JC Band Fest Concert!!

Wow.


Got to the Esplanade early, at 1:30pm, and met up with the rest of the RJC people. Holst went in first, while we in the Honour Band dumped our stuff in the absolutely huge dressing rooms, then went to Marina for lunch and to buy stuff.

Soundcheck was pretty fast, we didn't even run through the pieces completely. Dr Mazzaferro seemed happy with what we did though, so he let us off for dinner after a short time.

Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to listen much to Holst's and Fennell's performances, although I would have liked to. I did catch a bit of Raffles Chorale up at the concourse to the Esplanade though, and they were quite good.

Our holding area for the concert was the loading bay, which was the same for MyRIad more than a year ago. Naturally we were all nervous, which is normal for a concert of this scope. Being in an honour band raised the pressure even more. I was pretty confident, though, that our performance would be a success.

And what a success it was. There were a few minor mistakes here and there, but really not of any consequence. Festmusik by Richard Strauss was our opening piece, a fanfare which I think the brasses did extremely nicely. Unfortunately the piece was not scored for baritone saxophone, so I was left with the bass clarinet score to work with, which was quite sad.

I like First Suite in E flat, by Gustav Holst. It's one of the few songs in which the baritone saxophone has such lyrical, expressive lines. I hope I managed to do them justice, and I relished the chance I had to be melodic and really feel the music in a way you can't do most of the time as a bassist.

Der Traum des Oenghus, by Rolf Rudin, is a very mysterious piece, with a thrilling climax. That flautist who played the solo at the end is good, and so were the others. Even Dr Mazzaferro was getting emotionally charged by the song, which means we did something right.

My favourite piece of the entire concert, El Camino Real, by Alfred Reed, was up next. Very wild and very fun, especially the beginning and end. Shuqi did a beautiful oboe solo, and overall this piece was just great. Love the out-of-control feeling of the ending, and when we played, it wasn't too hard to imagine cowboys charging up and down the royal road.

Remember what I said about few pieces giving the baritone saxophone nice, expressive melodies? His Honour March, by Henry Fillmore, is one of them. Standard march, but so nice to play the trio part, and the ending was really nice. An excellent end to the concert.

Overall tonight's concert was marvellous. I heard Dr Mazzaferro didn't even use scores to conduct, but just conducted how he felt. I admire his conducting a lot, and I learnt a lot from him too. He's a good man too, even complimented me on my playing when I saw him on the escalator after prac. It's not often you see a conductor who comments "Great job with the bari sax", or any other bass for that matter. I really hope someday I can play music under his baton again.

The band too, showed its worth as an honour band. Although of course, this concert can never give me the kind of satisfaction Prometheum or Coda can deliver, I doubt I'll be able to get such a wonderful musical experience again. This event really pushed me to improve, and I hope I can apply what I've learnt in other areas.

I love my section. Pity we had such a short time, but still I hope we can become good friends! Daryl, I think you're a good player, as long as you keep it up, relax and enjoy yourself on stage as always, you'll do very well. Same for Elizabeth, you're really a better player than you give yourself credit for. Stay cool, confident and calm, believe in yourself and you'll be fine.

I think playing for JC Band Fest 2007 has given me some new insights into the meaning of music. What is music, really? I share the views of Mr Oura when I say that I think the purpose of music is to send some message to the audience. When it comes right down to it, in the end, no one will care about the low B flat being out of tune (unless it's so dramatically off it can sound like an A). What matters is the feelings and emotion you need to bring across to the audience. Don't worry about the notes, unless you want to become the world's best midi player. To quote Mr Oura:

music without message is really boring and it is not music , just a sound (or noise)
if the message doesn't have any love in it. something awful.

only the message with full of love makes people happy

Of course, the most important part of the music is the getting together, enjoying ourselves and forging bonds with the others.

So, to both AC and Rwinds, happy concerts on the 26th this month. To my section and to the band, thanks for the music and the good times. To everyone else, happy JC Band Fest 2008