T-town Debut

I played at Shelton State today as part of their Terrific Tuesday Concert Series. What a wonderful performing venue and a nice piano. I also had a great audience and there were quite a few people that were dressed up for Halloween. I showed up in my ball gown and it certainly fits the recital. I had a great time on stage although there were some memory slips, more than usual. I will have to practice a little more carefully and get a lot more sleep! For a first time and a first run-through, I am happy with what happened today. It will only get better with my actual recital two weeks away. Tomorrow I have a guinea pig audience and another next week, all in time for the big day. The flowers and guestbook are ready. Now besides formatting the program and turning that in :), "The Facets of Play" is in full swing.

Free Classical Sheet Music

I stumbled upon this website, Sheet Music Fox, a long time ago when I was at Southwestern College. My memory was jogged when another pianist mentioned it on a forum last week. I'd just like to post it here especially for those of you in Malaysia who are logging on. I live further away from campus now so I do a lot of my studying over the internet. I was looking up Beethoven's Andante Favori WoO 57 this evening and found the score there.

The site is searchable by composer and keyword I think. Also browsable by composer. The pieces are PDF files, which you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to access and print. I don't think the edition of pieces posted here would be recommended study editions, because the sources are unnamed. It is best to use these to sight-read and determine whether it would be suitable before buying "trusted" editions. I know music is expensive and sometimes hard to come by in Malaysia. Of course, for bargain hunters & the cash-strapped this site is excellent.

So enjoy browsing the site. I know I will!

Teluk Intan, July 30

This is the last concert we performed. I had to make one demand that I felt like I had to. I wanted the grand to be moved from Ipoh to Teluk Intan (Anson Bay). In this process, we found out what piano movers charge here. There isn't a recommended rate and it was like dealing with cutthroats. They would keep changing their minds about the prices and it was haggling over the phone for hours.

Teluk Intan is the place where my father grew up and where my grandpa's house was. Known for its leaning clock tower, famous lotus seed caramel filled biscuits & not to mention seafood, it is about a 45 minute drive from Kampar. My brother Justin's godparents, Mr and Mrs Loh live there and they were our hosts. Mr Loh is the life of any party and he is one person that can tell a joke after another, and make them up as he goes along. I think Mr Loh met his match in Mr T. We had many good laughs at the dinner table. Hmmm dinner was .. steamed river crabs, prawns, fried eel and all with fresh sugar cane juice. Very interesting!

Mr & Mrs Loh, My Dad, Mr & Mrs T & I. All wearing traditional Malaysian batik considered formal attire in my country, except Mrs T and I in concert black. I misplaced my other gowns in Ipoh else I'd be in red!

I used to be very active with school choirs although my knowledge of choirs back then would be considered amateurish now. I still receive phone calls when I'm home asking me to go coach a choir. So this time, I had Mr. T do that with a school choir in Teluk Intan. It was fun, as I watched how excited the kiddos were and how they stayed back after school just to work with him. We offered the students a discounted admission to our recital and they showed up. After the coaching session, the "Check Engine" light came on.. ugh.. I suspected the alternator was giving out, and that was confirmed by the mechanic. So we had to make do with other transport arrangements.

Besides student tickets, the other marketing strategy for this concert was that there would be a full-course Chinese dinner prior to the recital. The guests would eat, tables cleared and then we would perform. I'm not sure whether I've mentioned this but in Chinese culture, food is very important. (Thanksgiving in the USA is nothing compared to what I get to eat!)

Our audience and the dinner tables at the City Hall.

We waited at the guest house since we skipped the dinner. Just before my dad came to get us we saw two rainbows in the sky. Although rainbows are fairly common here, we very seldom see them in Malaysia. I was reminded by God's promise and that He would be faithful to us.

My former Mathematics teacher was the master of ceremony that evening. After my solo set, he said he was glad I dropped my ambition to be a pharmacist. The audience clapped! My life would not be so interesting if I didn't become who I am. It was a little embarassing to have some of your childhood revealed at a recital. ;) Most people in the audience have seen me as a toddler, little girl & a teenager!

The recital went fairly smoothly other than the fact the air-conditioning was pretty loud and in the middle of the German lied set, there was a Muslim prayer call. We forged on and the audience loved this performance. Very seldom do classical artists make their way to this tiny little town. They gave us a standing ovation and we had to do an encore. If we kept going, they wouldn't have left. I'm glad we brought classical music especially voice and piano to the many music students who have never had the chance to hear it live. We were inundated with gifts, bouquets and mobbed for autographs.

The people that made the Teluk Intan concert a success. Many thanks!

On stage, at the close of the recital with the bouquets.

The choir members from the school from the day before.

Last autograph session and many fond memories to follow.

Ipoh, July 28

Just thought I should try and complete the summer postings:

Every year when I visit my hometown and the surrounding areas, I am struck by the beauty of the limestone hills here. This year I made very sure to take pictures around Ipoh and I will post some of them here too. Ipoh is the capital city of Perak, and about 40 mins north of Kampar. Famous for limestone hills, pomeloes and their chicken noodles, Ipoh is where I had my first job as a ballet accompanist, joined a good choir & performed in public, took piano and voice lessons, and attended classical concerts. I love this city and have enjoyed its flavor.

Pictures showing the limestone hills surrounding Ipoh.

It is nice to play a recital here and the piano for this concert was made in Ipoh. C Steinberg has a factory here and Ipoh is actually the piano capital for Malaysia. There are lots of factories here. Ticket sales were a little sluggish because there were other concerts before and after ours. We had a hall (more like a barn) that doubles as an indoor badminton court. (Tangent: Badminton is a world-class sport & Malaysia performs fairly well). It was really echoey so I didn't need to pedal too much.

I had a really good lunch on the day of the recital, went to one of the famous established local restaurants and pigged out. I don't do this in the USA. Can't afford it and there's nothing really to pig out on!

The audience was made up primarily by my home church members, Chinese church members, lots of friends from Kampar and Ipoh and a whole bunch of students. We offered student tickets and also transport to the concert venue. The concert went well and the Tamil Methodist Church hosted the concert. Their youth group did a fundraiser too by selling refreshments at the intermissions. Hence the pop cans opening during my festive Chinese "Flower Drum" piece. I didn't mind so long as the kiddos were having a good time.

Ipoh planning committee who worked really hard.

Our Ipoh audience.

Here was where the James Bond jokes were. And I pity the next group of performers now that Mr T didn't use a mike. The rest will now be compared to him whether they like it or not. At least, I have the honors of being the local girl and escaped scrutiny. :)