AYO IN SINGAPORE ...... A CAUSE FOR
CELEBRATION
After two wonderful summers in Kumamoto, Japan, the Asian Youth Orchestra
relocated its Rehearsal Camp to Singapore this year for a change of scenery
and a new camp experience.
Our base was the campus of the United World College of S.E.Asia, where the
students lived in dormitories, took their meals in the school canteen and
practised in classrooms, large and small, scattered all over the campus.
While the faculty enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of the Pan Pacific Hotel,
the students were looked after by AYO Camp Director Irene Joseph and two
caring housemasters, Mr and Mrs Ismail Said, who stayed with the students
overnight and saw them through every emergency.
Our days were busy at UWC. Orchestra rehearsals ran seven-plus hours-a-day
and all of the students were involved in chamber music classes that met
whenever we could squeeze them into the schedule. We were also privileged
this year to provide classes on instrumental care and repair organised by
Sandra Wagstaff Vioins, Hong Kong, which is, in the minds of many throughout
the region, the finest and most professional string instrument shop in all
of Asia.
Mrs Wagstaff, who opened her Hong Kong shop in 1988 after 20 years as a
highly respected string instrument restorer and dealer in Brussels, visited
Singapore herself to meet the students and talk about instrument preservation
and repair. She was accompanied by a German violin maker and restorer from
her shop, Ute Zahn, who lived with the students at UWC throughout the camp
and took care of their instruments.
Despite the hard work, students still managed to find time for footbal on
the open field and swimming in the school's new pool. The campus was also the
scene of an open house buffet dinner on July 25th, when members of the
Singapore Youth Orchestra and families from Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific and
American Express dropped by to meet the students. They returned the next day
to take the students out for fun and sightseeing on 26th, our only "free"
day out of 23 days in Singapore.
The Asian Youth Orchestra is extremely grateful to United World College and
its staff for the many kindnesses that were extended to AYO.
Away from UWC, several AYO members visited students at the Margarete Drive
Special School to give an impromptu chamber music concert organised by
American Express, and the entire orchestra had the chance to enjoy a concert
by the Singapore Youth Orchestra at the Victoria Concert Hall.
Our relation with SYO grew closer when we played together at the Botanic
Gardens concert, sitting side-by-side on the outdoor stage for a performance
of Tchaikovsky's dramatic "1812" Overture.
Conductor Lukas Foss was busy as well, not only in rehearsal with AYO, but
at The Substation, where he gave back-to-back lectures on his own
compositions and new pieces by Singapore's finest young composers.
In addition to his own schedule with AYO, American percussion coach Eugene
Graves was kept on the go as AYO's Ambassador-at-Large. While mornings were
spent with the orchestra, many of Mr Graves' afternoons were filled with
master classes for percussion students at Victoria Junior College, the
Yamaha Music School Singapore and Music Plaza, and at the Singapore Wind
Symphony. All three of these institutions loaned percussion equipment to AYO
at no cost, and master classes that Mr Graves conducted were our way of
saying "Thank you."
It was our pleasure to take part in what Singapore had to offer and our
privilege to contribute to the rich social and cultural environment that
makes Singapore so special. It would not have been possible, however,
without help from a united Singapore arts community and exceptional support
from American Express and Fuji Xerox, to whom we are deeply indebted.
Moving an orchestra requires an enormous amount of planning and the
coorperation of many people. On a purel practical basis, there is the
question of visas for 125 students, teachers and artists, dates for
performance venues, photos and press announcements. Students must be
auditioned one-by-one and gathered from nine Asian countries. Teachers,
conductors and soloists have to be flown in from all over the world,
accomodated, transported around the city, fed and kept healthy.
All this says nothing of the official permission that has to be secured
from various government ministries, and the problem of locating and
borrowing equipment for the orchestra's three-week residency, from a single
harp to eight double basses, a complete percussion battery and 75 music
stands.
With greatest appreciation, the Asian Youth Orchestra acknowledges the help
of: the National Arts Council, Arts Management Associates, the Singapore
Wind Symphony, the Yamaha Music School Singapore & Music Plaza, LaSalle
School of Music, the Singapore American School, Victoria Junior College,
Alex Abisheganaden, and Joe Peters at the National university of Singapore
Centre for Musical Activities.
Special thanks are also extended to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, our
official hosts in Singapore, the Singapore Youth Orchestra, Singapore Press
Holdings, the Shaw Foundation, the Lee Foundation, the National Parks Board
and the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The Asian Youth Orchestra is also
extremely grateful to one super-human tower of strength, Mrs Georgina
Emmanuel, who helped arrange all of this in her capacity as camp liaison,
and to Yang Wen Shin, a young Singaporean and AYO member, who used his
organisational skills to coordinate the movement of instruments and equipment
to and from UWC and set up the AYO office on campus.
These wonderful new friends made us feel welcome and at home. There are no
words that can express the depth of our appreciation.
The above article is taken from AYO 1992 souvenir programme book.
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