~light of the world~

Thursday, December 24, 2009

This year I'm glad I was able to carol with the others in the NJ alumni choir. At first I didn't say I would, because I wasn't able to make it for the Saturday practices, and I understood that they probably didn't want people to just swoop in in December and expect to be able to sing with the rest who'd been faithfully practising.

But I guess they were pretty understanding, and I joined them for my first practice in December after my Malaysia trip. They had quite a few new songs, which kind of scared me (especially the 12 Days of Christmas) but in the end the only new one we stuck with was The Christmas Song, which we never sang anyway, incidentally.

Today was my last caroling session, having already carolled on the 19th and 20th of December. There were like thrice the number of people in the lounge compared to the previous sessions, and balloons in the air, and it didn't feel like we were just singing to ourselves!

Unfortunately, today was our split between the places, so there were only 8 of us plus CK as conductor (but he sang T1 to help) - practically an acapella group! But the audience were supportive and clapped and took pictures!

I realise that it's a bit deceptive when we warm-up and practice in the holding room, because we sound pretty loud in such an enclosed space, but when we go out to the lounge our sound isn't anywhere as good.

I really like caroling with the choir! It's so good to be able to sing in parts with people who do it well, and to create festive music for Christmas! I'll admit I don't really like certain songs, but I love others, so it balances out. It was also an opportunity to see people I haven't seen in a long time, e.g Serene, the J2s, and a new senior, Xiao Ying.

Now we can add a little segment of the holidays to our memories: singing in the lounge, out-of-tune warm-ups, eating log cake (donated by Sheena's parents), demanding sandwiches and water bottles, wearing the silver dresses and black strappy heels, etc.

The only bad thing is trying to get home from Orchard. Tonight was especially crowded, and Sheena and I walked to a further bus stop just to make sure we'd be able to board a bus that wasn't already full. We got seats!

Labels: choir

xuan blogged at 11:56 PM

May your light shine...
in the darkness...