Treble

Sunday, 24 June 2007 - Months of arduous have paid off as 'me school' has emerged as the winner of the recently concluded SBP Competition. The 3rd consecutive win was made sweeter when the conductor also received the best conductor award. Congratulations to all of you!

My comments:
The first school played the western (The Pioneers) and Malay (Pesta Menuai) pieces flawlessly, as usual their trumpets are strong. But, I think their overall performance was bland - flat with no dynamics.

'Me school' played a song written by our previous instructor titled Jauh-jauh (an old song recently being recorded again by a new singer). There were mistakes everywhere; clarinets were squeaking, trumpets couldn't reach the high note and the French horn didn't hit the correct notes. Luckily, they recovered afterwards and managed to finish the rest of the piece.

The second piece (Russian Christmas) was supposed to be our killer piece and also the harder of the two pieces (Believe me, the score is full of running notes and tricky movements). I particularly like the French horn which roared and gave a strong character to the song. All in all, they played the song perfectly and I believe at par with Tokyo Kosei. The majestic ending with the ritard along with the thunderous sound of the gong and chimes was nailed perfectly!

The next school played two songs by Phillip Sparke (Postcards from Singapore - translated as Khabar dari Temasek and Starflash). This year, I must say that they have improved a lot and I felt that we're not going to get first place. Luckily, this school got second... >:)

Fourth school - the most improved school of the lot, played Alvamar Overture. Verdict : they can be a great contender if given the right coaching. By the way, they got third.

Fifth school - OK, this one is surely going to get fifth place! Though, kudos must be given to them as they managed to get into the finals and beating some of the more established schools.

The judges include one American guy and The National Symphony Orchestra concertmaster, 2 representatives from Malaysia and a judge from Singapore (if I'm not mistaken).

Oh, yeah! I heard that they'll be going to Italy next year for winning first prize ....