Dixit Dominus

Went to Dixit Dominus concert held by Singapore Bible College for their 25th anniversary... it was AWESOME.... i really loved it..!! i wished i had dragged nana along huhuhu... i tot i didnt want to psycho her because of the sermon =p but the sermon was so........ short n brief XD and the preacher was only repeating the psalm 110 (which was the lyrics of Dixit Dominus) hahaa eniweiz.. it was a pity nana wasnt there to share the good music XD

Eniweiz, it started with a miscalculation of travelling time from me (again!).. i went out 1 hour before the concert... because SBC is v near to bukit timah!! who knows the bus only came after i waited for 15 minutes.. (i tot the frequency was every 10minutes?!! grr...) I neglected the fact it was saturday night whereby people would be kiasu-ly heading for town... or chinatown.... n the bus took 30 minutes just to reach bukit timah plaza O_o'

but miraculously, i alighted at the junction of bukit timah and adam road at 7.30.. and i only waited for few seconds before the bus to SBC came.. n SBC was only 2 bus stop away! so i reached at 7.35.. hehe.. n i met imam on the way.. so it was cool =] i had company! marlin was still on her way from orchard....

When i came, the SBC prncipal (Dr. Albert Ting) was still giving his welcome message... and sharing the story of SBC, etc. Apparently i didnt miss alot =p hehe.. i like him at once =] he has a v good command of english.. and he translated whatever he has said to chinese HIMSELF! cool, eh? he's a soft spoken person with that kind of voice that makes you want to hear his voice again again and again... if only NTU lecturers are like that XD ill be "addicted" to listening to lectures! haha..

Then we sang a new song (by SBC) entitled "Thank You, Lord".. a simple song.. combined with 15 people orchestra, 1 piano... and about 60 people in the choir.. it was simply.... MAJESTIC ^_^...

The Conductor of the night was 'Lee Chong Min'.. according to my friend, he was studying with Lim Yao (from the SSO, remember?) in London.. when i saw him, he's completely different from lim yao =p While lim yao keeps a long hair, the conductor was.. well... erhm... aging XD (abit bald)... but the precision from his fingers movement was really cool =].. n the orchestra... yes!! i felt the orchestra!!! hueheuehuehuehuee.... i could only see one girl from my seat though =(!!! Eniweiz, i was curious to see him, because of what Husen told me about him.... (that he was with Lim Yao - ga kalah ama Lim Yao) but he chose to serve in church music ministry... n that he said he wasnt proffessionals who always come on time for anything.. (He always come EARLIER to pray!!).. he already prayed for everything.. the wheather.. the traffic.. the heart of congregation, the singers the orchestra, even wayyyy before the concert.... awhh.... such dedication!

Dixit Dominus.. The Lord has Spoken..... Apparently, many composers have composed Dixit Dominus, which was based on Psalm 110 (of course i didnt know it was taken from Psalm until the preacher came forward during the message).. the SBC performed the one from Vivaldi and from Handel.... and both were song in their original language.. Latin... at this point i already thought "sharks O_o i think im nt going to like this O_O;"

Dixit Dominus ala Vivaldi reminded me of his four seasons... light.. breezy.. and happy tunes... and ofcourse.. relatively short... hehee.... the 2 main singers of the night were Cecilia Yap (Soprano) and Anna Koor (Alto)... they were fantastic (really!).. I especially like the alto.. her voice is deep and carries alot of meaning in it... (She's from the SLO, btw!)... soprano, as always, sing the 'better' tunes XD... and she was a good singer too!

i wonder WHY.. these singers (and la traviata, phantom of the opera singers..) they all dont open their mouth while they sing.. but they can produce such a loud and beautiful voice O_o'.... they dont look like they're sucking air to breathe too XD.. i think they master the skill that nana said 'stealing breath' XD ------ but.. the Magic Flute singers DID open their mouth when she sang, remember? the queen of the night? why? wads the difference?

Well i was really enjoying Vivaldi's Dixit Dominus..! oh.. the translation part.. was not a problem XD because they only sing most 2 sentences in a song.. n they only repeat it again and again.. for example.. 'Dixit.. dixit.. diiiii....diiixit... do.. mi.. nus.. dominus dominus doooo miii nusss' u get the idea XD

The organ player was quite poor thing hehee.. She had to look sideways almost every half a minute to see the conductor =p i wonder why they didnt move the organ nearer or facing the conductor.. ofcourse i had to crane my neck to see the conductor conducting.. I could only see 2 double bassis, and 1 violinist... and.....then, there was.... timpani!!! XD.... hohoho!! i nudged marlin.. "gantenk!!" huehuee.. well not to say he's utterly good looking.. just that.. he was MUCH better than the Masumi-chan in Nodame Cantabile XD XD XD XD XD XD XD n smehow marlin was also commentng the same thing XD "ga kayak yg di chiaki" XD

Then the message came.. The preacher, Elder Yong Tech Meng asked us to open psalm 110.. n i was like 'OOOOOOOO this is the lyrics!!' n he mentioned many composers have composed songs based on this psalm... hehe.. never knew =p

The interesting he pointed out, is that how music works in human brain is unexplainable.. he said that there are cases of an alzemer (is this how u spell it? the disease whereby u gradually forget things from the most recent happenings... and then u start to forget things in ur past.. etc.. - bukan pikun loch) patient.. he forgot the people surrounded him... he forgets things, events, etc.. but when he hears a song, he could suddenly sing it out....

The second case was a conductor who also got this disease.. when he hears a song, he could CONDUCT the orchestra to the very detailed precision... =] that's the power of music in human lives!!

Actually those are the things i got from him XD for afterward, he only recite and elaborate more on the Psalm 110 (the lyrics)

Then we got back to Dixit Dominus.. this time, by Handel.... His first piece struck me as 'handel banget!!' u know.. grand entrance... with pipe organ.. like those tune when they show kingdom of England? n just then... imam said 'buset.. handel banget ya?!' haha..... n ofcourse, handel's piece was more... hm.. complicated? more thrilling notes for the choir.. or maybe because they have stopped singing for a while listening to the message, that they somehow couldnt reach some high notes =.= ok lah.. forgivable when the alto came out for her solo song.... n with that song, i really applauded her.... as i said, her voice was deep.. smooth... n rich...!! *hugs her* n i think this is one of the rare occassions i like the alto better than sopranos XD

The songs afterward got more and more complicated tunes... (but again, they only sang 2 sentences within 1 song!)...... that three of us got distracted with funny2 faces in the choir XD we noticed someone at the back row started to 'conduct' using his left hand while the right hand held the music book..... n three of us giggled together... n then we started to guess which was Pdt. Johnny Silas' son...., pointing to this guy who seemed to have such a red face.... and there's mr. potato too..... (ok.. we're really crazy.. werent listening thoroughly to the song!!)

So the program booklet became our 'chatting' window.. Imam asked whether i know this guy from bandung.. n i tot his name sounded v familiar.. 'moe fa kat'.... then.. i remembred the 3 musketeer back when i was in first year junior high.... my fav music teacher (ganteng-kind), singing with my other fav music teacher (nice- kind) and this i-duno-what-he-taught-back-then teacher... his name was v unique.. n YES! it was him... XD Apparently SBC Chorale and Hallelujah Singers have a handful of indonesians!!!!

There was this song alto singing with the Tenors... erhm.. i dun really like that song XD The last song from Handel's Dixit Dominus is 'Gloria Patri, et Filio' which was really a grand song.. with many parts from the song sounds almost like Messiah's 'hallelujah'

Afterward, they asked us, the congregation to sing with them 'Give Thanks' and "great is Thy Faithfulness' medley...... oh man.. i really love the arrangement ^_^... i love singing with the orchestra.. i love singing with the chorale..... huhuhu... it was majestic (at least to me).... i was really happy that i decided to watch =] $25 for listening to two great composer's pieces... really not a bad deal! XD i think i would still watch even if it's more ex....

Im gona support SBC's music ministry.. wooohhhhoooo!!!!!!!!!! all praises, glory and honor just for Jesus!! Gloria Patri! ^_^v

Songs of Joy

Grr... the lazy nana always referred to my blog O_o'.... Okiez... the concert.... it was...... one of my very memorable event in my life... haha!!

===== prior to concert =====

Actually, it was quite mafan, in a way that we had to prepare quite alot of things on top of our voice.. But the costume complication was reduced drastically... [coz i had the costume ready!] just needed to find black shoes...

Anyway.. lucky gret was here for a little shopping... a little shopping? XD its not LITTLE shopping... it took us 2 (almost full) day (plus some rain) to shop for my black shoes O_o'.. finally got a decent pair of shoes that didnt burn a hole in my pocket..

So, the day before the concert, everything was ready.. costume check.. black file check.. voice check (cieee).. =p but then since it was the last day gret in sg, and tony's hands itched to play mahjong, we played till 3am!!..

When i woke up the next morning, my head pounded... pounded... and pounded... Prone to get sick O_o' .. Fortunately, Marlin's mum bought all of us lunch.. so at least with full stomach, i wont fall sick that easily.. hehee...

Gret and marlin's parents left the house... i was consulting with RIna how to put on make up (yea.. i think i failed 2 make up lessons O_o' grr...).. i was ready by 1pm.. I was going around the house... doing practically nothing... and 1.30 sharp, i left the house (coz it takes 45 mins to reach esplanade).. n marlin called... n said that she just reached bukit timah plaza... (she left almost 1 hour ago!!).... n she didnt tell me earlier =.='

Eniweiz.. i tried my luck.. i took LRT instead of 67 coz i know 67 will take longer time.. at bukit panjang, i waited for a few buses tat goes to bukit timah.... n it took about 15mins for the next bus to come O_o; n yea.. i reached bukit timah at 2.15!! i alighted and waited for MORE buses that goes to town.... n guess wad... 67 comes next O_o' stewpeed... in desperation, i tried to call for cab, but apparently all cabs were busy O_o;... almost 2.40, i got a cab!! n i just realized that i didnt have money O_o'

So I asked nana to wait for me outside of esplanade with $5... i mean.. from newton area.. to esplanade.. its not that far... right? guess wad.. i reached esplanade at 2.55!! and the taxi costs $8.50............ gila bgt ga segh O_o' traffic jam... n welll... i duno where the taxi driver brought me.. it drove past bugis O_o'

===== Hours before the concert =====

Me and nana brisk walk to the esplanade concert dressing room O_o; n i could only take a deep breath when i saw everyone still chattering outside the dressing room =p lucky eng kee never say the REAL time we're supposed to be on stage... hehehee... so most of the time, we were kept waiting =p..

Everyone looked very .... normal... like nana said, i didnt even feel THAT feeling that we're performing.. =p looking around, the other choir members wear black black black..... most of them appear... normal... well at least not 'WAH' kind of costumes... only hm... tante wear full length gown with shawl and she did her hair too! XD ... her make up was the best.. =p the rest of them, dont really put on make up.. only blusher, lipstick or some necessary basic make up.. ohhhh! nathalia came with full make up too... she looked really pretty.. n when we asked who did the make up, she said she put it on herself... kewwwwllllll XD

Our turn came to be on stage for our final rehearsal... photographers stationed almost at every corner of the stage... n yet..... i dont feel the 'nervousness' XD It just felt like last tuesday when we stood there rehearsing... and got scolded by our conductor for singing like a cat.... XD.. n yea.. the photographer walked about here and there snapping pictures of our conductor.. when it is our turn to be photographed, whenever we sing 'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa' they'll snap our pictures XD XD... (according to one choir member)... so.. the pic shld turn out to be quite ugly XD

Then, our grand finale practice.. the conductor wear full costume of a maestro.. huehuehe cool dude XD cool grampa...... XD

Then we had our (not-so-delicious) early dinner.... Rita and Nathalia apparently graduated from the same univ, same faculty.. O_o so qiao!! The swakoo me and my indo frenz, took pics here and there including in the green room XD XD... tante also joined in XD and after dinner, when we looked around, everyone was sleeping..... including nana........ she was like 'wake me up in 10mins.. more than that, my eyes would swell..' then she turned her face away.... then she turned to me again 'make it 15mins..'

after 15mins, i wake her n said 'haa.... 15menit lagi...' O_o' XD then the bored me and rita went around the green room.... took pic (again) outside.. leaving nana sleeping soundly on the sofa with nathalia and yudy.. hehee...

Then... we were REALLY SUPER BORED!! we started calling our 'audience-to-be' and asked where they were... then, we went outside to take pics (again) XD XD...... until marlin came.. sbass and ezer came... and snap snap snap... XD more picturessss XD XD

===== Moments before our concert.... =====

Went back to our dressing room to do final touch up =p .... n final warming up.... and THEN... when they all started saying 'lets do well tonight people...; blablablablabala'... it sets it.... im PERFORMING!! wooohhhhhooooooo XD XD get sooo excited =p hehehee...

Moments before we went in to the concert hall, i started to feel the anxiety O_o; no more excitement O_o... what if i cldnt sing well O_o what if we sang out of tune... what if what if and what ifs....

But i guess i wasnt as nervous as when im going for exams XD.... my legs didnt buckle like how it did when i opened the first page of exam paper... and i could feel myself smiling now and then whenever we sing the right tune XD...

==== The Concert =====

Anyway, i was enjoying our own 20 mins concert.. watching my conductor closely (part of the reason for this... is becoz im nervous... and watching conductor is one of the way to ease nervousness bwahaha)... and forgetting to sing 1 phrase at the 'bye bye lulay' song XD apart from there, i did my best.. i believed there were some glitches in the soprano II parts (at Olux beata TRINITAS...) ... and ofcoz the part where our conductor conducted wrongly for the song 'love came down at xmas'... but apart from there, amazingly, we didnt sing flat XD.. There are some parts where i felt 'shit..... flat......' n i was crossing fingers.. but when the orchestra strikes the correct tune, i managed to smile to myself XD *pats* XD

It's true that i didnt feel the other singers.. (im like singing with my fellow sopranos only).. that actually what makes me think WHY our voices didnt blend...... we lack BONDS between singers, i think.... After the concert, the pretty soprano II (yg mirip princess diana) was complaining to other Soprano II member.. i duno abt wad.. i dun really care =p i sang my part wel enuff according to me XD

===== The Grand Finale =====

The grandfinale, on the other hand, i didnt feel the 'usual happiness and lightheartedness'.. duno y o_O' i couldnt even sing the last part (highest note) which i usually could reach and sustain......duno y....

The funny thing came after the clappings.. =p... our conductor left the stage........ and apparently the clappings didnt really 'subdue' (well it wasnt the kind of clapping i heard for handel's messiah, tho).. but none of them shouted ENCORE..

Suddenly the conductor came into the stage again n i was 'hHAAA?? i tot only if they ask for encore, we sing?' XD... So yea.. we sang the PREPARED encore piece.... XD XD

After that, the audience started to leave.. and thenn my eyes start to roam to my audiences... XD 3rd circle... cant see anyone.. O_o i just could note... that 1/2 of the circle 3 is actually EMPTY o_O... man... And foyer stall... i couldnt see sbass, coz i tot he was sitting very near to the projector room....

Only when the hall almost empty, i saw 3 figures waving wildly from upstairs... i almost thought they're gona trip over the barrier XD n i was like announcing to nana 'there u see? they're up theree...' n nana was like 'sh.. diem..' er... true.. other people didnt even fidget =p ooPZ... heheee... then i tried to find sbass in the $50 seat again XD... apparently his seat is the one which he must crane his neck to watch the choir XD... poor ting XD XD...

Phototaking session with a lady minister.. cool right... XD

==== The aftermath =====

Bottom line, on saturday, i gained new experiences and it was added to my personal pride XD...

1. Singing in choir

2. Singing with IFC (good to sing with the different nationalities)

3. Singing with SUCH A HUGE choir

4. Singing in Esplanade.. (DUH!)

Hehee.... thx for all my friends who attended and those who supported me, my dad, my mum, my friends... thx to my fellow IFC singers... XD XD XD [kayak yg gw dpt award apa aja] bwahahaa....

After the concert, Since marlin's camera is with me, wanted to take some pics with fellow singers.. but duno WHO to take with XD... who to approach XD... then Yudy said 'lets take pic at the stage..' whewww.... can we??? XD XD.. Yea we could! hehee.. so... we went on stage.. and took quite alot of pics XD our motto at that moment 'KAPAN LAGI bisa poto2 di esplanade concert hall!!' hahaaa =p After that, we went separate ways... i felt 'thatz it!! end of choir... n i suddenly felt sad.... huhuhu... i want to go choir againnnnn =['

Me and nana met the rest of them.. marlin, sbass, ezer and congii at carl's junior... and they were saying 'not bad...' 'ok koq..' sbass said 'very well done'.... then we asked the next question 'r u guys gona watch again if we perform next time?' n all of them broke to giggle....... XD XD 'depends on who u r singing with next time' XD XD artinya... ya gituw lagh yakh.. elo tao gw tao XD XD

Thx frens... XD ... Thx for reading jg =p