaning up even before we came, fetch us to his house, carry his house tv to our gathering, provide WII.. etc etc etc etc *applause pls*

So after reaching his house and doing a bit of cleaning up, we are now ready to welcome our first guest!

Ok, soon after, our steamboat buffet started. Pictures speak a thousand words, here are some for the buffet:

In case u r wondering, how come there is 药材 inside the soup, they are all brought by qiling to make the soup tastier! =)

After dinner, as more and more people came and join us, the people split into 2 groups:

And Yeah! WII is fun! I can dare say at least 75% of the time at the gathering i was glued to the tv set, either watching people playing or playing myself. It was a pretty no brainer game that we are all addicted to called "rabbids". Basically is just follow what the rabbids in the game are doing and you do the same and you get to compete with one another for the winner.

And these explains why we are all feeling sore and muscles arching after the game:

Next up is dessert time! Our "missy" aka nurse huiling brought along a christamas cake for the event. And boy, it was nice!

After the dessert session, each of us satisfied with the delicious cake, its time to present a token of appreciation to our hosts! For people who do not know, this is the second time we have been using chun ming's house for christmas gathering and what's more, its FOC! So it is of course natural we must show our appreciation to them.

Chun ming looks so cute! HaHa

The next day, its back to WII!! And we are so glued to the extent that we played from the morning till the time we left which is mid afternoon, in addition to playing the night before! =X haha

Last but not least, thanks to those who managed to turn up for this gathering. As for those who cannot make it, do make sure u come for the gathering in the future! =)

Have a blessed and better 2009!

P.S Sorry all, I know this entry is not so high standard as qiling's one. lol!

奇灵大叔的朋友上~

Alumni of AJCO - Arranger-in-Residence of SCO...

The conceptual and multifaceted composer/arranger Kah Yong has made an indelible mark on the Chinese Orchestral scene with a creative repertoire that spans the boundaries of classical, Anime soundtracks, Eastern and Western musical traditions. A recently appointed Arranger-in-Residence of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO), his music has been played throughout the world by professional, semi and non-professional orchestras and ensembles including the SCO, Kaoshiung City Chinese Orchestra (KCCO), People's Association Youth Chinese Orchestra (PAYCO), Kent Ridge Xin Yun (心韵) Quintet, River Valley Chinese Orchestra, National University of Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Ruan Xian (阮咸) Ensemble and Ding Xiao Yan Ruan Ensemble.

Kah Yong's persistence and hardwork in recent years earned him a quick rising reputation in the musical field, even as he is undergoing his Licentiate in Music Composition from the Trinity College of London. His portfolio had boardened rapidly to comprise of Choral Works, Symphonic Bands, Multi-Ethnic Orchestra and many others. Several upcoming projects in the pipeline include new orchestral theme song for the Ministry of Education (MOE) Music Camp 2009; "Kitchen Utensils" Percussion and Orchestra; as well as Hip-Hop Suona and Kaqiang with the Orchestra.

Having been studying piano since the tender age of four, Kah Yong’s contact with the Chinese Orchestral circle began in 1997 when he joined the Anderson Junior College Chinese Orchestra as an Erhu player, thereafter picking up sanxian and has been the Principal sanxian player of PAYCO since 1999. He later studied orchestral composition and arrangement under the tutelage of renowned composer Law Wai Lun and had received guidance from Sim Boon Yew as well as the late Yeo Puay Hian.

A highly sought‐after orchestrator for his uncanny ability to capture the essence and ideas of music and write in perfect harmony to the most stringent demands of Music and Production Directors, Kah Yong has scored for huge productions like Mediacorp Capital Radio 95.8FM with the SCO concerts in January 2008 and 2009. KCCO commissioned and premiered his Soprano‐Tenor plus choral and Orchestra The New Taiwanese Tunes Medley at Kaohsiung Chiang Kai Shek Cultural Centre in May 2008.

In February 2006, his mentor Mr. Law and himself became pioneers to pen music for the newly formed SCO Pop Ensemble in the Huayi Chinese Festival of Arts concert – SCO Goes Pop!, which featured a collaboration between both of them. Together, they fused traditional Chinese music with pop and successfully revolutionised the way a pure Chinese instrumental ensemble play pop music. Their ensemble rendition of One Night in Beijing was later rearranged for the full orchestra when SCO toured around China in late 2007.

Later in December the same year, the People’s Association Cultural Troupe (PACT) appointed Kah Yong to orchestrate for the highlight of PAYCO annual concert – Japanese Korean Potpourri. His emotive Chinese orchestration of the Erhu‐Piano Concerto Theme to Shenmue won the most rousing applause for that night and garnered many accolades from loyal fans of the smash hit Sega® Dreamcast game Shenmue, which the music was scored for, after the concert video clip emerged on YouTube™. Owing to the huge success, PACT continued to commission him to write for their other regular multi‐ethnic Soundwaves series concerts. PAYCO most recent performance in August 2008 premiered his Fairy Garden Fantasy as their opening piece, as well as their concert highlight, Disney Princess Medley.

Versatile in his arrangement, Kent Ridge Xin Yun Quintet first approached and commissioned him in 2003 to explore and pen for the then newly formed ensemble. His innovative rendition of Londonderry Air was featured in their South African inaugural concert in mid 2004 and later recorded into an album featuring the group.

A pianist himself, Kah Yong had been a resident arranger for MusicNet Pte Ltd and had published several piano song books such as the popular Romantic Contemporary Hits, TV & Movie Themes and Mega Starz Hitz series.

AJCAACO: WE LOVE (MR) TAN KAH YONG (LAOSHI)
@@Liang Ah Lucas@@

AJCO Treasure Hunt 2008 (Part 2)

You may want to tilt your head to the left. Thanks Erik for the video, Kian Hock and Lijia for the photographs.

奇灵大叔的脖子扭到了

AJCO Treasure Hunt 2008

Have you ever wonder why we join AJCO & AJCAACO? For me, I think it’s because of the people over here. Regardless of our status on Earth, whether we are students, NSF, teachers, composers, musicians, lecturers, businessmen, etc, we are still driven together as a family. AJC might not be the top JC in Singapore, but I can always feel the warmth from the people I’ve met over here. How I wish I’m a student again in AJCO. But of course, not going through ‘A’ level again.

Juniors’ camp was coming soon. We were busy preparing for their night game. With the help of Hui Ting, Seok Hwee, Kah Hoe, Peow Ee and Qiu Ting, we managed to recce for possible clues to focus our cameras on.

After a tour round the school, we finally settled with a few pictures. Can you guess where these clues will lead you too?

11th Dec arrived in a twinkling of an eye. We ordered pizzas for our juniors. However, due to the constraint of our budget, we didn’t order much. Just enough for everyone, assuming every junior consumes a slice of pizza. 真的是吃不饱，但是也饿不死。So Sorry...

Delegation of work soon began when the facilitators reached school. It’s turning dark, and Mr Ng was still conducting while we prepared for the treasure hunt.

X (to protect the person’s identity): I want to drink bubble tea.

XX (to protect another person’s identity): Me too.

XXX (to protect the 3rd person’s identity): Let’s go and buy now.

X: Can we?

Qi Ling: Ok, ok, but make it a fast one. We’ll be starting in 30mins time according to the schedule.

Ten minutes later…

Yao Zhong: Qi Ling, we have finished our practice.

Qi Ling: Huh?! Ok. (Calling X via mobile phone) Where are you guys now?

X: We are buying some bread.

Qi Ling: Huang Sheng is out! We are beginning very soon.

X: Oh s***! We’re coming back now.

The juniors were tired, thus we suggested them to take a ‘short’ break. After that, Felicia and Yao Zhong arranged the juniors into their groups, while Peow Ee started off the treasure hunt with a very detailed story.

Fortunately, X, XX and XXX (I couldn’t remember if there is any other XXXX or XXXXX) were back in time. The treasure hunt and the station games went on as planned. Erm… Almost as planned. Ok, quite as planned.

I should write no more since a picture says a thousand words. The following should be enough to tell you a chapter.

Many thanks to the facilitators who had taken time off their busy schedule for this event. I hope you’ve enjoyed yourselves. And our dear juniors too! Hope you guys have enjoyed as well. Sorry for all the lame stuff. Merry Christmas! Jiayou for SYF next year! Y’all can do it! 我们永远支持你们！

奇灵大叔的记事簿