I recall the last time I returned to NUSCO after a short break, I was walking jitteringly into the new practice room at Yong Siew Toh. And an even longer break a while ago, I joined NUSCO after a three year break from playing the cello.
This time, it is different. I didn't realise it could be so different. I didn't get a cello till a week before performance. Not to mention the cello wasn't even a decent one to help keep me in tune. This time, it was five years since I've last been in close contact with a cello. Picking one up and getting back on stage in one week was quite a feat.
As I had previously stopped before, there was no longer the fear that I didn't know where to place my fingers anymore. It was more of getting used to the soreness of the vibration of the strings, the strength needed to do the vibrato, and the bow, the very unused muscles to bounce the bow, to cross-strings. Vivaldi may be easy but it isn't without its own set of challenges.
L'estro de Armonico Concerto X turned out to be a crowd winner. With Angeline commenting it being the best of the first half, Junhao summed it well with "the confidence exuded by the alumni" did the trick. Leng added that it was encouraging for parents watching the concert, thinking that THIS could just be what their children will look like in future!
Keeping music alive, I bet that was Ms Ku's hope in us.
What a significant twentieth, seeing the two chairpersons on stage, Junior high's chair being so excited he literally screamed into the mic, breaking down halfway to recover his emotions.
I recall the first time we called back our alumni, I was the one looking up each and every senior from 1994 onwards, that of Kaileng, Grace, Chenjie et. al. It was for a BBQ event. That was ensemble's first BBQ and a very bonding one indeed. Looking forward to our next reunion, with ensemble, the music, the people and the memories.
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