Living your Childhood Dreams.

CD Cover by Matilda Chua

Saturday the 29th March 2008 marks a new beginning for the Athenarts Performing Troupe. It has been 3 years since the Troupe was started and yes, we've had some really important milestones to date:

1) winning the Sound of Music Competition 2005
2) Launch of President's Challenge 2006
3) Being part of the making of School House Rockz 2007

While it feels good to have achieved some fame in the last 3 years, the flip side of that is to constantly maintain our standard of performance and to create new projects which are just as exciting as the last so that everyone can continue to grow and be inspired to be the best that they can be. Well, it will not be true to say that the road to that is an easy path.

While reflecting and thinking about what next for the Troupe, I've had to think about the reason why I started all this in the first place. I've always been drawn to Children's choir for the fact that I think Children's voices have such innocence and purity that they allow their listeners to be reminded of their childhood and childhood dreams.... dreams that are so easily forgetten, broken and given up.

So Saturday was the start of our new project - Born to Sing CD. Through this CD I hope that people will be reminded of their childhood dreams. We also intend to donate the proceeds of the CD to the Straits Times Pocket Money Fund so that other children can live their childhood dreams by being able to go to school.

The troupe seems really excited about this idea and already I've gotten a CD Design (from Matilda), and a list of promotional ideas from Rachael as well as Joshua's alternative arrangement of the song Born To Sing....! Well I'm thrilled, inspired and humbled by these young people and really when others get to live their dreams, I would have succeeded in living mine.

Finally salutes to the man who inspired me to inspire others to live their childhood dreams.

An Accompanist's Nightmare

Two days ago, I accompanied one of my students for her audition at LaSalle. When I started playing the piano, I had a bit of a nightmare....

1) The Piano was super sensitive...
2) It was very very loud
3) Couldn't control the tone much.
4) The chair at the piano was very high and the other chairs in the room looked too low, so I just stuck it out.

As she was singing, I tried very hard not to make the piano sound loud or drown her out. Luckily she said at the end of it that, "She didn't notice the piano", which was really the best answer I could have gotten from her.

Well, anyway, here's some tips for those who are accompanying vocalists for the first time:

1) Watch the balance between the piano and singer. Very often, it's very easy to drown out the singer. For singers who are less experienced or with softer voices, you will definitely have to play a lot softer so that the singers can be heard.

2) Listen to the singer and follow the singer's rhythm and breathing. Often singers have their own rhythms! It's important to strike a balance between keeping a steady beat, listening to the singer and taking the lead when necessary (eg when the singer gets nervous and starts to speed up, or when the singer gets lost in his/her own world)

3) Play so that the singer sounds good. Support the singer with the melody line if necessary (especially in parts where he/she can be pitchy) and enhance the harmonies in the chords, so that the singer sounds supported. Also discuss expression markings so that you can support the singer in creating the desired expressions.

4) Be alert. If something unexpected happens during performance, continue to play and cover up the mistakes in a most discrete manner. If you have to improvise the passage, do it so that the performance will still sound great.

5) Finally enjoy yourself and remember your role as the accompanist not the soloist. The best performance is when accompanist and singer are working hand-in-hand together to create a memorable performance.

School House Rockz Episode 5

This week’s episode brings a more serious tone, when something serious happens to Inka that forces her to decide whether she wants to return to Farquhar Girls School or remain at Eastwood Secondary.

To ‘help’ their ‘good friend’ Inka to make up her mind and get her to drop out of Eastwood (and therefore out of the Brain Juice competition), Ros and Amni plant a trap that succeeded in getting Inka caught for shoplifting. But despite their elite school education, they failed to realise that if Inka were to get expelled from Eastwood for shoplifting, no other school would accept her much less Farquhar! Luckily Dawn, who witnessed the entire episode, persuaded the two ‘smarter’ girls to send Eastwood Principal Mr Tan a video explaining that they saw ‘someone else’ putting the stolen item into Inka’s bag, therefore giving her the benefit of the doubt.

But even if Inka is out of trouble, she still has a tough decision to make: FGS has decided to re-admit her, but only if she does not compete against them in the Brain Juice competition! Seems like this elite school is neither used to losing nor playing fair. Inka’s plan to return to FGS has finally worked, so what will her decision be? To rejoin her old ‘friends’ back at the elite school and abandon her new friends in their time of need, or stay with these new ‘LC’ friends and show the elite school that neighbourhood schools can do just as well if not better? I’m sure the folks at Athenarts already know the answer. For the rest of us, we’ll just have to tune in to find out!

The Prayer

This is a performance by two talented youths, Julia Abueva and Christopher Lee. Performed at St. Theresa's Church for A Gaward Kalinga Project. I accompanied them on the piano. Watch this exciting performance!

I am the Greatest Singer in the World

That day, a student of mine, Matilda, was having lesson with me and Mr Low and Mr Low told her to say, "I am the Greatest Singer in the World" aloud several times as part of an exercise for her to build her confidence. He said that this was something which Jan Delpratt, one of the greatest singing teachers in the world taught him.

I found that to be a fantastic exercise so I used it on my choirs today and it gave me excellent results. I also told the choir that the choir is only as good as its weakest singer. Then I told them to say "We are the Greatest Choir in the World!" I could see that many felt uncomfortable,they were looking away, fidgeting etc. In any case, I'm going to continue this exercise.

Yesterday night, I also met up with Alan Stevens, a NLP practioner who is currently in Singapore. His website is www.acceleratingperformance.com.au and www.cellularmemory.com.au. Raymond and I had attended a workshop which he conducted about personality types and communication over the weekend and we decided to meet up to chat further about our work.

He got me to do an exercise which I adapated and used it on the choirs today. I asked the choir to imagine themselves getting a Gold Award at the upcoming Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging for choirs and to visualise how they would feel receiving the award and the sensation they would feel in their body.. Their faces lit up and many become excited and said that they felt very happy. Alan also said, "They've got to be winners first before they even get on stage". I think that is very true. Many times we get so caught up in the end result that we don't remember and appreciate the journey anymore.

When I asked one of the choirs the other day why is it that they are in the choir, one of them said, " To get a Gold medal for SYF". I was seriously shocked! It was like asking, "why do you go to school?" and answering " To pass exams". I reminded them that really first and foremost I'm sure they are in the choir cos they love singing and they have come to the choir to sing. To make Music together is really one of the greatest gifts and joys of being a human being.

So coming back to my main point,to believe in ourselevs is really the first step in being a winner and if through SYF or any other competition, we learn to build that confidence in ourselves and to be the best that we can be in our field then I think SYF and any other competition would have served its purpose to encourage, grow and build artistry. If the focus is merely to win a Gold medal and we beat ourselves up for not winning a Gold etc, then I think the whole point is lost and we face the danger of going through the motions and stress of music making and singing together would have lost its meaning forever.

So for today and everyday, I am the Greatest Singer in the World, just like Jay Chou!

On Jay Chou

Well, as usual, I always seem to be behind time, only discovering Jay Chou recently while watching a video of his world tour while in the DVD shop recently. Well, of cos I've heard of Jay Chou way back when he and David Tao became top hits at the same time around 2000 and I've heard many of his songs on radio etc. But to watch Jay Chou on video life in concert is another thing.

His 2007 world tour video (Taipei) is really a spectacular display of theatre, music and dance. After watching the video, I became interested to find out more about him. It seems that Jay has been a musician all his life and a very good one. Beginning with learning piano at 3 and then cello and subsequently he was discovered by Jacky Wu and started writing songs for other people before he released his own album.

Anyway, I must say that I was very inspired by his World Tour Video and I must say that the concert was very very well planned and designed and doing what he does on stage is surely every performer's dream - A whole orchestra, dance ensemble, transparent piano, special effects, fire-works etc etc at his disposal... Well, if he ever comes to Singapore, I'll definitely be there this time and be part of the euphoric atmosphere.

Here's one of my favourite songs in the video. A Theme song from Curse of the Golden Flower.

So I guess I've become a Jay Chou fan overnight.

Season 5

Calling all troupers, supporters and fans!

This is our wish list for Season 5:

1) A cool dance/ rehearsal space with mirrors at a centrally located place that we can call our own.
2) An invitation to perform at an exciting event that will keep us motivated! eg Singapore Street Festival, The Youth Olympics in 2010, President's Challenge, or some other high profile event.
3) Build our troupe to 30 strong.
4) Be involved in an exciting project this season.
5) Corporate sponsors that can help bring the troupe to the next level

If you can make our wishes come true, please write to us at iris@athenarts.com.
If you have more wishes to add, please do so as well! Include songs you want to sing, things you want to learn etc.

Review of School House Rockz Episode 4

School House Rockz Episode 4 by Steven Ang

Today’s episode opens with Inka meeting up with her old friends, who told her in a not-too-subtle way that she’s no longer one of them. In their own manipulative way, they hope to convince Inka to come back to their old school and help them win the upcoming Brain Juice Competition. So now Inka has a problem: just how can she get out Eastwood?

Meanwhile, Inka’s troubles with Eastwood gets bigger when she finally finds out who her mysterious MSN buddy ‘Donatello’ is! The proverbial cat is let out of the bag when Wen Bin accidentally calls Inka online by her real name, which gave her the clue that ‘Donatello’ is from Eastwood. With help from Dawn, she sources out a few rather unlikely candidates: Eastwood’s ever-hungry ‘Makan King’, the handsome Casanova, or the plant-loving principal Mr Tan, who’s online identity on his blog is a plant named Audrey…

But before Inka finds out who ‘Donatello’ is, she hatches another one of her grand schemes to show Daddy how bad Eastwood is, by releasing a tank full of frogs in the canteen kitchen! But this time the plan quickly goes awry when Ms Eng catches her red-handed, and puts her in detention to clean up the library!

And guess who she meets at detention in the library, none other than her nemesis Preety Krishna! But she’s not here because she did anything wrong (or at least not caught in the act), but to replace an even bigger bully, who arrogantly walks out of his own detention with Krishna cleaning up in his place.

One thing I love about School House Rockz is that every character is well thought out, and no one is just a stereotype. Everyone has a good and bad side and we always see the reasons why someone behaves in such a way. In this episode, we get to see how Krishna became the fearsome bully that she is. Being the subject of an even bigger bully, she needs to regain her sense of power by bullying the younger students after she was bullied herself.

So back to the library, where things quickly get out of hand after Inka and Krishna lay eyes on each other: they get into a big fight while singing an angry rap song, while their fellow students perform a ‘serious’ dance around them. This leaves them with a big mess in the library that both of them have to clean up! (I personally feel that this song is one of today’s highlights.)

But they make up quickly, and Inka helps Krishna get back at the bully with another one of her ingenious plans: they quickly set-up a trap using glue on the sleeping bully, rudely waking him up before making him fall flat onto the ground. This causes him to fly into a big rage, threatening to bash them up just in time for Ms Eng to catch him red-handed.

As it turns out, Ms Eng was told to go to the library by the mysterious ‘Donatello’, whom Inka found out earlier to be none other than Wen Bin himself! At that time, Inka accused him of lying to her. When she saw how Wen Bin went out of his way to make her feel better, the two online buddies quickly make up and all is well again at Eastwood. Inka makes a promise to help Eastwood win the Brain Juice finals, much to the despair of her ‘friends’ over at the Elite School. So what grand scheme will they hatch next to get Inka to return to their side? Watch the next episode to find out!

Inter-School Choir Exchange

Last Tuesday, we had a very interesting inter-school choir exchange between the three schools that I conduct: 1) ACS Primary 2) CHIJ- OLGC and 3) West Grove Primary School. The session was held at ACS Primary Auditorium.

I like the auditorium very much, it's got nice acoustics which actually helped the choirs to sound quite clear and loud. The exchange started at around 10:30a.m with the OLGC choir arriving at around 10:15a.m. By this time, I dismissed the ACS choir cos they were making so much noise and disturbing the choir warm-up with OLGC. Later on, I found out from the teacher that one of the boys actually damaged the table outside during the break! I was rather shocked cos the table outside seems to be very very sturdy with strong legs etc. It's definitely not the flimsy type that you see. I wondered what they did to do that.....

Anyway, back to the exchange. Everything went quite smooth and I must say that singing the set piece, Land of Joy, together was quite an experience for me. Firstly, it was a very big group of people to conduct (although not the biggest that I've conducted) and just to hear how they sound when you put it together was quite an experience for me. Afterall, it's not everyday that I get to conduct a 100 strong choir!

After the exchange, I really had a rather entertaining time reading the feedback that the students filled up. I was rather amused by some of their comments.

Some of these include:

1) I learn about a Doremon ( referring to one of West Grove's pieces, which has the lyrics "Xiang Ding Dang" ... The students had mistaken it for Xiao Ding Dang- or Doremon)

2) They can improve by not harshing the word so much !!! (Note the creation of the new word, "harshing") In fact I got two of the exact same comments, which showed that probably one person wasn't thinking so much...

3) I can learn about a yellow bird ( referring to Huang Niao, a song about a yellow bird that OLGC was singing)

4) 3rd piece sounds very glum, more happiness.

5) What can I learn from this choir: To save the enviornment! (???)

6) They should relax and smile a bit more. They should not get too nervous. They also should not be panting too much.

These are some of the funny responses which I got. One boy was very creative and starting totalling up the marks for the different songs and labelled it 27/35 etc. I thought that was quite a good idea and asked the students to total up the marks which they gave to the choir.

Overall, there were also some very constructive remarks and comments which the students gave.

1) Sing smoother and listen to the person beside you, to avoid gonig out of tune.

2) Try not to sing loudly because you tent to shout. Volume- but not the harshness.

3) Concentrate when singing and do not talk when getting ready or going up the stage.

4) I learn that while singing, having an experssion on the face is important. It could bring out the expression of the song.

All in all, it was a good session and I hope through this exchange, everyone of them will learn to be a better singer!

'Us and Them' music video

Click here to watch the music video of the song "Us and Them" from the Kids Central music "School House Rockz".

Athenarts Day!

Yesterday the 15th of March, we had our first Athenarts Day. It was a suggestion that the students gave me and I thought it's actually a very good idea. We planned the outing over a few weeks, starting with some suggestions of what we could do. Some of the ideas include:

1) Going to Sentosa
2) Playing Telematch
3) Watch Movies
4) East Coast Park

Anyway, the majority decided that they wanted to watch movie and more specifically the movie, STEP UP 2. At that point, I didn't know what they movie was about as I haven't watched STEP UP 1. Anyway, it seems like the movie has lots of dancing and they seemed really insistent on watching it, so I said OK.

So what does it mean to have an Athenarts Day? For me, starting Athenarts has been a journey. A journey to find out what Athenarts is really about. A few weeks ago, I shared with the students Athenarts' Mission: BE SEEN, BE HEARD, BE RECOGNISED!

Have a face, have a voice, have a heart to care about things in the world and what's around you! We've lived too long in a world that is filled with fear... We're afriad to speak up, we're afraid to say what we really want to say. For today, don't be a nobody, be a somebody... Be a somebody who cares. Be a somebody who dreams. Be a somebody who fails. Be a somebody who fights for what you want. Be a somebody who can change the world... Yes, it sounds really big, but it all begins with a voice. It all begins with daring to be who you are, not somebody else. TO be seen, instead of hiding out, TO be heard instead of staying silent, to be recognised instead of being small. Today you shall all rise above the stars and to be one among the stars, to shine, Be SEEN, BE HEARD, BE RECOGNISED! That's what it means to be in Athenarts. And we shall have a Athenarts Day. And that day will be a day when you can be seen, be heard and be recognised. People will know who you are.

Watching Step Up 2, I feel that the lead actress in the movie really showed what it meant to be a somebody. To have the courage to speak up about what is really important to her - That the Streets is something that started to bring people together through Dance and not something that was meant to seperate people, classify them or to prejudice them just because they're not from the same background.

And to be a great performer is really to embrace the world, to embrace all of life and to dare to be yourself! That to me is really what it means to have an Athenarts Day!!!

Filming of Episode 6 onboard Singapore Flyer by Iris Koh

It was an eventful day. Renee (Inka's mom) phoned me excitedly last week to tell me that the SHR crew will be filming onboard the Singapore Flyer for the last episode of School House Rockz. She said she has extra tickets and asked me if I would like to go along. I jumped at the chance of cos and brought Alvina, Desiree and Joshua who were with me at that time to go.

We were all very excited, especially me. I didn't expect the whole experience to be so memorable. Riding the Singapore Flyer for the first time is really a wonderful experience. While we were waiting for our turn to ride, it feels like we were boarding an airplane.

Anyway, Inka, Lay Har and the film crew soon arrived with their equipment and all and we were all set for our first experience onboard the Singapore Flyer. I hear that Inka will be filming the song, I don't Belong on board the Singapore Flyer. They had one capsule for themselves and we were happily behind them in the next capsule.

I kinda feel sorry for the other 3 passengers who were in the same capsule as us. We made quite a lot of noise. Alvina, Desiree and Joshua even sang and danced to the theme song of School House Rockz at one point.

But the most exciting thing in this whole experience is the magnificent view!!! It was indeed very very beautiful, seeing the city-scape, Marina Bay, Esplanade Theatres and the endless skyline! All this time, we could also see into the other capsule while they were filming.



It all lasted about 30 mins and it was just nice. Not too short and not too long. I think it was definitely something we will all remember for a long time to come and it was all thanks to Renee that we got this exciting adventure!

Review of School House Rockz Episode 3 by Steven Ang

Today’s show opened with a hilarious fight in class. As every student screamed and trew things at each other, the entire class son descended into a chaotic warzone, which was all dutifully filmed down by a smarmy Inka on her handphone. What a fun way to start the show!

In today’s episode, we get to see a more serious side of Wen Bin, from his poor family home to his measly allowance. But ever the optimist, he turns his disadvantage into an opportunity: with his saavy biz sense, he makes a few extra dollars delivering newspapers in the morning and cleverly renting out his stationery to classmates in need. His never say die attitude should be an inspiration to us all.

Another first in this episode is getting to hear a teacher, or even an adult for that matter, sing a song. Ms Eng, a long-suffering teacher at Eastwood who can’t even afford to take MC when she’s sick, tells us that despite all the challenges her job gives her, she will nonetheless do her best to make a difference to her students. Strangely, Ms Eng’s flu disappeared while she was singing, only coming back when the song has stopped!

Meanwhile, Inka sets-up a plan to get back at Preety for bullying her during football practice, by stealing things from Preety’s friends and placing them on Preety’s desk, planning staple-traps on many students and loosening the screws of Ms Eng’s chair. This leads to a huge argument in class which quickly became a full-blown fight accompanied by Verdi’s music from his opera La Traviata. I never knew the great Italian composer wrote stuff for TV Musicals too! All this was filmed down by Inka, including a loud outburst from a disappointed Ms Eng. Inka now has proof to show her father that Eastwood is really as bad as she believed it was, but will she use it and risk having Ms Eng fired?

To make matters worse, her phone went missing! Luckily Wen Bin had picked it up, or perhaps took from her bag himself, and returned it to Inka the next day, and saw to it that the video was deleted. A relieved Inka made a pact with Wen Bin to win the Brain Juice competition together for Ms Eng. With contributions from all her other classmates, Inka came up with a lovely Get Well Soon card for Ms Eng who gladly accepted it, but more important showed Inka how friendly everyone was. Looks like Eastwood isn’t as bad as she had thought after all!

It was great seeing Alvina and Gerald on TV too, playing Inka’s classmates and fellow ‘combatants’! I will certainly keep my eyes wide open to spot other talented members of the Athenarts Performing Troupe!

Coming up next week, Wen Bin aka ‘Donatello’ accidentally calls Inka on MSN by her real name which sends her on a quest to find out which Eastwood classmate is ‘Donatello’. Will she succeed? What will her reaction be when she finds out its Wen Bin? Stay tuned to find out!

Review of Episode 2 of School House Rockz by Steven Ang

Wow, so its episode two already. Unfortunately I was in Vietnam the past week and had to miss episode 1, hope I didn’t miss much!

Anyway, today’s episode is really quite a laugh: both schools took part in the annual ‘Brain Juice’ competition but the team from the Elite School, who often came in first because of their ‘winning formula’ (big hand gestures, big smiles, big waves and a lucky keychain), had to settle for second place while the team from Eastwood Secondary came in first despite not wanting to win at all!

The big difference? It seems that Inka’s presence in a team is much luckier than the lucky keychain! However, there is still one more round to go before the eventual winners will be decided upon. As both teams prepare for the finals, Ros and Amni try to get Inka to help them with their preparation, yet they continue to plot to make her team lose. Meanwhile over at Eastwood, the unlikely team of Dawn, Preety, Wen Bin and Inka have a hard time working together even though each person enjoys being a winner in front of their friends! Will they get their act together in time? Will Inka betray the team for her old friends at the Elite School? Guess we’ll have to tune in next week to find out!

Lets talk about the musical sequences too. I particularly enjoyed Inka’s singing, gifted with a dark, warm voice that is as expressive as it is musical. And who knew that Preety’s (Shraddha Ramsundar) and Wen Bin’s (Shawn Tok) voices blended so well!

Lastly, it seems that Wen Bin has finally discovered the identity of his pen pal to be none other than the loathed Inka! The big clue? Some very unflattering remarks about apes made by both his MSN buddy and Inka live in person. It doesn’t take a genius, which Wen Bin is, to figure it out! But just when he is about to confront Inka on MSN, she sends him a heartfelt message of thanks for his support and understanding. So what next? Will Inka find out the identity of her MSN buddy? Will Wen Bin eventually confront Inka in person? Who will win the Brain Juice Compeition? Argh…the suspense is killing me! Can’t wait for next week’s episode!

Review of The Making of School House Rockz by Steven Ang

When my good friend Iris told me about the upcoming Kids Central musical School House Rocks, I made it a point to tune in, just because its sounds so interesting: Singapore's first made-for-TV musical, starring some of the most talented kids in Singapore. Indeed with over 500 kids to choose from in auditions, I'm sure everyone involved must be pretty good!

From the special making of episode today, it definitely promises to be a great show! Its so fun to see so many people I know on TV, including Iris and all the talented students of Athenarts Performing Troupe. Congrats to Inka for nailing the female lead, don't forget us when you become a star!

Then there is Shawn, already a star as the winner of Project Superstar 2. I was rather impressed with his performances on Superstar, such a strong voice at such a young age! His many fans will surely tune in to see him sing and dance every eek.

Here's a quick summary of the story: Inka, a former student of an elite school, is forced to transfer to a neighourhood school due to poor results. She has a hard time adjusting to the new environment as she had a perception that students of neighbourhood schools are beneath her. There she meets a cast of characters including school bully Krish, friendly yet wacky girl Dawn, and the nerdy, money-minded Wen Bin. Then there are her former classmates Ros and Amni, snobs that are sure to provide lots of laughs!

Watching the many clips of the show, I'm already impressed by the snazzy dance moves, catchy songs and good singing voices. Can't wait for the actual show to start; good luck to everyone involved, I'm sure it'll be great!