SYF Venue: SOTA

One of the stairs where you will be exiting the stage


Risers where you will be standing on


View on stage towards the audience


The risers where you will be standing


The holding room before walking on to the stage

These are the pictures of the concert hall where you will be competing in on the 14th April. The acoustics of the concert is made in such a way where the slightest mistake can be easily heard so there must be NO MISTAKES!


Mr Ek.

Learning points from the SSO Rehearsal

I was reading through the reflections that you guys passed to me after the rehearsal and i am very glad that most of you learnt many things from the rehearsal, from how a choir should work and even commenting the techniques and sounds of the choir and the orchestra. Among all the well written reflections i want to highlight some of your learning points for others to see. Most of you have almost the same few points however that also means that most of you see the lack of such points in your choir. So here are what some of you reflected....

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I think the choristers, the orchestra and the conductor are putting in 100% effort, potential and focus in the rehearsal, which is something we sometimes lack - Tan Mei Hui

The musicians are listening to the other members of the choir thus their tonality blends with other musicians - Joseph Yap

Professional musicians do not procrastinate and start to rehearse straight away with the conductor - Alexander Tan

It is impossible for a choir to sing well without teamwork - Cao Aoying

I learnt that teamwork is essential in a choir - Jolene Koh

We still lack the accurate pitch, unity and harmony in singing. They produce a '3D' sound everytime they sing (* a sidenote.. meaning you guys produce a 2D sound when you sing?) - Lee Yee Teng

In this rehearsal, there are many instances whereby the performers take their own initiative to take notes and improve. We should learn from them and be more disciplined as a choir - Isabella

I was very inspired by this performance. It seemed to be telling me to strive hard and do my best like all the performers, to create mesmerizing music like this - Gwyneth Thong

When they sing, they stand straight with their feet apart and chests out. This gives them the support needed to project their voices - Tan Yun Shi

They are enjoying what they are doing and they sway naturally - Soon Hui Qi

Another thing i learnt is that 'eyes on the conductor at all times!' - Jacintha Tay

When the conductor is speaking no one is talking and gives him their 100% attention. Only like this can they achieve this level and standard of professionalism - Keziah

They seemed very confident of singing their notes out. I think our choir members need to build this confidence as well - Meng Yue

The scores were just like a reference. This may be why their sound was so cohesive. Free of scores, they did very well in listening to other sections of the orchestra. I think that is what our choir should improve on next - Yang Xiya

The choir maintained a ram-rod straight posture throughout the entire rehearsal. They exemplified self-discipline and there was no chattering among the musicians - Wong Man Ling

I think that since we are a secondary school choir, and our teachers do try to treat us as adults, then we ought to act like adults - Sophie Lau

We must instil self-discipline to know our parts, always look at the conductor and take down details of what to do or what not to do on our music scores - Sherrie Chew

I realised the importance of maintaining discipline whenever the conductor is talking. The rest of the choir needs to be quiet in order for the message that the conductor is trying to convey to be brought across. Also, we need to take down what the conductor tells us, any little detail like pronouncing the words clearly or holding the note longer, for a more productive rehearsal..... We need to have the correct attitude whenever we go for sectionals or combined practices - Denise Tan

Although it was a rehearsal, they respected the time and effort everyone gave and treated it like a real performance - Denise Teo

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There were lots more and i will put up all the reflections on the choir wall so that everyone can read the reflections in full, even for those that did not turn up for the SSO Rehearsal. Ms Chesed Wong will pick up the best reflection for each level (Choir + Music program students) and they will recieve a free CD.

I really hope you enjoyed the rehearsal and learnt about how a professional choir should behave. Reflect back on your own choir practices and improve.

Time to work together and work hard for SYF!

Mr Ek

SSO Concert Rehearsal on Friday

These are the names of the students that had NOT passed me their reply slips:

Thiang Soon Wei
Liu Chang
Gwyneth Thong
Daisuke
Yan Hui
Mengyue
Debra
Ling Jun
Jia Min
Yifan
Man Qini
Jesslyn
Mei Hui
Hsin Min
Clara Chong
Milton
Wei Shan
Keziah
Kyle
Ernest

Total - 20

Since there is no reply slip, i am expecting you to be present for this rehearsal. There are 39 students who had passed me their slips and thus i will be booking 1 bus for 41 only. The other 20 students you will make your way down to the Esplanade theatre yourselves. We will be taking your attendance at 6pm at the Esplanade.

If you're absent for the SSO Rehearsal, you will get ZERO for Friday's attendance. You will need to get a MC to submit to me.

If i do not receive your MC, your parents will be called and detention will be given.

The teachers are very frustrated that we have to go through such trouble to get you to submit forms. This is NOT the first time that we have so many students not submitting forms in time even though ample time was given. We will take disciplinary actions from now onwards.

Mr EK.