NCST 6 Graduation Video
NCST 6 Graduation Video from KennethJayden on Vimeo.
A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.
- Leopold Stokowski
I told myself that I was crazy. Crazy to come to Sweden for one year, crazy to be away from around the ones I love, crazy to do things that I had never thought I will be doing even one year ago, much less 10 years ago!
There are somethings in life that just pop in and on some magical impulse you follow that - and I still believe in this because there are many things in life we sort of let it slip away, especially when we stop to think. We think too much; just do.
So “just do” was what I did. In August, two weeks after touchdown in Stockholm, I saw and liked what was on the website and emailed the Director of Music of Kungliga Tekniska högskolan Academic Orchestra (KTHAK), Gunnar Guilin and told him that I am interested and whether he will take a trombonist who has not touched the sacred trombone for 3 years. He said OK but he would have to hear me play. And so, I went down, borrowed an old KING trombone, practiced for about a week and a half and went for a short impromptu audition. Luckily, I had Bach cello suites transcribed for trombone with me, but I think I screwed that one up. Nevertheless, I joined KTHAK in the first week of September.
The first concert was one week after I entered KTHAK, and a few days after I had a 9-11 twin tower attack on my heart. Anyway, that aside, the outdoor concert was great with all Handel’s fireworks music and real fireworks. But, the focus of this post is the Tour to South Sweden. So let’s do that.
The orchestra tour was to take place in October during a weekend. We were to travel to Gislaved and Kristianstad, which are two towns south of stockholm. stockholm
I woke up at 4am and after almost forgetting to take my concert pants, I took a slow, careful walk to the T-bana and then to the university. There was some light rain; it was cold but not miserable. We loaded our instruments into a yellow coach with a small “caravan” behind it. Glad to get into the comforts of the bus, I fell asleep right away. Alexander, the German Fagott (Swedish for Bassoon, NOT Faggot) guy sitting next to me fell into dreamland too. Apparently he had lesser sleep and more booze than me last night.
The bus was so comfortable that I daresay that it was the most comfy bus ride I have ever taken. Breakfast was at around 9am outside in the cold. Cold breakfast consisting of cold banana, cold sandwich and cold yogurt makes me think of hot porridge and bee hoon. The bus continued for about two hours before arriving at Gislaved concert hall.
We had our rehearsals together with the choir and the vocalists in the hall for about two hours. Being a first time playing in a full orchestra together with a good choir was akin to being a child being exposed to Pachelbel’s Canon in D for the first time. I remember when I heard Canon in D for the very first time; I had the urge to replay the tape umpteen times. Of course the tape got destroyed very quickly due to over-use. Nevertheless, the sound of the choir and orchestra in Lars-Erik Larsson’s FÖRKLÄDD GUD (The Disguised God) was simply magical, just like a canon; the lapping melodies bought one to another heaven. Very nice, I thought.
Soon it was time to change for the rehearsal. And this was another “awakening” moment. I was in a large room with the orchestra players and everyone just started undressing and changing. One would imagine shy Asian queuing for the toilet to change. Young and old, male or female - I did it too, unabashedly.
Moving on, the concert went forward smoothly. Of course, being the lone trombonist, I sat right at the back of the orchestra at one tight little corner near the exit, as if telling me to escape if I blast the wrong notes. Soon, I found myself on the bus again.
We alighted after 10minutes to find ourselves in a little cozy restaurant in Gislaved. The walls were littered with “Diploma of Whiskey” and “Master of Whiskey”, and you know you are not in some Jack’s Place or Pizza Hut. This was serious stuff. The food was the best I ever got in Sweden, yet it is probably due to the fact that it looks very gourmet and expensive! The company was great too. On my left, I had Swede Johanna who bombarded me with mandarin and on the right I had the Germans, Marisa and Alexander, whom I was very disappointed with for telling me that Singapore is within the confines of the People’s Republic of China. Minister Mentor Lee Kwan Yew would have turned several times (in his bed). We had many laughs over some chicken and nice dessert.
After dinner, we proceeded by bus for two more hours before reaching Kristianstad. Alex and I shared the room in the Stadshotel , watched the movie adaptation of the German novel “The Perfume” before being shocked by the rather erotic ending and falling dead asleep from the long day behind and ahead of us.
We woke up at 9am and went for breakfast. Coincidentally, the bus driver was having breakfast at our table too. After breaking the ice (there is always a barrier to break when speaking to a Swede the first time), we warmed up quite quickly and he told us that he had traveled to China many times. Based on the disappointment by my German friends last night, I was surprised that he knew where Singapore was and had driven both China Chinese and Singaporean Chinese before and he knew how to tell them apart. He told us that China Chinese usually sight see for a while before climbing aboard the bus just to watch vcds in the bus while Singaporeans take a lot of photos. He told us that he would be traveling to Mongolia next summer. Gasps. This was a tourist coach driver in his 50s. I have to remind myself that I was not in Singapore talking to a SBS Bus 188 uncle. Wake up!
Alexander, Johanna and me went out town for a walk around the rather deserted town of Kristianstad. It was a sunday, not surprising; everyone seemed like they were still rolling in bed at 11am. The weather was a little cloudy, but there was still some good pictures waiting to be taken by the Singaporean, actually the only South East Asian in the orchestra. Gunnar actually took pride that a Singaporean was part of the Orchestra, further claiming that “the orchestra is multi-faceted in many nationalities” during a boisterous dinner speech after the Kristianstad concert. I remembered I had to emphaise to him thrice that Singapore is not part of China.
The Kristianstad concert was in the church Heliga Trefaldighetskyrkan. Kristianstad is an old (founded in 1614 by a Danish King) military fortification against the invading Swedes. This was quite an irony.
Rehearsal went and the real deal came. As the music pounded forth the walls of the old church, I found myself lost in the music. I took the liberty to take an entire footage of The Disguised God using the FZ-18. You can find it here.
On the way home with the weekend behind me filled with great memories and music ringing behind my ears, I could not help but think about home. Weird.
And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares that infest the day
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs
And as silently steal away.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done
