In this tireless journey of 4 years, I have never failed to stop cherishing. Although we sometimes get mad at you juniors, none of us has intentions of doing so. Not before WE could stop it. There are times when juniors have relatively deep misconceptions about us seniors. While some of us might have grumbled among ourselves and questioned the importance of our presence here, it was usually out of pique. Yes, we missed a couple of lessons that were extremely crucial but none of these affected how we feel towards the choir family. Swiss choir is where we have developed to become better persons, it is also the core of all members and where we groom juniors for the past 3 years. As observed in every year, seniors would depart and a fresh batch of juniors would always enter the room in a blink of an eye. But no matter how outstanding they might be, freshmen would never replace the spirit of seniors who have stepped down for each of them possessed a unique feature and attribute. Will you hear the nasty and revolting buzzing noise from your juniors if you guys ever sing ‘Water flowing in the brook” by the time new recruitment enter? (:
I shan’t speak of the areas we have to take note of during singing because I believe Shujing had written quite an extensive page on that. I feel for every one of you, especially those who are frequently named out for their mistakes and imperfections, but I remain to be a strong believer of ‘rise from where you fall on your own’. Seniors cannot be perpetually around you to point out inaccurate singing, everyone has to learn to stand on her own. There is no point for us to pull through a section of the piece by imitating the others around you every single time we do it. Be willing to learn from your mistake, and avoid repeating it. Mr. Wilson had clearly mentioned that a gold award is not exactly out-of-the-way if we sustain our best performances and be motivated to change for the better. Standing in front of a herd of you people, the committee noticed what Mr. Wilson has always been driving at. Where are your facial expressions? Where has the 8-minute fake enthusiasm that Mr. Wilson has stressed gone to? How different are you from the rest of the neighbourhood school choirs? Are you putting in all your efforts and time? Can we sustain the standard till the time we perform at VCH with all the judges scrutinizing us from above? Will you be able to overcome fright? Have you been reading those bloody notes that you have taken down?
Before discovering the reason behind why people usually frown and forget about their facial projection, I was puzzled and amused, until today. Girls! Making a vocal error is perfectly fine, but a non-smiling face puts a cross on the marking sheet because it goes to show that the judges have not mistaken your blunder for his/her hearing problem. Understand that more humans are visual creatures and assumptions are usually affirmed through the indication of an expressionless look which goes to tell us that we are uncomfortable with what we are singing. ( and that is simply because it is a wrong key or dynamic!). Let’s not put ourselves at such disadvantage! Recall what Mdm. Choo told us, perform as though you aspire to entertain the judiciary and aim to immerse them in our music. Choral music may not sound easy to sing and polish for every one of us here but make listeners feel so. Convince them that we have faith and confidence of our common interest. Impress them! Sensitize them! Captivate them! Seniors have been putting up so many videos for us to learn from and I am sure it is never too late to pick up any skills.
It is not about what you get but what you take away, even at the eleventh hour.
