Sunday, December 14, 2008
This post is gonna be quite a cheem one, so for u all who wants to know about band camp and taiwan trip details refer to the next post :D
What i want to talk about is how many of us sec 3s suffered a great deal during the concert. Responsibility was being pushed around like nobody's business and yet, everything fell back to those who wield the most responsibility-the majors. All of us stayed up into the wee hours everyday to do administrative stuff and stayed together. Who could blame us for the lacklustre playing that we put up in the concert? Certainly nobody but ourselves. But how would we even bear to do that? We were too busy clearing up the concert booklet, clearing the emcee script, making edits here and there. And what about our practices? Sec 3s are supposed to lead the band in both skill in playing musically and also to lead in the administrative factor. We are the commanding batch, yet when the responsibility gets too big, the stress gets too overwhelming, we still have to hold the burden till the end is over. Many times we try to make things better, and what happens? We get labelled as idiots.
One prime example i would wish to honorably bring up is Benedict. Our Band major, he has been leading the band consistently with his other 3 majors. However, as the main leader, he bears nearly everything against administrative stuff, such as the conversing within teachers-in-charge, and many other things. He has only done us proud and wil lcontinue to do so. However, what happened in the R.O.D was a undoing of his continuous efforts to bring things together. Booking the auditorium, to get scolded by ms ban for no reason, and to add the cherry on top of the cream, he gets scolded by A.Tan because mr A. Tan himself did not read the proposal!? Its pratically ridiculous. And to add to that, he has to rush down to do the cake cutting and stuff. Even the ex majors had to FORCE him to eat dinner because he said he wanted to skip dinner to do administrative stuff. And to add to the blasphemy inflicted upon him, he was continuously insulted by our conductor because of his lacklustre playing.However, who could be blamed for that? he has been staying up late to do admin work, he dont even have the time to even attend a sectional to practice his parts and he has to command the band as a whole.
Nobody is to blame here. After running around for the WHOLE day, settling R.O.D, putting up performances, we were to have a late night practice when everybody was exhausted and tired. Speaking of which, I am quite proud that the band still managed to try to put their best foot forward, to try to listen to mr tan, to try to carry out everything he said. However, we still didn't meet his expectations. Who could blame him? As a conductor, he tries to deliver a good performance to that of the audience, and our lackluster playing that was 2 days before a concert was enough to give him the jitter bugs.
Even though mr tan has been giving us the resigned look during the concert, he still will be my most respected conductor, and will continue to be. However, over the years, the respect that i have for him has became mixed with a little dosage of fear, and i think that is the reason why we are distancing from mr tan. Look at angella. Her loud voice and brazen nature makes her quite attention-seeking at times,but yet that same trait makes her not fear mr tan, and is able to talk to him as a friend, confide in him as a teacher, and ask him for advice as a conductor. Edward and Liqiang or should i say, the whole gang is able to sit around him comfortably as a group and talk and laugh together. I am ashamed to say that i had witnessed many moments depicting that particular scene.
And at the concert. Many of us know about what happened, or maybe that of the one that is being passed around. Who could be blamed there? Nobody. And Mr Tan himself is not to be blamed either. Try having your concert botched up because one score suddenly went missing and the band before you does not have the courage to come in and play the parts properly. And then to add to that afterwards we have benedict yet again being glared at by 2 people. Everyone knew about the lacklustre performance we put up, and all of us know how unspirited we became right after the concert. Mr Tan came back to try to reassure us, putting up a big warm smile to try to tell us that since its happened already its okay. But yet, the stress still hits us,the guilt still hits us,and we will have to face it and be able to overcome it one day. Crestfallen we may be, we will stand up to face the challenge, with a radiant look to face the ends of the earth we may be.
is it me
Aaron
NanHuarian Clarinetist
Dotaer
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