The way we were

Just a little history about Guitaresque...
It's probably not of interest to anyone else except ourselves, as a way to keep track of how we became what we are now - which was part of the reason why I wanted to have this blog set up.

I have spent nearly one and half decade at GENUS (NUS Guitar Ensemble), having joined the group in 1994 as a freshman in the University. Joining a demanding course of study like Chemical Engineering (which was a mistake!??! but that's another story...), I found it essential to liven up my varsity life. Thus began my life as a guitar orchestra player in GENUS.

Throughout the years, members joined the group and leave (mostly when they graduate). Many good guitarists have passed through our doors throughout the years I've been in GENUS. For some, their guitar journey continues even after they leave GENUS. These are usually people who are into solo guitar playing. Many are still wonderful guitarists whom I am proud to have played alongside with in GENUS.
For others, unfortunately, their passion for the instrument (and some for music itself) diminished over the years, and eventually the guitar became a white elephant in the house, or something which they pass on to their younger siblings or nieces/nephews.

In 1999, I managed to find 3 like-minded players - Balraj (aka Raj), Kar Mun and Ivan, who like me, liked the idea of forming a more "permanent" guitar quartet so that we could continue to jam pieces and to play as a group, even after we have graduated from NUS and move on with our lives. We called ourselves the "Genres Guitar Quartet".
This particular set up lasted merely 2 months, as Raj realised he could not afford the time for our weekly practice sessions.

That's when Karen Ann was recruited as a more-than-able replacement. She was an excellent solo guitar player, even at the time, and she quickly assimilated into the group - becoming our 开心果with her brand of quirky and witty humour. We had a "rebranding" meeting, during which we came up with the name "Guitaresque".

This time, we lasted for slightly more than a year. In 2000 (year end), Kar Mun had a change of heart (actually, it was more or less a group decision, since he obviously had lost interest in our practices) and left the group. Again, we were 3.

In came Liang Shan, who was then still a relatively new member in GENUS. Still, we kinda felt that he had the "right attributes" to fit into our quartet. ( he was quite crazy... about music, about guitar, basically he was just a crazy and fun guy! I mean, just look at his dressing and and his hairdo these days, and you'd agree. hahaha )

We had a couple of years of good fun making music and entering competitions. In fact, we took the 2nd prize in the Yamaha Guitar Festival in 2001, for the ensemble section, narrowing losing to another group of GENUS participants (I remember it was a 10-man strong Niibori team consisting of Michelle, ATKS and gang). We came back in 2004 and took the 1st prize, playing the fast and exciting piece by Patrick Roux- Carnival!

In 2005, Karen left the group and went travelling round the world with her fiance, and we were left again with 3 remaining members: Ivan, Liang Shan and myself.

Fortunately, we found Alex (who had been a member of the earlier defunct group "The Canoners"), and Guitaresque was back in business once more.

The quartet has become more active in performing in public arenas in the last 2 years, and we have put up a series of performances at the Library@Esplanade and the Singapore Art Museum in 2006 and 2007. The experience have been so wonderful, that we decided to repeat the acts again at these 2 locations. So later this year (in September and November respectively), we shall be performing once again at the library, where we can have a close and cozy environment to interact with our audience; and then at the SAM, which features excellent accoustics for the classical guitar sounds.

Going forward, I am looking into new and exciting places for us to perform in, and the Esplanade performance halls (be it the concert hall, or maybe more likely the Recital studio) would seem a good target for us to aim for in the future.