Scholars enhance UWC life - United World College of South East Asia

Dunia, April 2010
4
Little did I realise back in the 1990s
when planning our first OPUS
concert at the Victoria Concert Hall
just how far this concert format would develop.
Originally the OPUS concept was
to allow our senior ensembles the opportunity
to play in an acoustic setting more
fitting to their abilities than that which
is available on campus. Anyone, of the
1,300 strong audience, that witnessed
OPUS 2010 at the Esplanade Concert
Hall on Tuesday, 9 March will be able to
tell you that OPUS is now far more than
that! The OPUS concert has taken on a
life of its own and the tradition of featuring
excellence in music making from all
parts of the College and both campuses
is one that was brilliantly maintained this
year.
To put this all in some perspective it is
worth noting that the Esplanade Concert
Hall is truly a world-class venue. That our
young musicians not only play there but
actually perform as if they belong there
is testament to their considerable talent,
dedication and hard work.
Staging a show at the Esplanade requires
our students to work with professional
staging, lighting and sound crew. As
well as experiencing the thrill of performing
in such a venue, the students get to
see just how much effort and complexity
is involved in staging a professional
concert, from the constant changes of
acoustic settings to the placement of
microphones, monitors and lighting. Staging
such a show is only possible with the
input of a vast array of staff and parent
help and support. The Music Department
staff would like to express their sincere
thanks to everyone who contributed to
the success of this year’s OPUS concert.
The concert itself included highlight
upon highlight. The Jazz Band, directed
by Miles Tranter, opened with ‘Feather
Report’ a laid-back jazz fusion tune
which featured Ward Seeger on tenor
saxophone. Ken Yoneda, playing his final
OPUS concert, was the soloist in ‘When
Sunny Gets Blue’. Ken has developed
into a brilliant young saxophonist and
looks to have a bright future in music
ahead of him once he has completed his
IB exams in May. The Jazz Band closed
with ‘Sister Sadie’ written by jazz great
Horace Silver. This high-energy swing
tune was a fitting climax to the Jazz
Band’s performance.
The next segment of the concert was
dedicated to the College’s enormous
range of vocal talents. Arioso, under the
direction of Michel Fox, gave energetic
performances of three songs; ‘She’s Out
of My Life’, ‘I Just Can’t Stop Loving You’
and ‘Got to Get You Into My Life’. There
were beautiful solos from Maya Davidov,
Ginger Mayo, Jessica Ng, Joshua Lutian,
Fiona Fussi, Hannah Shepherd, Isabel
Neve and Raunak Agnihotri.
The East Campus was ably represented
by the East Campus Global Voices who
gave charming performances of two
songs; ‘Heal the World’ and ‘So Long,
Farewell’ under the expert direction of
Maggie Hess. Samantha Francis (Clarinet)
and Tim Seeger (violin) provided
the instrumental interludes in the latter
song. Winnie Lin then directed the Junior
Singers in ‘Hope is a Hidden Star’ and
the much loved ‘This Little Light of Mine’.
All of our younger vocalists produced a
beautiful tone and a wonderful sense of
joy in their singing.
To conclude the first half it was the turn
of our senior choirs. Firstly, Singers,
directed by Helen Rhodes with Michel
Fox at the piano, sang ‘Cantar’, ‘Fields
of Gold’ and ‘Ain’t No Mountain High
Enough’. This was followed by Karen
Niedermeyer’s Cantabile who sang an
OPUS
extraordinarily demanding repertoire.
Worthy of special note was the wonderful
‘Lux Aeterna’. Based on ‘Nimrod’ from
Elgar’s ‘Enigma Variations’, this arrangement
demands supreme vocal skill as it
splits into eight separate parts without
any instrumental accompaniment.
After the interval, Ros Lillywhite directed
the Orchestra in Copland’s ‘Hoe Down’
from his ‘Rodeo’ and the ‘Waltz’ from
Shostakovich’s ‘Jazz Suite No.2’. Following
this Helen Rhodes conducted the
‘Fantasia on Greensleeves’ by Vaughan
Williams. The ethereal orchestration was
expertly managed and highlighted the
exquisite harp playing of Aysha Kureishi.
The reflective flute and oboe solos were
delivered with panache by Maymay Liu
and Anisa Kurieshi respectively.
Symphonic Band was next on stage. I