john’s blog

I just wanna thank God..

June 14, 2009 at 5:23 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

i was awarded the 3rd prize just now at the young pianist competition!

it was a pretty good result considering how substandard i was playing just now for the ballade. so i really have to thank God for that.

i just wanted to play to Him, for Him, and have him as my most important audience. looks like it paid off (:

so here’s john reminding all of you musicians to play your music to God!

it’s amazing what it does for your nerves. they DISAPPEAR. talk about perfect peace!

oh yeah btw i got a cash prize of $200 (better than nothing, hor) and a certificate of merit. (not cerfiticate hehe)

it’s my first actual prize for piano okay! so i’m pretty much satisfied (:

anyway, i’ll be away from tomorrow until thursday for church camp, so yup see you when i get back, i guess. unless you’re going too!

bye!

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I’m in the finals!

June 13, 2009 at 1:49 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

haha hello guys!

i just performed at the young pianist competition and i’ve gotten into the finals!

that’s despite the messiness at certain sections.

the judges looked happy, one was even clapping (:

some people broke down and most of the playing wasn’t clean, so i suppose i stood out there, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be cleaner!

i must really thank God, first of all! he gave me the confidence to show forth his glory esp. in the opening section of the prelude. my parents said it was grand. and God’s glory IS grand. very grand.

of course i must thank my parents who were so kind to support me, and also put up with my loud banging while they do their work! and marc for wishing me all the best before i left the house.

i’ll thank the rest tomorrow when the finals are over and the results are revealed.

today, i’ll do lots of SLOW practice. especially for my ballade. probably won’t practice more than 2 hrs. don’t want to kill myself! then i’ll get enough rest.

oh yeah thanks ernest for agreeing to play for chinese service tomorrow. you’re doing me a huge favour! i owe you something.. i’ll decide what another time!

yup that’s all folks. i’ll tell my precious few readers the results tomorrow. but don’t expect too much okay!

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Money under a matress.

June 12, 2009 at 8:21 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

i just finished reading “the kite runner” and i just want to let out a really long sigh. all that emotion must go somewhere! it’s such a beautifully written book! a true example of poetry in prose, i tell you. i’ve been reading it in between practice to rest my arms so that no ghastly condition will afflict me and hinder me from producing music.

i digress again.

this post is not written to showcase the merits of this book (because i’m sure you will find out if you read it). rather, it is written to reveal what made me laugh amidst the gruesome predicament the author found himself in.

to put it simply, i found something seriously funny in the book which really has nothing to do with the content of the book. it goes like this:

Earlier that morning, when I was certain no one was looking, I did somehing I had done twenty-six years earlier: I planted a fistful of crumpled money under a mattress.

of course, in itself, these words will kindle no laughter in you, but what i read on yahoo news should:

Dumped mattress lands cash in trash in Israel

JERUSALEM (AFP) – - A stash of cash landed in the trash when a woman in Israel dumped her mother’s mattress not knowing it was stuffed with the equivalent of about one million dollars.

Israeli media reported that the 40-year-old woman showed up at a garbage dump in a panic on Tuesday, looking for the valuable bedding.

She had bought a new mattress for her mother and, wanting the gift to be a surprise, threw away the old one. She then found out the decades-old mattress contained her mother’s life savings.

Workers are helping her search the garbage, but have found no sign of the cash so far.

you might want to note that i read the article mere minutes before reading that sentence in the book.

moral of the story: fact is truly stranger than fiction.

i apologise if this post appears to be sadistic in any way. please, that is NOT my intention

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I’m baaaaaaaaack!

June 12, 2009 at 9:13 am · Filed under Uncategorized

-yesterday night-

yes i know i haven’t blogged for… ages and ages. but anyway after reading lots of good stuff recently (2 man booker prize winners okay), i’ve decided that honing my writing skills was the way to go! so yup here i am (:

haha the hols have been pretty interesting. i had mep camp last week where we oklahoma-ed our way to 2 min stardom. without theo AHEM. he was rotting away at cap with _______. and of course we had very quirky shostakovich rehearsals with a guy whose name we STILL don’t know. (cough cough double red buttons and shiny silver boots cough)

and of course i’ve been practicing for the comp on saturday! yes mr loh. the pieces are definitely cleaner than the last time you heard me.

—————————————-

-this morning-

i just had the weirdest dream! but i shall not reveal and it’s even weirder because i haven’t dreamt anything in a long, long while. normally i just hit the bed and go straight into a deep sleep. then i emerge the next morning wondering what hit me.

anyway, (haha must stop myself from digressing)

i’ll be looking forward to church camp next week (monday to thursday) and rise camp week after (mon to thurs too!). so during those days forget about contacting me by msn or email. but for rise camp by phone maybe can haha.

hrm now i’m thinking if i should wear a blazer tomorrow. advise me someone! maybe i’ll just bring it along..

okay i’ve to go and do my work already. i must be focused! cannot waste time. looks like my writing practice ends here.

thanks for reading!

i won’t be updating that often so just pop by when you feel like it (:

hey! i just realised that the whole post contains no question marks. is that a good sign? ahh i just contradicted myself! okay this blogging thing is really killing me. bye guys!

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This sounds promising (:

August 30, 2008 at 11:00 am · Filed under Uncategorized

(This saves me the trouble of writing my own review! Enjoy!)

Life! – Life News

Saturday, 30/08/2008

ROUSING START FOR MUSIC MAKERS

Chang Tou Liang

Concert Review:

HSBC Youth Excellence Gala

Victoria Concert Hall

Thursday (28/08/08)

Witnessing the birth throes of a new orchestra is one of the most exciting phenomena for music lovers. The Orchestra of the Music Makers, formed by alumni of various youth and school orchestras in Singapore and led by conductor Chan Tze Law, made the best possible start.

The primary function of its debut was to partner three past recipients of the HSBC Youth Excellence Awards, but it had many minutes of its own to bask in the spotlight. An unanimity of purpose distinguished Dvorak’s rousing Carnival Overture which, despite some roughness around the edges, provided the evening with a high-octane start.

First of the teenage stars was soprano Janani Sridhar, a singer possessed with natural poise and disarming stage presence. Her sweet and expressive agile voice carried four arias from Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Cosi Fan Tutte with aplomb.

Combining the virtuous with the coquettish, and a change of evening gowns in between, there was further room to develop a set of lungs and cords that could transcend the orchestra and fill the hall. Her encore, the Laughing Song from Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, sparkled like champagne.

Singapore’s youngest ever student in New York’s Juilliard School, Clare Yeo, was next. Her reading of Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue tended to be on the staid side, despite clarinetist Vincent Goh’s best efforts to sound sexy in his opening solo. There was, however, much thought to shape phrases creatively, and with utmost musicality. The coruscating cadenza was also whipped off with great confidence.

Yehudi Menuhin School resident Gabriel Ng seems like the most natural virtuoso of the trio. His effortless take on the first movement of Paganini’s Violin Concerto No.1 has to be heard to be believed.

Allying close to spotless intonation with a fearless disregard for the work’s myriad technical challenges, his showing was the one to marvel at. His encore, Kreisler’s Recitative And Scherzo, was further assurance of his abilities.

All three joined the orchestra for the closing number, the Mexican Arturo Marquez’s Danzon No.2, recently made famous by the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra.

The instrumental prowess and infectious zeal transmitted by all on stage was much cause to rejoice in.

Who really needs to journey to Venezuela when there resides a world’s local bank of prodigious musical talent on our very doorstep?

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I owe you many!

July 31, 2008 at 7:56 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

I can’t believe I’ve been busy enough to not blog for 1 1/2 months!

Before anything, I want to wish all the best to Jon Shin who’s competing in Germany in a bodybuilding piano competition. I hope he wins!

Anyway, I’ll just update all of you about what’s been happening to me (:

Dramafeste!

Bayley dramafeste was a whole lot of hard work, but a whole lot of fun too! I learnt alot about drama, about live music, about staging a production (MoV tips) and about myself too. And I got to know other very nice people – which happens to be everyone in the production – like Timothy, Zhong Ren, Aliff etc.

and Woo Chiao (self-professed bimbo who really isn’t, and someone I really respect (really)).

We won best play together with Hullett, and it really was something we could be very very proud of. Especially if you saw the rehearsals just a week before the performance.

Yeah so I thank God for the opportunity to do this, and all of the wonderful Bayleyeans (and some non-bayleyeans) who helped out in so many ways! Thanks alot!

And I want to thank those who came down to support us like some 2P people – Bennett, Edward, Yi Ming, Kaicong, Kelson, and many others who I forgot or didn’t say hi to. Thanks also goes to Enzhao and Theo (who didn’t go for Hullett’s but went for ours). Hope you laughed your teeth off!

And to dear boy-boy:

What is 5 + 6?

OMM

I’ve also joined the OMM, otherwise known as the Orchestra of the Music Makers. A real mouthful. Theo and Laura are in the orchestra too. We’re having alot of fun preparing for the HSBC Youth Excellence Gala featuring Gabriel Ng, Claire Yeo, and Janani Sridhar. Come and watch ok!

Our amazing programme:

Antonín Dvorák – Carnival Overture Op. 92
Mozart – Batti Batti (Don Giovanni)
Mozart – Vedrai Carino (Don Giovanni)
George Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue

INTERVAL

Mozart – In Uomini (Così Fan Tutte)
Mozart – Una Donna(Così Fan Tutte)
Niccolò Paganini – Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 6, 1st mvt.
Arturo Márquez – Danzon no. 2

Here’s the booking link:

http://www.sistic.com.sg/portal/dt?retry=1&dt.windowProvider.targetPortletChannel=JSPTabContainer/sEventsCalendar/Event&contentCode=hsbc0808&dt.isPortletRequest=true&dt.provider=PortletWindowProcessChannel&dt.containerName=JSPTabContainer/sEventsCalendar&dt.action=process&dt.windowProvider.currentChannelMode=VIEW&dt.window.portletAction=RENDER

BTW there’s a very nice Danzon recording on Youtube during the proms. Go and take a look!

There’s so much to say but so little time. I hope to update you on other stuff along the way.

Oh yeah, I have a dilemma:

I’m playing 3 pieces for the Chopin Competition this year – Etude Op. 10 No. 3 (4 min), Ballade No. 2 (7 min), and Polonaise-Fantaisie (12 min). Here’s the problem. I’ve to play one class practical in Week 9 and my EOY practical is in late September. I have to play 3-5 min for each practical, but I cannot play the same piece for both exams. Now what am I supposed to do? I’ll tell Ms Goh about it and see what she says. Hopefully I wont get penalised for playing too long (which doesn’t make sense but that’s what they did last year..)

I hope she understands.

I’ll be playing at Arts@Gallery tomorrow with Kwek. Come down and watch us if you’re too free and if you don’t mind listening to rather unrehearsed music. Thanks!

I’ll update you on other stuff as soon as I have the time.

Till then!

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Wang Longzhao’s Brother’s Blog Has A Trojan?

June 19, 2008 at 1:23 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

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A True Champion

June 15, 2008 at 10:44 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

“If I win, amazing. If I lose, I lose. I will be trying 500% to win.” -Rafael Nadal

Now if I can apply this to my christian walk, who knows what God can do with me!

I’ll try hard I assure you (:

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No, I am not dead.

June 14, 2008 at 2:17 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Haha I guess I owe my readers an update. A long long one.

What I’ve been up to:

1) RenaISsancE (30 May)

Ok this was fun. Stop reminding me how the cello solo was out of tune or how the second half was disappointing. I felt it went pretty well for a student orchestra, so I’m quite satisfied.

2) RISE Camp (2-4 June)

This was somewhat disappointing. We did have some sort of fun, but i think it could have been alot better. I have nothing much to say.

3) Church Camp (9-13 June)

Now this was a real blessing. The theme was “Living like a Citizen of Heaven on Earth”. Now this spiritual food really made me full. The fellowship was sweet, the lessons were many, and the convictions were strong. Now I know the characteristics of a citizen of heaven in detail. The 7 messages that we had by Prof. William Harding were succinct, authoritative and to the point. He never failed to convict me of the sins i have yet to get rid of, and for that I am grateful. I thank God for the precious lessons I learnt and the people who touched my life. I can say that I was on the brink of failing in my spiritual walk, but this camp brought it right back up again. Now I can truly say that God is good and His mercies endure forever. I was also touched by the testimonies, especially Joshua Chia’s, and the dorm devotions which the sec 2s had with him. He related to us so well as many of us were in the same situations he was in. If you’re reading this, Joshua, thank God that he has used you so mightily to touch the lives of others. And work hard at being the salt and the light that God wants you to be. And continue to love your parents too (: Similarly, all of us should strive to reach this goal. I think that learning about the beattitudes, loving your enemies, judging others, revenge, faith, and being forgiving was so timely and I repented of each one of them. I really hope I will stop sinning and inch myself out of the hole I have fallen into. I hope to apologise with my actions to those I have offended, so I hope people can see the changes in me and in my life. And of course I must thank God for helping me wake up yesterday and for the ability to play the piano decently.. *ahem*

Anyway, I will probably post snippets of my thoughts from the messages I have heard. If anyone wants the cd recording of the messages I think I can obtain a copy. Hopefully your life will be changed by them too.

Actually I have alot more to say but due to time constraints I will leave it at that.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

On a last note, my church will be having a gospel sunday meeting on the 29th of this month. If any of you are contemplating the meaning of life or anything of that sort, tell me and I’ll bring you to church to find the answer to your questions (:

And by the way, I’ve been accepted into the ASEAN Chopin Competition so thank God for that, and pray that I may be used for his glory!

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Lots of Hope

May 19, 2008 at 9:24 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Saturday night was Daniel Hope’s concert. Prokofiev’s classical was pretty interesting, yet not as classical as can be, with some interesting and unconventional chord movements. The piece came across quite delightful so I didn’t really think about analyzing the piece or anything of the sort.

Mendlessohn was refreshing. Hearing it live was different and Hope was quite entertaining. I just felt that SSO were sometimes not in sync with him, causing some problems with coordination. But who cares? As long as Hope did his job and provided a great performance, I’m satisfied. I must say he has a boyish feel to him, leaving traces of it in the concerto – that i liked. And his kung-fu spiccato was more than exhilarating. Plus there was plenty of emotion in his playing, while lots of fire was also evident.

- I like the urtext more than the more commonly played one! His encore was pretty nice too, though a little draggy at some parts.

Anyway, I met Theophilus and gang during intermission. By gang I mean people like Laura, Fangying and Selina. We met Lanabel too.

Being a kiasu Singaporean, Theo was found with a cd of the in the queue half a minute after the encore ended. And I stood next to him outside the queue, of course, due to my abundance of cds and lack of finance. So Theo, Laura and Fangying were in the queue while Selina and I waited outside for them. Patiently.

After realising Lanabel had gone (ahem ahem Laura), we tried looking for people but to no avail. I did find ET though, with “some UWC people”.

Back in the concert hall, we heard one of Sibelius’ Symphonies. I didn’t bother remembering which one it was. It was just a mass of sound, with some bits and pieces of glory or melancholy but no real beauty or entertainment value. Oh well..

After saying bye to theo and his gang (why do i keep saying that?!), I left for home with my dad.

It’s Rachmaninov’s Variations on a theme by Paganini next. I hope Jon Shin can go for that.

It’s school tomorrow and it promises to be an interesting day. I hope.

Till next time!

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Older entries »

john’s blog

I just wanna thank God..

I’m in the finals!

Money under a matress.

I’m baaaaaaaaack!

This sounds promising (:

I owe you many!

Wang Longzhao’s Brother’s Blog Has A Trojan?

A True Champion

No, I am not dead.

Lots of Hope

So Who am I?

Here ye, here ye!

That photo above

Redeeming the time

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