CGS Sop 2s <3

Friday, April 17, 2009

My dears,

A checklist to use for Monday:

Wear
1. Slippers / sandals
2. Full school uniform (all those who have PE before 10am are EXEMPTED. Please do not join in the lesson, even if you want to)
3. Contact lenses if you have, and normally wear glasses (strongly encouraged so your facial expressions can be better conveyed)

Bring
1. Water Bottle (compulsory and very important)
2. Scores and pencils
3. Stockings (optional) and court shoes

Schedule:
1. Assemble at the parade square at 7.10am sharp to sing national anthem.
2. Leave your class at 10am. EAT if you have not, and be at the Seminar Room with your bags by 10.30am for warmups. Don't be late.
3. Have a light but proper lunch before leaving for VCH at 1pm.
4. Report at Victoria Theatre (ground level). 10 minutes of warmups at Victoria Terrace.
5. PERFORMANCE TIME: 3.15PM

To note:
1. Be at the parade square in court shoes (sec 1s wear track shoes). You may wear your slippers to school and change back into them when you go back to class.
2. For the performance, tie up long hair in one ponytail / French braid. All long fringes must be pulled back from your face.
3. No chocolates / spicy food / ice cream / cold drinks or food / fried food eg. potato chips today and tomorrow. The healthier and simpler you eat, the better your voice will be on Monday. Likewise, the earlier you sleep on Sunday night, the better your voice will be. As a guide, if you want to sound good, sleep at least 8 hours eg. if you wake up at 6am, sleep at 10pm.

And now for the pep talk.

Singing is all in the mind. When you are tense, feeling unconfident or just down like today, you can't sing well. All you have to do is calm down and tell yourself to relax.

To illustrate: When Mr Lim came to conduct us on Thursday, I was amazed at the way everyone sang. Suddenly, the expression and feeling we have had to beg, and nag at you nonstop for, just came. I was amazed by the amount of potential you have, at how well you can actually perform - I mean it. I don't know if all of you felt it consciously or just, responded naturally in this way to Mr Lim's style, but there definitely was a change - an improvement in your performing, compared to how you usually feel and sing. I could just feel the positive energy in your mind. It was wonderful. All the more wonderful, if you could sing in SYF like that.

But it shouldn't be that only a conductor like Mr Lim can draw the potential out of you and make your singing come alive - so you have to tell yourselves on Monday you can and want to sing the way you did on Thursday, no matter what. I know, Mrs Lim's style is very different and may not be very encouraging in the way she frowns when she hears something that's not right. However, you should know that all conductors feel the same when they hear something weird - only that some, like Mrs Lim, express it to their choir. Perhaps she thinks this is good, that it will make us realise where we are wrong and that we'll try to correct it.

The point is, you can't be so easily influenced by such small things. The whole point of Mrs Lim frowning and stuff, is to ultimately make us sing better - which conductor wouldn't want his choir to sing their best? Like Ariel said, just look at her hands and focus on the beat which is the most important. And SING WITH FEELING.

If you were demoralised by the grim faces of the front row audience today, I want all of you to say to yourselves before going onstage on Monday: I'VE SPENT A GOOD FOUR MONTHS OF CHOIR, LIVING AND BREATHING THESE 3 SONGS. I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE - I'M JUST GONNA SING MY BEST BECAUSE I KNOW I CAN. When you take pride in your singing, like you may have on Thursday, you can surely sing your best. So sing because you want to, and know that you can. As your section leader, I assure you that you can - you've come this far.

Don't think about anything else. Give your 100% focus to the performance. Don't let anything stop you from singing your best and remembering everything you have learnt onstage - don't let anything take away that right from you. Just sing, and sing your best, I can't repeat any more. And of course, RELAX FOR PETE'S SAKE. I believe that that's all you have left to do. I believe in you! :D

We can do it. The voice, the spirit, the SOUL.

Your SL
Claudia

Claudia published on 11:38 PM