NANCHIAUCHORALE <3

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Hey everyone!

THIS DAY TWO YEARS AGO WAS SYF'09!

broken English but OH WELL.

Hey Sec4s! We are so old..

NANCHIAUCHORALEY
10:46 PM

Friday, April 15, 2011

I have no idea who reads this blog haha(if you are reading this post, leave a tag later on!), but seeing that yesterday was our last performance with the whole choir, I want to make this post a little more.. personal. I doubt you will cry from reading this, but you have to understand that there will be a little David Archuleta, Owl City and Tumblr references haha!

Yesterday was a very long for me. It felt like it was 3 days! The morning was one day, the afternoon another and night yet another!

(yea. listen to the music to get the 'feel' lol)

Coming to school was a little rush for me. I left my house at around 10.45 and promptly left my finished cup of milk sitting on my bedroom floor. My dad sent me to school and I met up with Jerilene and WeiLin. I got the keys from Mrs Chew and from this point onwards, time seemed to speed up. After Genesis came, the three of us started counting money and oh boy! we were rich. Really rich. During lunch, the three of us eat outside the music room and the topic shifted to whether we were nervous.

I wasn't nervous to speak the truth. There's no point in worrying and being nervous. It just makes you feel worser by the second. I was.. somewhat just having fun. And yes, I had fun (:

Changing and practice. I was a little worried (ironic but..). You guys sounded somewhat tired. Ms Yin's last minute correction of things also prodded me a little.

Sleeping session on the bus. Let's not elaborate on that.

My first impression of SOTA is wow. I am impressed with the architecture and then *snap* I knew I had to focus. But the day was already starting to take its toll on me. I was having backaches and thigh aches. (I believe I'm old.) The warm up room was pretty huge and spacey. Somehow I felt Ms Yin was a little.. upset? I don't know. Rush for time I guess. Even in the room, Ms Yin was STILL correcting us. But at this point of time, no point worrying yea?

Waiting to go on stage. At this point of time, I have to admit, this year's SYF was very different from 2 years ago. Maybe it's because of the venue change. Maybe it's the people I'm performing with. Maybe it's because I grew up and matured. There's a different flavor. Being the first person to go on stage, I got the nerves. And then everything seemed to fast forward. I followed the staff to the stage, walked on to the wooden floor, not before doing a double-take. I SWEAR I HAVE NEVER, EVER SEEN THE STAGE BEFORE. NOT EVEN IN PICTURES. That's why. and HECK, THE ROOM IS SMALL. But to speak the truth, the acoustics were much better than I expected.

This is probably the first time I am saying this, but when I sing, I lose awareness of my

surroundings. I just sing and pour everything out, especially when it was a performance. My backaches and muscle aches mystically vanished. I obviously couldn't be a fair judge. So, after getting off the stage, I asked Claris who was in front of me, "How was the performance?" Claris shook her head. I was like oh nooooooo.

Let's skip the part where we were audience.

When we were coming out, I asked for the opinions of others. Erica said it was fine. Evangeline said the jap song lacked emotions. Jerilene said it was fine. It was not until Ms Yin said that we were good and decent despite the sharp, when I relaxed. So yay!

And then it hit me. The Sec4s just had their last performance. (Inserts whole bunch of things that I will reserve for later lol)

In the auditorium again, sitting in the 2nd row, waiting for the results. We were choir 072. The first to be announced was Choir 05_. Waiting and waiting. 5GWHs and 1COP had gone past. Choir 070. The 4 of us, Jerilene, Evangeline, Erica, and Me, were squeezing each other's hands. Genesis had her face in her face. And then, the moe coordinator(she's the moe coordinator for the SYF opening ceremony last year too) announced, "Choir number 72, Nan Chiau High School, Gold." Woah. We gave a slight scream and then subtleness. The first thing that came to me was, "Wow. A Gold. Wow.", not "Dang, we didn't get GWH.) Coming out, we broke the news to you guys. Honestly speaking, I wasn't expecting the reaction you peeps gave. (crying and stuff) I honestly thought you guys will be cheering for we actually got a Gold. And then someone told me that everyone was hoping for a GWH.

Everyone looks at the world from a different point of view. Each judge has their own set of rules and each of them look out for different things. SYF is different from Hong Kong. We only had 3 judges in Hong Kong - 3 judges to please. It's already difficult. We have 7 judges for SYF - 7 hearts to capture. Definitely not easy. WE WERE DEBATABLE. Haven't you noticed the judges took a longer time to discuss about our performance as compared to the next few schools?We definitely got a high Gold. It's awesome already! If our SYF was last year, or even last month, how would you think we have fared? Having grown and improved so much, you girls should really be proud of yourself. Many of us cried. I cried too lol. But, remember we should be grateful for anything we get, this is life. :) (I don't why I say this but..) CHEER UP AND SMILE.

Getting to the buffet was an epic drama. Will not elaborate on this, but I hope everyone had lots of fun! My initial idea was to have a section dinner with my lovely A2s (idea taken from band lol). So I told Erica and asked A2s only or Altos in general. Suddenly, we were planning a buffet for the WHOLE choir. One week to plan, and none of us having organise a buffet before, I must say it wasn't not THAT difficult? It was fun. (If you haven't paid, PAY UP. Dang, I sound like a loanshark.)

This quote is (Y). I truly hope that juniors, you guys can carry on and work hard! Spread the chorister identity with the sec1s. We may not have gotten what we hoped for but at least, we maintained our Gold. In the next SYF, I really hope that you guys can get us that long-deserving GWH and make all the practices and effort worthwhile! No pressure of course. (: Sad to say, us Sec4s won't be there for practices anymore but be rest assured, our hearts will always be with you and we will still definitely visit. (:

So strive hard when practice resumes! Dear juniors, please take the choir to the sky! (:

(just in case you haven't realised, this post is obviously written by DENISE.)

NANCHIAUCHORALEY
11:21 PM

Hey choir! I am so proud that we got GOLD! We shall work harder for the next SYF for a GWH so no more tears okay?

Behind this gold, there were tears, laughter and most of all hard work and no one will understand the amount of effort put in. Miss Yin is very proud of us and we should be very proud of ourselves too!

We shall continue to work hard and the next batch will continue to rock on! :D

NANCHIAUCHORALEY
11:12 PM

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Hey guys! SYF is tomorrow! SYF is tomorrow! I am so excited, how about you?

I am sure that the choir can do it, we just have to imagine that the concert hall is the music room and we sing like we always do with 200% ! Why don't we continue the GWH streak after Drama?! Our choir can do it if we have heart and the brains! Don't get nervous or afraid, just sing like you're singing in the music room/string room and we can do it!

Well, lights out today at 10.30 and remember to report at 11.30 tomorrow. Do not be late. Please bring your scores,water bottles,gowns,make up,shoes and CHOKER! Do not forget to bring these items.

The big day is tomorrow and let's make the best out of it! After so many practices,time spent working on our techniques,hard work and tears, we must do it tomorrow! Let's show the world that we're awesomeeeeeee!

Gold with honors here we comeeeeeee! :D

NANCHIAUCHORALEY
8:25 PM

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Hey guys! There are only 2 day left! Can you believe it? Today was the last practice before SYF and I am so excited, are you? I was very delighted with today's practice, however, Miss Yin said that we sounded tired. Therefore, get more rest and drink lots of plain water. On Thursday,once you come back from school, take a nap before you do your school work. After that, sleep early. Lights out at 10.30!

To achieve Gold for SYF, the 2 most important things are heart and brains. DO NOT forget to think before singing and always remember to put in feeling. For the Jap song, the Altos have to be less clear as the song is about the night rain. Also, for the Sop 2s, do not sound like a 'kaypo' auntie and have direction. For the French song, the Altos need to loosen up and the choir has to remember their dynamics. Lastly, for The Wind, pronunciation is important words as the judges will need to hear the words of the song and the words of the song must sound like English [Not singlish].

Regarding Friday, report to school by 11.30, all girls with long hair will have to bun up their hair before we reach school. The choir should be reporting in their Choir tee and pants. School shorts/shorts that are not super short/pants are allowed. Regarding shoes, we can wear sandals/school shoes/covered shoes.We would be having lunch in the canteen as a choir and only after that then we'll be doing our makeup and change of clothes. We will be doing our warm ups till 2.45 and we'll be heading to SOTA!

I am sure that we can make it and we should not get complacent so let's Gold! Also, be sure to thank our choir teachers for putting effort and time for designing the Owl Bags from Cotton On! They are so cool!

This is the last leg of the race, let's complete it with flying colors!

NANCHIAUCHORALEY
9:17 PM

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Hey guys! It's TUESDAY! Can you believe how time flies so quickly? Well, tomorrow would be the last practice for SYF so I want all our you guys to absorb and retain ALL the information and details taught by Miss Yin and put in your 200% effort in this practice.

In the meantime, please revise your scores and take good care of yourself! Drink lots of plain water and try to take vitamins so as to not fall sick. Also, take out your score to revise them. We're just 3 days away from the huge performance and we can't afford to slide back. We have to constantly improve and become better-er.

See you tomorrow! :D

NANCHIAUCHORALEY
6:24 PM

Monday, April 11, 2011

4days;1 practice!

Hey guys! Well, there are 4 more days left to SYF! Just for 4 days! During this 4 days, hydration and focus is key so do drink lots of fluids and focus on the 3 songs. If you happen to have some free time, simply go through the songs in your head, remembering all the details such as dynamics and pronunciation.

Today's practice was a AWESOME one. Being the second last practice till SYF, I could see that most of our choir mates put in their fullest attention and efforts into this practice. I am so proud of the choir as we have changed and improved drastically from the last 1 month. Even Miss Yin is proud too! Therefore, I feel that we should be striving for even better achievements. As Miss Yin mentioned, we should be ' better-er'. :D

Still, we should not be complacent. Even though our sound is good, we must still have to remember the techniques that Miss Yin has taught us. 'Old habits die hard'. If we do not cultivate good singing habits, we will not be able to achieve a good sound. At least with good singing habits, we would be able to produce a good sound even if we are uncertain.

Finally, Genesis suggests that we have a choir dinner after our SYF. So if you guys have any suggestions, please approach any of the seniors! See you on our final practice on Wed,4.00 in the music room/string room :D

NANCHIAUCHORALEY
9:58 PM

Sunday, April 10, 2011

5days, 2 practices.

Hey guys! How has your weekend been? I'm sorry that I've not been posting much, I will try to post as often as possible!

Well, the countdown has reduced to 5 days to our big performance! Just 5 days! We can do it!

In this blog post, I will be doing a summary of Friday's practice [8th April 2011] and Saturday's practice [9th April 2011].

Friday's choir practice:

We had a reality check where the SLs came up to access us on how our performance would be in SYF. We did not even get to clinch a gold with honors and we were slightly in the 'gold range'. Wake up! Our standard is way better than this! To achieve and maintain the standard of gold, we have to practice every morning and night! You can sing out loud or simply go through the song in your head, remembering all the dynamics, pronunciation and the emotion of the song. We cannot slide back down to where we were 2 months back. We have to be constantly improving and excelling for higher standards.

The pitch, firstly, determines each song. If you were to go out of pitch on your first note, the whole song will be sharp/flat, therefore, approach the first note with caution. Throughout each song, sustain concentration and interest. For example, in the Japanese song, remember the English meaning of the words and while singing, inject that feeling into the Japanese words. This also applies for The Wind and the French song. I am sure that most of the other choirs will lack this, therefore, to stand out, we have to show the judges that we understand the song and that we look beyond the obvious details.

Make sure that you know the song's every single detail and this has to be remembered by Monday! Singing on the SYF day is like presenting a dish of Fried Rice to the judges. We have to present a dish of tasty fired rice to the judges and not individual ingredients. To do this, we must not allow any room for the judges to minus any marks from us and importantly, we must know what Miss Yin's actions mean on stage! To prepare for our big performance on 15th April 2011, we have to stay focused. Go through the song in your head, remembering every single detail. If everyone does this daily, we will be able to reach our goals.

It takes one to bring the choir down but it takes the whole choir to bring the choir to new heights.
Saturday's Practice.
This practice was all about maintenance where we have to retain everything taught by Miss Yin.

Japanese Song

Direction is key! As Miss Yin had mentioned, if the first line of the song lacked direction, the other parts of the song will be bad resulting in a bad song.
This song is a visually and orally song where the song is shown through these aspects with a little bit of a bittersweet feeling. Therefore, no one is allowed to stand like a block of wood when the piano is playing! Feel the song!
This song is all about understanding the feelings of the composer and how he views god and the rain. To understand this, the choir has to understand the English meaning and put it into the song.
The sound for this song has to be clear but not piercing. The sound must be cushioned, round and forward.

French Song:

This song is all about listening. The choir tends to go sharp and to avoid this, we have to listen to each other.
For the choir, this song has to have freedom in emotion but the song cannot be sung out of control.
For the altos, loosen up! To get into the song's required emotion, we have to lighten up [but not go sharp!] and have heart.

The Wind:

This song is okay overall but the component that would bring us down would be our pronunciation. CHEW YOUR WORDS!
The words in this song also has to have emotion. Understand what you are singing!

Think and remember these key points from now and not wait till the last minute to revise them. Think about the music and let it take you away.

Music is the poetry of the air. ~Richter

NANCHIAUCHORALEY
3:39 PM

Saturday, April 09, 2011

Hey guys. I'm sorry that I have not been posting recently as I have been rather busy. However, I promise that by tomorrow, I will have a detailed post.

In the meantime, take care of your health and be ready physically and mentally!

NANCHIAUCHORALEY
9:58 PM

Thursday, April 07, 2011

8days, 3practices

Hey choir mates! How's your wonderful Thursday? Firstly, I am extremely happy that more people are reading the choir blog and are motivated by it. Even Christina is doing her own countdown on Facebook. Good job guys! You deserve a golden star.

Please continue giving feedback and suggestions to improve this blog as the committee is looking into changing the blog skin and the format of this blog. I personally feel that the Cbox should be deleted and replaced with a comment box after every post to prevent very irritating blog walkers. What do you think? Regarding the format of the blog, does anyone of you girls know how to change the blog skin because I am a hopeless low-tech IT dinosaur. So, be sure to check back and recommend your friends to me if they do know how to change and improve this blog!

8 more days, girls! 8 MORE DAYS! You guys are currently at the last lap of your marathon and the finish line is in view. Be sure to encourage each other and persevere! I feel that morning practice can be, at times, tiring and boring but we must work hard because we should not waste all our time and effort that we have put in from last year till now. Well, you could always inject some fun into morning practice like listening to how wonderful Mr Neo speaks on the mike or simply just occasionally talk to your friend beside you and motivating her. Still, we have to stay focused during morning practice as these times are one of the precious practice times we have left.

About today's morning practice, I thought that the choir's sound blended well when we were singing chords.However, for the french song, the dynamics were not obvious enough! Please look through the score and remember where the dynamics are. Do not assume that all the dynamics are the same just because they sound the same. Also, please be reminding to memorize the meaning of the Japanese song so that the emotion of the song can be fitted nicely with the words. All these have to be done by tomorrow! For The Wind, I feel that the dynamics were also not obvious enough. Choir, we really have to step up our game in order to improve and reach for our goals!

Please be reminded that girls with long hair are to come into choir with their hair up in a hair net. Your hair has to be up before you come in to choir and it must be neat and tidy! If you to not have a hair net, it is available at affordable prices at Motif which is located at Compass Point or at Watsons. Also, all girls are to have their fringes pinned up neatly with no 'feelers' hanging at your sides. All clips and hairbands are to be dark navy blue or black and make sure that no strand of hair is covering your beautiful eyes.

Lastly, there will still be PT tomorrow. Please report at 6.50 in the canteen with your PE attire. If you guys have any games to suggest, you can always approach me or any seniors. We are very welcome to your ideas. I am still deciding on what the agenda is tomorrow, but most likely, we will be playing some games and doing some training to train our stamina. Also, please do not be afraid to do push-ups on the field as grass is not poisonous to your hands unless you are allergic to it.

Also, the choir wishes the NCHS Wind Orchestra all the best fortheir SYF which will be held tomorrow.

See you tomorrow where we kick start the way with wonderful exercise! :D

-Cheryl Ang

NANCHIAUCHORALEY
6:34 PM

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

9days, 3practices

Hey girls! How has your Wednesday been? Well, I feel that today's PT was not intensive enough but it was fun! I hop you guys had as much fun as me and I'll think of better games to play on our next PT session. You girls can also suggest some games to play that involve the choir and encourage team bonding.

There is only 9 days left to our grand performance! The countdown has came down to a single digit number and soon, our SYF performance will come. I'm glad that more girls have been reading this blog. Use this blog as a form of motivation and inspiration to keep you going. Personally, I know that the choir can get a gold or gold with honors but the effort must come from each and everyone of you. Everyone plays a vital role and without each of you, this choir will not be possible.

We perform and do well for the choir and for ourselves. Miss Yin is just there to guide up the staircase of success but for the last few steps, it'll be up to us to decide and put in the effort to climb the remaining steps up to reach our goal. So why don't we finish what we have started on and finish this race with flying colors? I'm sure that we can to it together!

There will be morning practice tomorrow so be sure to report at 6.50 sharp. I am glad that most of you girls made it on time for today's PT session, however, for those that came late, make sure that you won't come late tomorrow. Try to remind your section mates to come and report on time! See you tomorrow, we shall start the day with music. :D

-Cheryl Ang

NANCHIAUCHORALEY
9:23 PM

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

10days,3practices

Hey choir mates! How has your week been going? Firstly, I would like to commend on the fact that Erica Ho is one of the very few that reads this blog which I painstakingly take time to post every single day for the countdown to SYF. Therefore, just take 5 minutes of your busy study schedule to read these blog posts and I'm sure that they'll help and motivate you in some way or another.

Another reminder is that morning practice resumes tomorrow and it'll be PT! So report in your PE attire with your shirt tucked in at the canteen. For tomorrow's agenda, we will be doing some short distance running and some games in the field. Please note that safety comes first! If you are not feeling well, you can always approach any of your seniors or me and we will excuse you from PT if you have a valid reason. Also, please try to report on time or even earlier. I know that I may be late for PT sessions some times, but I'll try my very best to make it on time.

Well, there are only 10 days left to the big day! 10 days! Soon, our SYF performance will come in a blink of an eye and I'm sure we'll do our best. For this to happen, one very important thing to do is to motivate your friends. Not just the ones beside you, but your choir-mates who are in your section. For example, you can sing louder or simply write small notes to give them as a form of encouragement. I honestly think that the choir should be more bonded, therefore, each section can go out for section lunch as a way to relax from your hectic lifestyle and simply get to know more about each other! Be sure not to eat any foods that will make your throat sore!

Remember to get loads of sleep and drink enough water! See you tomorrow at PT! :D

-Cheryl Ang.

If she can do it, why can't you?

NANCHIAUCHORALEY
9:59 PM

Monday, April 04, 2011

11days,3practices

Hey guys! Today's choir practice was a awesome one, what do you think? We witnessed the SOTA stage for the very first time when Miss Yong showed us the photos and it consisted of orange, wood and more wood! Therefore, we should have a rough idea of the place and we must do our best!

To refresh your memory, we practiced at the quadrangle today. Remember the sound produced? Well, this will be a guide to how the sound would be at SOTA. Make sure that you can hear the person beside you. If not, ask that person to sing louder so that both of you would be able to encourage and support each other! Also, try to interact with your choir mates from the other sections especially in the French song.

Here are some of the things Miss Yin mentioned today that we should take note:

French Song: Dynamics! There are different dynamics at different parts of the song and they must be obvious!

Japanese Song: Remember to CHEW your words. Also, the intensity of the song must be present throughout the song.

The Wind: PRONUNCIATION! Please remember to pronounce the words of the sing properly and make it song like English and not Singlish!

Overall, I'm glad that Miss Yin mentioned that our sound was good today but we must not get complacent! We must keep on striving to work harder and after all, there are only 11 more days left to our big performance so why don't we focus and put our efforts into these 11days and our performance on the SYF stage. It will also be the Sec4s last performance with us, so why don't we do our best as a farewell gift to the Sec4s and wish them all their best for their upcoming major exams!

Please be reminded that there will be no morning practice tomorrow [5/4/2011]. Morning practice will resume on Wednesday and it will be Physical Training, so be sure to report in your PE attire. Also, report to choir on Friday with your hair up in a bun. This only applies to those with long hair and a hair net is required. For girls with short hair, clip up your fringe!

NANCHIAUCHORALEY
10:05 PM

Sunday, April 03, 2011

12days,4practices

Hey guys! So how have your weekends been going? Studying hard? Well, don't forget to revise your scores especially the pronunciations, dynamics and emotions of each song! As you can see, SYF is slowly nearing so get focused on your goals! Its a one-time chance as it is the first and last SYF performance for many of us and therefore, we should take this one and only chance and put all our efforts into it and perform! I'm sure that we can do it!

One of the most important things to being able to put up our best performances is health! Please take care of your voices and bodies. Make sure that you guys do not fall sick so that all your efforts and time spent practicing have not gone to waste. The most important tool for a choir is their voices! Therefore, we should take extra care with it!

I found this on the internet that drinking some hot tea with honey and lemon will help cure your injured voice. But most importantly, WATER IS MOST IMPORTANT! Drink lots and lots of plain water and that will be the best remedy in protecting and healing your voice in preparation for SYF.

Lastly, don't be afraid to step outside the box especially in choir practice. SYF is a once-in-a-lifetime experience so make the most out of it and don't be afraid to sing out loud!

NANCHIAUCHORALEY
4:03 PM

Saturday, April 02, 2011

Days left to SYF: 13days,4Practices.

Hey guys! Firstly, I will be trying my best to post everyday till SYF. This posts will allow you to be motivated and allows you to reflect about the choir practices. I am sure that our choir will be able to reach our goals if we give our best efforts because we do have the quality,potential and talent!

Choir practice on Friday was a very efficient one where we were able to work on new things like emotion for our song. However, Miss Yin still had to remind us on some areas of the song, like dynamics, in some parts of the 3 songs. Remember that if we really absorb these things, we will be able to have more time for new things! It is really important because time is running short and these things can determine our results for SYF. Still, I was very happy that we remembered the pronunciation for the French song and the emotion of the song was great. :D

Still, don't get complacent and always find time to revise your scores, no matter in school or at home. Just take 10minutes from your time to take out those scores and going through them once, reading and remembering what you wrote on the scores. You can also try to sing out loud in your heart.

We have the talent to get a gold so we must have a gold attitude too! Be a fighter and not a loser! GOLD ALL THE WAY!

-Cheryl Ang :]

NANCHIAUCHORALEY
4:01 PM