RP Wind Symphony

Wind Symphony (RPWS) reported 8am on 5 April 2007 at The Republic Cultural Centre; home of RP’s performing arts groups, all for the simple reasons of exploring music around us, enriching our music journey & to fulfill our burning passion of music making.

Given the rare opportunity to visit the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Bands, who would want to give it a miss?

An arrangement was made by RPWS’s resident conductor; Captain Muhd Yusri B Md Ali, Chief Instructor of SAF Bands, with the aim of allowing us to learn, perform and gain relevant experience. The SAF Central Band, which we had our exchange with, was made up of musicians of all ages who are backed with remarkable instrumentation abilities.

The day started with a very interesting introduction about the SAF Bands and Commanding Officers, followed by a tour around the building before having our “tuition” session. Even though it was a short session with the sectional leaders of the Central Band, it was a very fruitful lesson we had as it was enriched with advices, corrections and of course, experience-sharing. These feedbacks are definitely notes that we will always keep in mind and work on for continued improvement.

As the clock ticks and time passes, it is finally performance time! Kick-starting the show, it was RPWS with three of our repertoires, namely: Sea Songs, Irish Tune from County Derry and Fate of the Gods, which were well-received by the sound of SAF Central Band’s supportive applauses. In return, SAF Central Band performed two numbers and listening to them was pure pleasure. Ending the session on a high note, both bands combined to fill the whole studio with a piece entitled Jupiter, rounding it up with much splendor.

There’s no better ending for an event of such magnitude than having a filling lunch together. Gathered with the musicians from SAF Central Band, we not only enjoyed the good food, but also went on sharing our music-making journey and gained a whole lot out of it too.

 Every performance entails months or years of hard work in preparation. This trip to Nee Soon Camp; home of SAF Bands has definitely enlightened us towards achieving greater heights.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to SAF Central Band, Capt Yusri (Resident Conductor), Mr. Wilbur Tan and Miss Kelly Kuan (Advisors) and Create.Republic for this golden learning opportunity.

We seek your support towards RPWS as we look beyond the horizon and work towards bringing great music to our school and community.

Words by Tan Wei Li Willie (3rd year SEG Student & RPWS Committee Member),
edited by Wilbur Tan (CSM).

Tags: Music Exchange Programme, SAF Band

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