SAM recital updates

Looking ahead to the 15th Nov performance at the Singapore Art Museum, we are considering a slight adjustment to the originally planned repertoire. This is my current choice of pieces for the recital:

Barber of Seville Overture (Rossini)

Sicilliana (Anon)

A Furiosa (Bellinati)

American Folksongs (various)
- The Drunken Sailor
- St. James Infirmary
- Wade in the Water
- Sweet Betsy from Pike
- Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
- John Henry

Il Postino (Bacalov)

3 Preludes (Gershwin)
- Allegro ben ritmato e deciso
- Andante con moto e poco rubato
- Allegro ben ritmato deciso

Moon River (Mancini)

Funiculi Funicula (Denza)

La Cumparsita (Rodriguez)

Nashville Noel (various)

The songs which I have tentatively taken out are:

1) Waltz of the Flowers
2) Pacific Coast Highway
3) Stirfry

Going forward, we will focus on the 10 listed songs, and then decide if we can/should include some of these other ones.


OTHER UPDATES:-

• We are also actively preparing for the publicity poster for the recital - LS is supposed to work on the group photograph, while I am in-charge of the brief write-up.
• The venue of the recital has been changed to the Glass Hall
• Tickets for the recital will be $8 (free seating)

Il Postino

I have just completed the quartet arrangement for the theme song from the movie Il Postino.

This 4 guitars arrangement is based on a CD recording of the song featuring a violin soloist, backed by strings.

I have always liked this song, as I find its melody lines extremely beautiful and flowing, delivering a sense of peace and yet, a kind of yearning at the same time.

Can't wait to try this out with the guys!

Is Guitaraffecs.com a scam?

Recently, I placed an order for a fibre-glass guitar case from http://www.guitaraffecs.com/ , after reading about this site from a CG forum.

Since then, it has been about 2 weeks and absolutely no news from the US-based company. Despite repeated emails sent to their dedicated email addresses, there's been no reply whatsoever.

The problem is - I have paid for the case with my credit card (online purchase). And it is beginning to look as if the website is either:

1) an old site, which is no longer used (in which case, nothing should be charged to my credit card)

or

2) Guitaraffecs.com is simply a scam - which seems strange to me, because if you're going to run an online scam, why bother to set up a guitar site? I mean, how much "business" do you hope to get, as compared to running a similiar website for say.. electronics (I have already come across several of those) or some fake branded goods?

Anyway, there's nothing to be done except to wait. Till either I actually do receive the guitar case shipped to me home, or I check the monthly credit card bill to confirm the "scam".

Open Stage : Library@Esplanade performance

The performance was a success! We had fun playing the pieces - and we hope our audience had fun listening to us too :)


One of my colleagues took this photo for me. She said I looked "super serious" when playing the guitar (which simply implies I'm usually a joker at the workplace?!? HAHAHA)

Open Mic at the Library@Esplanade

A short writeup on the upcoming performance this Saturday:

===========================================

4 musicians tradings ideas while carrying a tune, each providing his own senses and ideas.

Together, the quartet paints a beautiful image of the Baroque landscape...

If you think that sounds like a description of a typical string quartet, you are possibly right.

Well... not really.

Not many classical music lovers here in Singapore are familiar with the sight of a classical guitar (CG) quartet - 4 classical guitars playing in an ensemble, ala the string quartet. Guitaresque is such a quartet - and we are 100% made-in-Singapore.

Guitaresque members are Shu Hann, Ivan, Alex and Kevin. We are a group of CG lovers, who have been playing together for the past 8 years though none of us are actually full-time musicians by profession. Instead, we have found time amidst our busy working schedules to meet on a weekly basis, not so much to practice and rehearse a repertoire, but more to be with friends who share a similar passion in guitar music.

The quartet has been actively promoting CG ensemble music in the local music scene for the past few years.

We have been invited to numerous public performances, including a Charity dinner function at the (then) Pine Tree Club; the Open House event for the Tampines East Community club; Fusion Feast concert at the Chinese Garden, amongst others.

In 2004, Guitaresque took part in the Singapore (Yamaha) Guitar Festival and won the first prize for the Ensemble category. Since then, we have been invited to play at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM), where we played a one-night recital inthe SAM Auditorium, as well as in conjunction with the Engraving the World exhibition, showcasing music mainly from the Baroque era.

Come 6th September, the quartet will take the stage in the library@esplanade for the second time (we played in the Open Mic event back in 2006), and we hope to bring to the audience an afternoon of easy-listening guitar music. Expect evergreen songs like Mancini's Moon River, the theme song from the Godfather, as well as one of the perenial favourites of many guitarists - Cavatina (from the movie Deer Hunter).

This performance acts as a prelude (or appetizer, of sorts) to our upcoming recital at the SAM Auditorium later this year (November 8th). More information on that performance will be available at a later stage, so keep a look out at this blog site.

Whether you are an avid classical guitar fan or not, you will surely enjoy the soothing music played to a backdrop of artistic films and books in the classy surroundings of the library@esplanade. So do join us on 6th September 2008!

See you there!