A College so rich

in musical talent

Timothy Brown, conductor, former Director of Music (1979-2010)

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Asia Tour Blog - Day 6

Date: Thursday 08 September 2016 7.00am

Reviews

Quote of the day: "I am Mozart" - Mozart*

 

We woke on day 6 to the beautiful soft sheets, ensuite bathrooms and infinity pool of the luxurious Park Hotel Alexandra. Enjoying these delights, however, would have to wait - we had an engagement at the National University of Singapore. We arrived at the spacious, leafy and very shiny campus for an extra rehearsal to put the final touches on everyone's favourite piece of the whole tour, Mozart's Solemn Vespers. Our morning rehearsal was with the talented Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra and their conductor, Jason Lai, in preparation for Friday's concert. After lunch in some of the cafés in campus, we began a choir-only rehearsal in preparation for the evening's concert, which featured this tour's first occurrence of Grahamography™ during Harvey's "Come Holy Ghost". Sadly, Graham's original suggestion of slowly zipwiring from the balcony during the aleatoric passages was deemed impractical, and was replaced by more sedate walking.The concert was set to begin at 7.30, and in the interim, Henny and Rosie were delighted to discover that as well as being a musical powerhouse, the YSTC also has excellent sports facilities. The concert itself went smoothly, especially Britten's haunting "Hymn to St Cecilia". It was a pleasure to sing in the acoustic of the Conservatory Concert Hall, although it required a little more attention to diction than we are used to in our Chapel. In particular, it did little to cover up Graham's mid-concert speeches, which occasionally did not sometimes make much sense. Unfortunately, in "Jehovah, Quam Multi Sunt Hostes", the soloists were taken by Laurence and Kit "The Blend" Holliday (and we still don't know where they put them). Fortunately, the two did a great job with their stolen solos, and all soloists are advised to match Laurence's level of ornamentation in future. We met some Clare alumni at the post-concert reception while enjoying the most fantastic beer I have ever tasted! (But of course, only in moderation, as nobody wants a hangover. Any previous references to hangovers are entirely fictional.) All in all, a busy but enjoyable day was had by all, and we look forward to seeing even more of Singapore tomorrow.  *previously known as Tom Ashton