音，心 - 意
tone, heart - the one art

It's over. The last note of the concert was drown out by the thunderous applause, marking the end to 6 years worth of CO. The feeling was excruciating, but the euphoria due to the concert provided a soothing effect. The performance, though not perfect, was a fitting tribute to RJCO. On may 7th 2006, within Singapore's finest symbol for the performing arts- the esplanade, RJCO celebrated music, passion and friendship.

Memorable events(in chronological order)

1. Buying mineral water at 40 cents per bottle
2. Drawing out the master dressing room key which will cost $75 to replace if lost
3. Screw up in the labels for the dressing rooms
4. khoo + kwan + trolley(with packed food) + lift = comedy in the making
5. realisng that the caterer was revada and cost $3 per pack
6. percussion being told to tone down by lao zhou
7. Telling ppl they have 45 mins to shower, change up, have dinner and make-up
8. Posing as an orchestra for the photo shoot
9. Putting glitter on the hair for qin wang
10. Playing the first note of qin wang
11. Carrying spongebob up on stage.. (the esplande stage ppl were saying stuff like, "u ppl are from jc rite?" and "spongebob is so.....gay")
12. Photo-taking in the green room with the daji section
13. Trying to take a combined photo with the rg ppl. The timer of the cam was counting down as we hear the last few notes of zhan ma, ran off immediately after the pic was taken.
14. Playing the last note of the concert
15. Playing the encore piece (according to a few sources, it was quite cute and we pulled it off quite nicely)
16. Training for shuttle run as i ran around 3 levels chasing ppl out of dressing rooms and locking the rooms.
17. Reaching sch at 11pm and started to move the instruments back to the CO room at tht time.
18. Was 15 mins away from being the earliest in sch on mon

Some stuff to add on, playing with my section, okay not just my section, with the guest players and the whole orchestra was a wonderful experience. The acoustics of esplanade enhanced it further. Thanks to all the people who sent me messages b4 and after the performance, really appreciated them.

For this concert, I was more involved in the preparations more than any other concert i was in b4, partly due to the nature of the logistics post i got in concert comm. It started like 3 weeks b4 the concert, after i sat in a meeting btw esplanade staff, lao zhou and zj. From tht day onwards, there seem to be endless stuff to worry about and u wake up everyday having some problem that needs to be solved by the end of the day. Thankfully, the j2 comm showed character and resilence and ploughed through with no one shirking their responsibilities. It was kind of satisfying watching the events on concert day unfold despite the occasional hiccups. Knowing the effort put into making each and every part of the concert good allows a better appreciation of it.

Handover

Handover was rather light-hearted. Many of the j2s went out to J8 the day b4 to shop for present for the j1s. lol, i admit that i bought the turtle aka cute riceball/sushi on impulse and only thought about its significance after buying it.

handover started with zj giving his "final speech", in which he mentioned that RJCO to most of us is not just a CCA. It is instead defined by the beautiful music, beautiful friendships and the sense of belonging and connection that any orchestras/CCAs outside cannot provide. RJCO has gone beyond just a physical name for an organisation, it has become a spirit that is infused in our hearts. The current RJCO may cease to exist physically, but all of us are spiritually connected by the experience. This connection may wane and grow thin, but it would never break, for there is always hope that one day we would all come together again and relive that spiritual connection. It may not happen, but there will always be hope.

To the j1s:
Treasure your time in CO, there's only one year left for you to do whatever you want. After that, you'll have to put down your instruments and leave, just like what the j2s are doing now. Most of us dun even know when is the next time we will pick up our instruments and play again. Dun back down from challenges with the excuse that you cannot cope, cos u'll never know until u try. Anyway, it's jc already, if u are not going to try, there will be no chance left in the future. So, go forth and create your own memories.

To the new comm (if any one of you all would be reading this):
Just like to share my experience that allowed me to realise what defines the comm. Just a few days b4 the concert, me, zj, kwan and zihan were locked in a heated debate over make-up after night prac. I took a rather uncompromising stand on it coz i was rather fed up as the issue was dragged for weeks. As a result, the discussion went nowhere(obviously) and i left rather abruptly. As i walked out of the CO room, one question hit me: "What is the purpose of a comm?" As i arrived at an answer, i immedialtely sent out sms-s to apologise. My answer? The comm is formed to solve problems, not to add problems. If at any one point in time u find urself adding problems rather than solving them, u might want to question ur very existence as a comm member. My analogy of a comm is something very simple- a candle. U burn and give light, not to draw attention to yourself, but to illuminate others around you so that they can be seen...

To the j2s:
Very simply put, thank you. I dun know what else can i say.

It feels like an amputation.... a sinking sense of loss... But what's coming across is not sadness, rather it's a sense of victory.... akin to a soldier returning from the battlefield after winning a war......