9th RIVA DEL GARDA INTERNATIONAL CHOIR COMPETITION;
New Experiences Gathered From the FestivalAs this is my first time singing and performing in Europe, I felt that the audience is always extremely appreciative of any performance. In Singapore, it would be a common sight to have handphones beeping away in the middle of a performance. People would normally glare at the person in question and continue listening to the concert. However, in Italy, I realized that Europeans take any performance extremely seriously. When we were in the church of Riva del Garda for the night concert, some Europeans were extremely annoyed by our choir as they were making quite alot of noise. Some of us even fell asleep! Even though I did my best to keep quiet and didn't fall asleep, I still felt bad as it reflected very badly on Asian choirs.
Another example would be the audience which listened to the Victoria Junior College Choir during the competition for Category G3 and for the Grand Finals. In both instances, the Victoria Junior College Choir received standing ovations for their splendid performance. This is a rare sight in Singapore as audiences rarely show their appreciation for performers in this manner.
One thing that I took away with me was the love for singing anywhere and everywhere. In the last international competition that I took part in 2003 in Genting, I could not feel the atmosphere of choral singing in the air. During that period of time, all I felt was stress from hearing other choirs rehearse. Everywhere I went, I was not reminded of the festival. Instead, I saw gamblers entering the Casino, not giving two hoots about choristers hailing from across the Causeway and not supporting what they love and what they do. On the contrary, in the idyllic town of Riva del Garda, I felt extremely at ease with everything. I loved the way we were reminded of the festival everywhere as the poster was in every shop; in every corner. Choirs sang anywhere and everywhere! I still remember my initial shock when I heard a Swedish choir belting out songs right smack in the middle of the Riva town. After that, it was very common to see choirs performing everywhere, even while having lunch. Not only did the shopkeeper not request for them to keep their volume down, but he actually encouraged them to sing louder! This obviously caught the attention of the surrounding crowds.
The male choir singing while having lunch! hahaDHS choir was even given the opportunity to sing in the middle of the town of Riva del Garda. It most certainly felt very different from singing onstage!
After the entire 5-day festival, I now feel that discipline is of utmost importance as that is part of the reason why we attained a Silver award. Of course, I do not mean to say that a Silver is not enough. But why settle for a Silver when we could have gotten a Gold if we had done our best for every single practice? As Miss Tham said previously, if we get it correct 10 out of 10 times, our chances of getting it correct on stage would be considerably higher. Most choirs that performed at the festival showed impeccable discipline! Especially so was the Kvindelige Studenters Sangforening choir hailing from Norway. When listening to them during the concert in the church, I was blown away by their sheer passion for singing. They strove to tell the audience a story through their singing; I could tell by their expression and pure love for singing. Their pitching and everything was so accurate; their high notes were so pure and beautiful! In comparison, I felt like an incompetent singer while listening to them. From that day onwards, I promised myself that I would work hard to sing like them.
I think I have gained many personal experiences from this festival that I will never forget in years to come! They will definitely come in useful when I audition and sing for other choirs in Australia when I'm there to further my studies. (:
WRITE-UPS ;
In this section, you shall be exploring:
-my appraisal of the culture, food, architecture and art of Italy
-my impressions of Italy before & after the trip
-what the trip meant for me
-what were my personal objectives and whether I have met them
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The culture, architecture, food and art of Italy.
People in Italy are generally friendly, but most of us are warned of pickpockets who pretend to be friendly with you in order to rob you of your valuables. Most of them are also rather considerate, as we don't find litter on the floor. Seldom do we find people spitting everywhere too.
Most of the people are kind and are willing to lend a helping hand whenever we need it. For example, I wanted to buy a shirt in Riva del Garda for a friend, but could not find a smaller size to fit him. As the shopkeeper could not speak English, she kept apologising profusely while
attempting to explain what she meant. Even though it took quite laborious efforts, I felt that she was sincere in helping me, and not merely trying to generate business from this customer of hers. As a result, I left the shop a happy customer with what I wanted, and most imporantly, with a happy shopping experience.
On the contrary, in Singapore, most customer service staff wouldn't bother going to such lengths to help a single customer get what they want, especially if they cannot communicate with him/her. This is one point I feel that the culture in Singapore is lacking in.
Singaporeans' impression of Italian food is quite different compared to the authentic version we tried in Italy. This is especially so on the first so when most of us tried squid ink pasta for the first time! Also, the pizza and pasta in Singapore is very different. Over in Italy, the pizza is wood-fired and has a very thin crust. They are also
very generous with their ingredients, unlike pizzas in Singapore with thick, bread-y crusts which really spoil the taste. In Singapore, the pasta used is "instant pasta" which is readily available in supermarkets. In Italy, however, the pasta is handmade! As a result, the pasta retains its original taste without compromising on texture. Many
are also mistaken about Italy food being all pasta and pizza. In actual fact, pastas are served as the appetiser dish! The main courses can be meat, fish and veal, among others. Italian food isn't monotonous at all and I think I don't mind eating Italian food for the rest of my life.
Oh, talking about food, did you know that ice-cream was invented in Italy? It is called gelato and originated from a city called Florence.
Contrary to my ignorance, the architecture and art in Italy is the most intricate I have ever seen. This can be seen through the unique blend of different cultures. A building which illustrates this point clearly is the St Mark's Church in Venice. The creative use of glass mosaics to decorate the church allows art to transcend through many generations, leaving a lasting impression
on everyone who visits it.
St Mark's Church in Venice
Another worthy point to note is that each city has their unique architectural traits. Venices' buildings are built about it's waterways, whereas the architecture in Rome has the city-dweller in mind. All in all, I feel that the art and architecture in Italy reflects the character of their people as arty citizens and will continue to bridge people all over the world in years to come.
My impression of Italy before and after the trip
Admittedly, before I went on this Italy trip, I thought that Italy would be a cosmopolitan city with many skyscrapers and cars emitting poisonous fumes, thus choking the entire country. To my pleasant surprise, not only was the air in Venice very clean, the whole country was infused with such rich culture that I felt immersed in an entire explosion of artistic values.
I also thought that I would be consuming pasta and pizza every single day, hence my decision to bring cup noodles. It didn't help very much that days before the Italy trip, I watched a video on how rude Italian people can be.
Contrary to all my presumptions, Italian food, as I mentioned earlier, is extremely diverse. I managed to savour different kinds of Italian food and thoroughly enjoyed doing so. I also had fun trying to take good shots out of the wonderful places we visited.
Besides, the trip was made even better by all the Italians whom we encountered. They were friendly to us and I don't think any of us had a bad experience with people in Italy. This is probably what makes Italy such a beautiful country and makes people want to visit it again and again.
What the trip meant for me
As a Year 4 student, the trip was indeed a privilege for me. The trip, in many ways, marks the end of 4 years in Dunman High School as a chorister. While I am sad to leave, I am glad to have seen the choir grow and mature during the Italy trip, and I will wish DHS choir all the best.
This trip also helped me remember the times which DHS choir struggled: after a bad fall during SYF'o3 and yet another experience in Genting, with us attaining a Silver C award, Musical Promenade when everything seemed so uncertain, SYF'o5 when all of us, including our conductor then, Miss Michelle Poh, thought that we were resigned to a Silver, and so many more. It made me look back
and realize we've actually come this far, to a foreign land shaped like a boot, and perform. How lucky my juniors were! But all my past experiences kept me grounded as I went in search of what the choir could do and will do on stage. As such, this trip holds alot of meaning to me.
Also, I'm very sure this Italy trip will bring back fond memories of the fun times (and not so fun times?) I had with DHS choir when I further my studies in Australia next year. As much as I hate to admit it, this trip has indeed made me love DHS choir even more and it has left an indelible scar in my memory.
My personal objectives and whether they have been met
My personal objectives for this Italy trip were:
-to tour a part of Europe
-to compete on a true international stage
-to bring glory to the school and the country
-to learn from top European choirs
-to improve my choral singing
-to bond with the choir
-to have fun and enjoy myself!
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I am very glad to have been given this opportunity to tour a part of Europe with my friends and do what I do best at the same time - sing!
Indeed, I think I have managed to fulfil most, if not all, of my personal objectives for the Italy trip. To be given the chance to perform and compete on a true international stage is something that every chorister would ask for, and I managed to do it, garnering a Silver 5 award for Dunman High School Choir, hailing from a tiny island thousands of miles away called Singapore.
I feel immensely proud to achieve something note-worthy in the choral world! In many ways, the Silver doesn't matter anymore. The choir has won by improving and doing well enough for that mere 15 minutes on stage. The choir now knows that they have to fight and work hard for whatever they want, instead of going on and on about wanting it and yet no action is carried out.
We have learnt to have to live up to our maximum potential for each practice and in this way, we have brought glory to the school. This shows the resilience of Singapore citizens and our never-say-die spirit!
From this trip, I have been given the chance to observe many top choirs from Europe, which would not have been the case had I chosen to stay in Singapore instead. They have given me an insight on what being a top chorister, not just singer, should be like, and I feel every chorister should learn from them. This is vital in choral singing as we can never be satisfied with what we have and rest on our laurels, or we will slip back into uncertainty once again, as we did 3 years ago.
By learning the 4 songs we performed on stage, my voice has improved, albeit not tremendously. Previously, I could only produce the "round tone" that was very nice to blend with, but wasn't suitable for every song. Now, I can change the tone of my voice to suit the song. My high notes also sound better, thanks to the techniques Miss Tham taught us during the course of the preparation for the competition.
Of course, the choir has bonded in many ways. How else could a group of 30 people laugh, joke, each, drink and crap 24/7 for 10 days? Inevitably, new friendships were forged, old friendships rekindled, and many new memories were written during the 10 days in Italy. I can never forget the times when I crapped with Weirui until 2 in the morning, when all of us clambered into a paddleboat in Riva del Garda, when DHS choir, unsure of what was going to happen, suddenly started belting out Mamayog Akun and Iddem-dem Mallida in the middle of Riva del Garda, the whole choir singing "Happy Birthday" in harmony for Jonathan's sweet sixteenth...
and so many more that is impossible to list down. As the choir bonds, I certainly hope that they will take each other through times, both good and bad, leaving their mark on DHS choir as our seniors did.
Last but not least, I feel that I have enjoyed myself and had lots of fun during the Italy trip! My faith in God has strengthened as He proved to me time and again that His presence is real, and I love being a part of the Italy choir. No matter what our seniors say, I feel that this Italy trip can only mark the beginning of a fantabulous choir to come!
I will never forget the times I have spent with the Italy choir and I most certainly have absolutely no regrets going to Italy, doing my best, and singing my heart out for my one and only passion: DHS choir.
