HOMEPAGE ARCHIVE

• STAND TALL.· You were designed to be upright, not broken and bent.· Lift your hands over your head to get into a good standing/walking position.
• SIT TALL. When sitting feel like you’re “standing from the waist up.”
• “HEAR” YOUR VOICE BEFORE YOU SPEAK. Since we speak far more than we sing, speaking represents the majority of our voice use.· By thinking about and anticipating your best vocal sound before you speak you will reinforcing good vocal tone quality.
• USE YOUR FACE. Whether speaking or singing allow your face to be part of the communications.· It’s unnatural to have a stiff, robotic face. Watching a child talk is a great way to be reminded of how we are to include the face in all communications.· It’s natural.
• LEARN TO BE YOUR SELF.· Imitation is a great way to expand your repertoire of possible sounds and styles.· But, unless you’re doing a cover tune, or trying to imitate another person’s speech· be sure you have inserted plenty of you in the mix.

ANSWER:
The whole subject of performance anxiety and fear is a big one that would take volumes to cover.· But, there are several steps that help most people start to turn it around.· FIRST, you need to acknowledge that fear of failure, or not really knowing what’s going to come out of your mouth, is probably your biggest fear.· SECOND, the reason you are not absolutely sure of what will come out of your mouth is that your technical skills are lacking. If your breathing is weak even slight fear undermines your breath flow.· Then, when you hear an insecure tone your confidence starts to go and it goes down hill from there.

THE GOOD NEWS is that as you begin to own efficient posture, breathing and tone quality the fear all begins to fade.· This will only happen if you systematically and regularly exercise with proven principles and exercises.· Once the new muscle memory starts to kick in you’re on your to victory.

Two weeks in New York went by fairly quickly with so many shows lined up.· Lots and lots of walking and sore feet.....sub-zero temperatures and a wind which went right to your bones.· There was also cooking, doing the laundry and other household chores to occupy my time in that one bedroom apartment on West 42nd Street.· It was a spacious apartment indeed and it cost only US$70 per day as opposed to a room at the YMCA at nearly US$150 per day and that was with a shared bathroom.· My cousin who visited me at the apartment was envious and said it was too good a deal.· Well I am happy to be home after a nearly 24 hour journey holed up in a plane.· It was claustrophobic but I must say the Singapore Airlines crew were great in· securing me seating locations which provided the most room so that I could stretch out, almost like a bed.· Still there is nothing like your own bed at home.

What did I do there apart from watching the various shows, well here is a summary, from my fading memory:

• Having to cook for myself over a period of two weeks and do my own laundary as well. Wow!
  
• Visited exhibits at the Natural History Museum and a forced visit to the Metropolitan Art Museum ahem to visit the washroom.
• Discovered the Chelsea Market and in particular Lobster Place which served really great baked lobster and lobster bisque
• Experienced a heavy snow storm and running off to Central Park the next morning to get some great pics.
• Had Haagen Dazs (at low prices)· indoors with the heater on
• Had Chinese roast duck prepared by Hong Kong chefs...believe me the local duck pales in comparison
• Tried· to cook rice in a saucepan and then dozing off in front of the TV and then burning everything up.· Guess I am so used to using a rice cooker.· Thus I ended up buying· my landlord a new saucepan.· By dozing off,· I also missed Billy Elliot in the process but the theatre manager was so enough to provide me a complimentary US$120 seat· to watch it the next day.· Not everybody in New York is heartless, ugly and rude.
• ulfilled my dream of visiting the Brooklyn Tabernacle and hearing their choir
• Visited my favourite· budget megastore Century 21
• Visited Harlem (black area)
• Visited Lincoln Centre Complex which is undergoing a massive renovation
• Visited Chinatown and Little Italy
• Visited various bookstores and music stores
• Did a walking tour to the East Side of Manhattan passing the Chrysler Building, Grand Central Station and the United Nations Building.
• First time seeing the Rockefeller Centre with its ice skating rink in operation
• Had a quick backstage tour of the South Pacific production and meeting Kelli O'Hara who played Nellie Forbush
• Met· Angela Lansbury in person
• Attended a Broadway rehearsal arranged for HAIR and meeting some of the show investors
• Visited Woodbury Common Premium Outlets
• Went on a· Ground Zero or World Trade Centre Site tour with two tour guides who personally experienced and lived through the September 11th tragedy
• Took the ferry to Staten Island, for the views of· the Manhattan skyline and Statue of Liberty.· Repeated this the night before I returned to get a view of the scenery at night.

My comments on the events and shows covered:

• Little Mermaid - modelled after the animated movie.· It was bad and it looks like the Disney people are running out of ideas.· Frankly, had I known,· I would not have gone to watch it even if you were to pay me.· Stick to the original animated version, you will be happier I assure you.·· The original Filipino musical of Little Mermaid (with its own original script and music and lyrics) that San Sooi, Wing Thim and I watched in Manila,· is a more creative and superior work.
• The Best of Blue Note Records-· It was pleasure receiving an invitation from Genevieve Stewart, Vice President for Wynton Marsalis Enterprises to attend a· groovy evening of jazz featuring the best selections of· Blue Note Records.· The concert was hosted by jazz icon Wynton Marsalis and featured his jazz ensemble· and pre-eminent jazz and R&B vocalist and winner of three consecutive Grammy Awards, Dianne Reeves at the circular Frederick P Rose Hall at Lincoln Center.· Great jazz and vocals for an exhilarating evening.
  
• Dear Edwina- A· wonderful· musical by Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrichperformed by a young cast in their· teens and early twenties.· The show has been called a musical for kids and family but the label does not do justice.· The exuberant duo have instead created "a children’s classic that ranks among the top tiers of modern musical theater" - creative, imaginative and of high quality. Goldrich’s infectious melodies are both catchy and heartfelt, lingering long after the final bow as the audience hums out of the theater. Her tunes team brilliantly with Heisler’s clever but sincere lyrics, coming to fruition in the highly infectious number “Hola, Lola.” The fusion is a one-two punch that puts other new works to shame.·· The showcommunicates effectively with kids of today and offers clever advice on a range of kid troubling issues.· Kids attending the show have the opportunity of writing to Edwina for advice by placing their letters in a box at the theatre lobby.· Answers are then posted on the show website.·· Some of you may remember Marcy and Zina as the composers of "Taylor the Latte Boy".· The talented duo continue to write both for Broadway and for Walt Disney.
  
• Pal Joey-· a good revival of one of the older musicals which was· staged at the old Studio 54, once the top night club in New York and famous (or infamous) for drawing the who's who in the show and entertainment industry together with the jet setting pimps and drug pushers.· The show featured the· best orchestration and sound design so far.· Great stereophonic sound with musicians split into four sections, two on· each side of the stage.· Was wondering how they managed to keep together that and after chatting with the music director found out that they had the assistance of video and sound monitors and of course a keen sixth sense as well.
  
• Naked Boys Singing- Yes this is not a typographical error.· Apart from the obvious, this interesting· Off-Broadway show featured a catchy and sometimes bawdy collection of male ensemble numbers for light entertainment.· Good bunch of talented vocalists and performers but not something I would particularly go see again and neither is it something that you would recommend to your kids or your in-laws to see due to the conspicuous lack of· costumes.
  
• The Story of My Life- Sad but true -· closed only after 4 days after opening due to the poor reviews by the New York critics.·· I however found it to be· a well executed musical dealing with true friendship and life and death. There were moments in the show that reminded me of Marcus Ng.· It had a good script and featured a very challenging and refreshing vocal score by Neil Bartram; which bore some similarity to Sondheim · I· first watched it on Saturday (21 Feb 2009) night and liked it so much and that· I returned the next day and begged the theatre manager to squeeze me in, to watch it again for·· its final run on Sunday before a another packed house and a thunderous standing ovation at the curtain call.· The critics can be so very wrong.
  
• The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir- Led by composer Carol Cymbala, they have already cut more than 40 albums so I was told and are well known in the US.· The choir provides a very strong impetus to the two Sunday morning worship services each of which attracts a head count of 5,000 people.· If you want to get a seat you should turn up at least half an hour before the start time.· It was a wonderful time to worship with them - a very uplifting experience altogether.
  
• In the Heights- a new musical which centres around the lives of a Dominican American community in· the neighbourhood· of Washington Heights in New York.· Lots of dance sequences and good strong rhythms with hip hop, soul and salsa. Although it garnered a good number of Tony Awards, I found it entertaining but would question its long term term potential.
• La Rondine at The Met - Not one of Puccini's better known operas.· Nevertheless an was made to sit through this.· There were a couple of familiar arias which I enjoyed however the overall set remained the same throughout Act I, which was rather annoying and bored me.· That plus my jet lag which helped me drift into a deep sleep so I decided to leave during the intermission before my own· snoring aria filled the opera house.
• New York City Ballet - It was nice to be a guest of Abe Jacob, of The New York State Theatre which is now renamed as David H Koch Theatre after oil billionaire David H Koch made a generous US$100 million grant to the theatre.· The program for the evening was varied quadraple bill of Swan Lake (Tschaikovsky) , The Steadfast Tin Soldier (Hans Christian Anderson if you remember), Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev) and Slaugther on Tenth Avenue (from the musical On Your Toes). The bill offered an interesting variation of dance styles and the Company, as usual,· was in top form.· Notwithstanding that I was provided a prime seat in the orchestra stalls, I· particularly enjoyed the· opportunity of having the liberty of sitting in different parts of the massive theatre during· the various segments of the program and getting different perspectives of the stage.
  
• Happiness - This was the newest kid on the block. Happiness unfolds the stories of a dozen or so disparate New Yorkers stuck in the morning rush of a stalled subway car (they have actually died and are travelling to their final destination) and required by the spectral trainman to recall and re-enact the happiest moment in their lives before they can continue their travels... and travails. Happiness celebrates those fleeting moments in everyday lives -- typically unanticipated, largely overlooked, always ephemeral -- that upon reflection become people's fondest memories.· Not an empty candy floss show but which prompts you to think.
• Blithe Spirit· - A very well scripted dramatic comedy by Noel Coward which drew a packed house.· Enjoyed the show very much and counted it a priviledge to be able to be finally able to meet Angela Lansbury in person, an actress par excellence· on film,· on the dramatic stage or musical theatre.· You will of course remember her in numerous screen and TV roles and serials,· in particular "Murder She Wrote" and not forgetting that she took on the role of Mrs Potts in Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
  
• HAIR - This musical is of the era of Woodstock,· bringing along images of the flower children movement and the Vietnam war and basically deals with the various social and environmental issues which are still relevant today. Great music!· My visit to New York had originally been planned to also coincide with the opening of this show however due to the lack of funds, the opening date was pushed back to after my departure from New York.·· However through the kind hospitality of Diane Paulus, Director of the production, I was invited to attend the first working rehearsal of the show where the orchestra and singers got together, which was attended by the show's producers,· investors and financiers and with cocktails thrown in as well.· It was great to hear "Aquarius" and "Let the Sunshine In" being sung as I reminisced performing these choral numbers together with Chin San Sooi and Chin Yoong Kim during high school.
  
• Billy Elliot - Once again, a packed theatre.· Wonderful choreography,· in particular the ballet sequences by· Kiril Kulish who played Billy at the performance that I attended.· They sure worked him hard.· Musical numbers there were a couple of interesting numbers and lovely to listen to but have not made a strong impression on me.· The sound designer of the production I thought should be shot as the audio balance was poor, the music was too loud much of the time and overpowered the vocals, thus making· it even more difficult to decipher· to the British coal miner accent.· I made a complaint to the theatre manager and he fully agreed with me and attributed it to the deaf British who were so used to rock style musicals.
  
• South Pacific - The Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center is a wonderful performing space, which has the audience in a semi circle intimately hugging the proscenium stage with an extended thrust.· The theatre was packed to the brim and with the opening strains of the overture, the thrust retracted revealing the orchestra playing under the stage.· The theatre has one of the best acoustics around the city.· Superb performances by Kelli O'Hara as Nellie· and Loretta Ables Sayre, a native Hawaiian, as Bloody Mary.
• West Side Story - This was a brilliant musical to watch on my final evening, ending my two weeks in New York.· The cast truly provided a top· class performance.· The vocals soared to passionate heights and the electrifying· choreography just kept me entranced.·· An innnovative approach was taken in having certain parts of the dialogue spoken in Spanish by the Puerto Rican characters and it was very refreshing· to hear "I Feel Pretty" and "A Boy Like That" sung in Spanish. I was rather disappointed with the set design though and thought that STAGES' West Side Story in Manila last year had superior set, so kudos to Mio Infante, the set designer for STAGES.
• Dizzy's Club Coca Cola-· After watching West Side Story, I made my way to this late night jazz watering hole and caught the tail end of a jazz gig.· Housed several stories up in the· Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle, it provided not only great·· music but a wonderful night vista of· Central Park as the natural backdrop for the stage.

• Musicals:· The Fantasticks, Chicago and Wicked (for the second time)
  
• Dramas:· The 39 Steps,· 33 Variations, August: Osage Country and God of Carnage

We have started to actively look for corporate support to fund  the dramatic musical Two From Galilee to be staged in October.  We realise that the current economic climate is rather difficult and hence  financing the production will prove to be a very challenging task.

The first corporation to respond to our call has been Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd based in Ipoh.  They are the second largest plantation company in Malaysia and also own Crabtree & Evelyn International.  We are very grateful for their support and generosity to us all these years.

MARKUS NG 1985 - 2009 (6 Feb 2009)

It was 2005 and I had been requested by a student friend, then  at HELP Institute, Kuala Lumpur  to help start a student choral group.  I was very resistant at first as I had suspected that the project would never get off the ground.  The only student there that made an  impression on me was Markus.  He was all gung-ho and geared up for the choral group to  develop and blossom which unfortunately did not occur as a result of the poor attitude and commitment of the  majority of the students who had signed up for the chorale.  Nearly all of them did not have the slightest clue as to the level of work involved but Markus did.

In the brief 6 weeks at the school, I saw in Markus many positive and leadership qualities.  Markus could be described by a combination of adjectives:  warm, quiet and unassuming,  industrious and focussed,  kind but firm, sincere, concerned and caring,  committed,  ever helpful and it was very obvious that he had a passion for music.  He was at rehearsals as early as he could manage and apart from  being  perhaps the only one consciencously working on his vocals, did the things  few wanted to do like getting the keyboard organised, rearranging the furniture to facilitate the rehearsal, etc.

I had the opportunity of sharing a meal or two with him after rehearsals and getting to know him a bit more.  Later an opportunity was created for him to sing a solo for me to appraise.  Strumming the guitar  and untrained as he was, he had soothing tone which instantly set one at ease and from his lyrics you would realise that he was a deep thinker.  Apart from imparting him a few vocal tips, I  most certainly encouraged him to  pursue his passion for music.

I last bumped into Markus on 10 January 2009, as he was one of the musicians playing at the wedding of Colin Wong, one of our basses. He looked happy and well and we chatted briefly before the wedding ceremony.

At his wake, I learned that he subsequently got heavily in involved in  a number of socio and political related causes where his heart lay.  Upon graduation,  he worked for an relief agency instead of opting for more  lucrative jobs and fought for  a Malaysia for all  irrespective of race or creed.

Markus returned home from work in the  wee morning hours of 4 February 2009.  He had been working hard and putting in many long hours  over the past weeks.  Markus then fell into a very deep sleep and at the age of 24 went to meet his Heavenly Father.

Why do I grieve and weep, perhaps because amongst the youth and young adults of today –  who have too many things on their plate,  who are so easily distracted,  who in silent arrogance think the world revolves around them,  who live only for themselves and live for only today,  who are so spoiled and who reckon that  “commitment” is a four letter word;  it is very hard to find a rare gem like Markus.

I am priviledged to have known him even for a brief spell.

H K

FIRST REHEARSAL (12 Feb 2009)

We kicked off the year with our first rehearsal on Thursday 5 February 2009.  It was well attended and was an good opportunity to size up the general quality of voices for the 2009 performing season and to introduce the performers to each other.  The performers were briefed on our plans for the year, our modus operandi and we even had time to run through a few numbers together.  Those who were present were:

TCS WEBSITE ENJOYS A MAKEOVER (1 Jan 2009)

You will have noticed that our website has had a complete revamp and we hope that you will enjoy the new features and facilities. We would like to highlight the following which are already functional running:

• About Us; who we are and of our commitment
• Repertoire; both secular and sacred
• Performance Archive; all our major productions since 1992
• The Gallery; featuring our major productions and exposure experiences
• Get Inspired featuring video and sound clips of our work
• Vocal Tips with Vocal Health and Vocal Exercises
• An online Application Form, under Auditions
• Members Only, purely for registered members that house our production notices, rehearsal schedules, members' forum and members' gallery and rehearsal demos.

There is still work in progress in particular with the the Members' Forum and the contact management areas which will house member notices and rehearsal schedules, the Get Inspired section which will feature both sound and video clips as well as a podcasts; so please be patient as we are working to get that ready. TCS Members will also be free to submit pictures or articles for publication on the website. Members will soon be required to register their personal particulars online in order to have access to the Members' Forum.  website.

This complete makeover has been the brainchild of Anselm Francis Goh.  Anselm has been working in consultation with Low Tze Liang and HK Chong to get this newly designed website migrated to our existing server very shortly.

CHRISTMAS 2008 ENGAGEMENTS

• The Potters Fellowship on Sat 29 Nov 2008
• Rumah Juara on Sat 6 Dec 2008
• The home of Peter and Betty Young on Sun 7 Dec 2008
• Top Hat Restaurant on Sat 13 Dec 2008

The ensemble rendered a selection of pop items from A Grand Night for Singing as well as a selection of acappela and accompanied Christmas numbers, which were all very well received.

Members of the Christmas Ensemble: Joanne Poh, Vanessa Seng, Kelly Lim, Jade Lew, Katharine Barry, Brian Cheong, Timothy Au, Low Tze Liang, Colin Wong, Brandon Ting and Matthew Ong.  Our sound engineer was Harris Cazaly who was assisted by Emmanuel Lai and Anselm Goh.

WORKSHOP BY THE PHILIPPINE MADRIGAL SINGERS

TCS was invited by the Cultural Centre of the Philippines to attend a vocal and choral workship conducted by the world renown Philippine Madrigal Singers also known as the Madz.  Joanne Poh, Colin Wong, Eunice and HK Chong spent a full week during the month of October 2008 in Manila attending the workshop as well as taking the opportunity to see some of the local sights.  The workshop was very well attended and apart from a small chamber group from Bangkok,  we were the only other  foreign vocal ensemble in attendance.  We enjoyed the workshop thoroughly and found it a very enriching, challenging and humbling experience to be working with the Mark Carpio, music director of the Madz, the world's top choir together with Arwin Tan and other alumni from the Madz.  We also managed to catch a drama Masterclass, which had some elements of a dramatic monologue and related the story of Maria Callas;  which was extremely well performed.

PERFORMING ARTS TOURS TO MANILA

A group for 10 from TCS (performers and production crew) made a trip to Manila in early August 2008 right after our production, to watch Lea Salonga in the Broadway Asia's touring musical Cinderella at the Philippine Cultural Centre, Manila.  It was an exciting experience for all especially when they were  taken backstage to meet Lea who was gracious enough to have us take a picture together with her.  The same group was also priviledged to attend a working rehearsal of STAGE's production of West Side Story featuring Broadway singer Joanna Ampil and triple platinum recording artist Christian Bautista

Subsequently another group from TCS returned to Manila in mid-September 2008 to watch the  production of STAGE's West Side Story.  We all enjoyed the excellent performance by the all Filipino cast -  great voices and choreography.  We also managed to catch a performance of Disney's Mulan by the Philippine Repertory Theatre and a production of Namaste. a musical about the life of Ghandi; by a young Filipino theatre group, the latter was also excellent and superior to the Rep's production of Mulan.

SUCCESSFUL RUN OF "A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING"

The Canticle Singers enjoyed an very successful run of the musical A Grand Night for Singing, from Wednesday 16 July to Sunday 20 July 2008 at  Lambang Sari, Istana Budaya, Kuala Lumpur. The seven public performances enjoyed an average theatre occupancy of 90%.

The musical was a  celebration and fusion of some of Broadway’s greatest music and acclaimed pop, rock, folk, jazz and gospel hits; with music ranging from ABBA to Schonberg and with hits from "Mama Mia", "Oliver", "Fiddler on the Roof", "The Wizard of Oz",  "Earth Wind & Fire",  "Lion King", "Queen",  "Miss Saigon",  "Sweeney Todd" and more.

With a chorus of sixteen vocalists, two guest soloists and a narrator; the audience was taken on a passionate journey spanning several decades, from the 1920s to the present day, moving through a musical kaleidoscope and enjoying an ecletic anthology of songs and choral selections from distinguished stage and screen productions, billboards and pop charts that kept them humming well after the show. Net proceeds from the musical production and ticket sales from the special evenings benefitted Rumah Juara, a home for children and the Malaysian Children's Aid Society under the patronage of  Duli Yang Maha Mulia Raja Permaisuri Perak Tuanku Bainun binti Mohd. Ali, D.K., D.M.N..

For more information and press reviews and pictures of the show please visit our Performance Archive and The Gallery.