Goh Sihong
Flautist
Zhenghua Symphonic Band
My Band life is fairly routine – enter band room, set up instrument, warm up, and make music together with my peers. That routine gave me many amazing experiences.
To me, one of the memories I hold close to my heart is the process of learning and putting the parts together for a piece. I love (and am sure that others do as well) the moment when we put the parts together and play well. The sense of accomplishment always motivated the band and led to even better playing.
My SYF journey began last December, when ou band could finally come together and have small group practices.
During the start of our preparation, we tried some pieces, such as ‘My Neighbour Totoro’, ‘Typhoon’, and ‘Voyage to the End of the Earth’. However, the band felt that the pieces did not suit us as they were of some difficulty.
The online practices were also not as fruitful as there were many hindrances. Some players couldn’t play their instrument due to their parents having meetings at home, and some had problems with their internet connection at times. However, our band strived on and worked even harder.
As the SYF AP got nearer, practices became more intense, but satisfying as we see the music take shape.
Although we have to change our presentation piece to ‘The Witch and The Saint’ less than 10 practices away from our performance, we knew and trusted one another to do our best. Through this, I saw the resilience in my bandmates. That drove me to working even harder to master my part for the presentation.
On the day of SYF AP, we did our utmost and presented our piece together as one. I am extremely elated at what we have done.
One lesson I learnt was the importance of hard work. When we could not play a piece so well, we kept working hard. We did not let our heads down and did our utmost. Even though our practices had been disrupted, we still strived on and presented our piece well. In the absence of hardwork is also the absence of desirable outcomes.
One other lesson I learnt was that ‘Resilience is key’. Our band practices were disrupted (along with many other bands), but we were always motivated to play better. Those who could not play their instrument well due to the disruptions never gave up and just worked harder. Without resilience and unity, our band would not have made it this far.
SYF AP really brought us together. I will dearly miss the music-making I had with the Secondary 4s. I appreciated our band motto ‘One Band, One Sound’ even more through the band sessions.
I would like to thank Mr Lim, Mdm Chia, Ms Marinah, Mr Er, Mr Neo and all my fellow band mates for the wonderful experience.
Through my next year of being in band, I hope to make even more sublime memories.
Band will forever hold a special place in my heart.