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TWE
went for the TWE (Toshiba Wind Ensemble) practice on friday nite... on the whole, it was a great nite. initially really cannot make it.... the first blow of my clarinet, only got 1 weak sound come out... sounded more like a sneeze actually haha... after some warming up, finally got a bit better, though the sound is still rather thin, esp the upper registers.. the high notes from e onwards, wah cannot make it! haha...
it helped when not many members turned up for practice, so won't xia suay that much. they just had their annual concert 2 weeks ago, so just like in singapore, the members slack a bit and skip subsequent few practices. the setup of the band is very interesting. the band doesn't really have a resident conductor. they do have 2 conductors who are players as well (not called concert masters or student conductors, just conductors), so they take turn to conduct every friday. Once every month on a saturday, they have a professional conductor (who is a horn player) come and conduct the band. all members need to pay membership fees, ard 1500 yen/mth (S$24) and for the annual concert, need to pay ard 15000 yen (S$240). the monthly fee is to pay for the hiring of the professional conductor and other miscellaneous such as instrument repair. the concert fee is for the hire of the concert hall (so that the concert will be free for all). not only for this band, all other community bands also the same... haha if this is in singapore, i think nobody will join liao... so pls be more appreciative of band practices next time!! anyway since the turn out wasn't that much, we practised in a circle formation instead of the normal semi-circle one.... so everybody can see and hear everybody. first piece played was the inn of sixth happiness i think. it had the "this old man, he played one...." tune in one of the movements... quite interesting.. anyway plus me, there were only 3 clarinettists, so we played scissors papers to choose parts allocation. i won the first rd, so i chose 2nd (got solo 1st and 1st)... hehe.... but the next rd not so lucky... i lost, so i had to play first for alvamar overture (groan....) never play first before for this... then so long never play macham have to run all those high notes... super jialat... haha obviously cannot make it, and did not make it =p 3rd round i lost again, but was fortunate... cos they played 1st suite in e-flat (holst)... haha confirm 切! 1993/4 played this piece so much that sleep also can play. so even when i was given the solo first part, also no prob. the only prob was my embouchure giving way... no stamina liao.... 4th rd got the 2nd part, but can't remember what piece it was liao... but it was pretty easy. after the practice, we went for a welcome party for me. had lots of good food, and great company... best of all.... free.. haha... went back via the last train... i guess the reason why it was so enjoyable was the people. having to live with japanese who keep to themselves all the time for 4 months, it was refreshing to meet a whole bunch of japanese who actually is interested about you, want to talk to you, and is proactive about it. as 堀内さん, the conductor, said, "music は境界がない..." (music has no boundaries) indeed he is right. as such, i thoroughly enjoyed the band here, and think i will be taking part in their activities from now on! =) gotta improve my clarinet playing though!... go carrie underwood! winston, out! posted by winz at 2:27 PM 0 comments
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