Early in the morning on February 11, students impatiently waited at the assembly point with tickets in hand and restless chatter echoing around. Even the teachers were eager to watch the concert, a welcome change from the monotonous classroom. When the bell rang, everyone briskly marched towards the multipurpose hall at the nearby KBU college campus.
Even though the entrances were jammed with long queues, the school and library prefects on duty somehow managed to squeeze everyone in without any delay. Take a seat - done; flip through the programme - check; now, time to settle down and enjoy the show!
Once the guests of honour entered, the emcees started the event with gusto. After paying tribute to the nation by playing our national anthem, our beloved principal, Puan Azizah Yusoff, stepped up to the rostrum to give her opening speech. She recalled the improvements the school wind band had made since its beginnings and pondered on its role in the future of the school. With another congratulatory speech by the representative of the parents-teachers association, lauding the wind band's self-sufficiency in its finances and activities, the concert was declared open with three strikes of the gong.
After that, it was time for the wind band to start playing. Decked in black waistcoats, the spotlight set on them, all their practice and determination were about to pay off And it did as even warm-ups were applauded! The band kicked off the concert with 'Joy to the World', putting smiles on the faces of the audience. Then, they progressed to the swaying ethnic beats of 'Rasa Sayang', even swaying at the front of the stage themselves, to the delight of many. Next, they got the hall rocking with 'Let's Get Loud', and yet, managed to calm everyone down in no time with their rendition of 'Amazing Grace'.
As the stage hands cleared the platform, arranging it for the next event, the emcees started a lucky draw competition, which had the students sitting on the edge of their seats. Emotions ran high as the numbers were called out, and with each announcement a number of hopefuls were eliminated from the race for the prize. Eventually, the audience cheered the victors. Then, the solo and duet performers took to the stage. The chairperson of the wind band, Lim Wei Yi, kept the crowd spellbound with his saxophone as he played a song called 'The Moment'. After that, a refreshing take of 'Just The Way You Are' took centre-stage, with the gentle flute humbly leading the concert to a short interval.
After light refreshments from the school's co-operative, the concert resumed with more amazing songs. A duet started in the centre of the crowd, the tell-tale notes of 'Lucky' beautifully played by both the flutist and saxophonist, as if locked in love. Then, the uplifting 'You Raise Me Up' was performed using the trumpet.
With that, the solo and duet performances came to an end, but the wind band was back on stage without much delay. Their comeback act was the theme song from the colourful game, Super Mario Bros, in which Mario is on a quest to save Princess Peach. They then jazzed up the atmosphere with 'Smoke on Water', before presenting a medley of soundtracks from 'Pirates of the Caribbean', using snippets from the third film of the franchise, At World's End'. And then, rather prematurely, they bid farewell with the mesmerising 'Time to Say Goodbye'.
However, in the spirit of showmanship, they heeded the requests for an extension from the audience, playing the catchy Korean song 'Nobody', which got the conductor dancing, tickling the crowd's hearts. Finally, they signed off on a high note, performing a remix of Lady Gaga's three most popular songs, making the crowd sway to snippets from 'Poker Face', 'Bad Romance', as well as 'Just Dance'. All who attended the concert that day were truly entertained by the school's wind band. We were still buzzing with excitement as we headed reluctantly back to school, thinking it a day to remember.
By Kiwan Richard, 16, SMK Bandar Utama Damansara (3), Selangor
This post is part of the line-up ahead of the blog's second anniversary. All these posts will be taken from articles written by students featuring the school on School Times, the educational pull-out from the New Straits Times.
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