Standing behind, from L to R: Lim Chun, Lim Hui, Yih Chyn, Gerard, Huan Yuh
Sitting in front, from L to R: Kang Ming, Chee Ong, Andrea, Glenn, Terence
This year marks the 15th Anniversary of AYO since its inception from 1990. To commemorate this significant year, the Radio Television of Hong Kong (RTHK) is currently making a documentary "AYO 15th Anniversary Special", featuring AYO alumni in various countries, interviewing and filming them to find out how AYO has affected the lives of AYO alumni. This documentary will be shown in Hong Kong in September 2004.
Almost every year, there are Singapore members selected to participate in the AYO. The producer, Edde Lam, and his cameraman Sing, came to Singapore on 17 May to film and interview some alumni. They went to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) rehearsals to film 5 AYO alumni - Hoang Van Hoc (1997 / French horn), Tan Wee Hsin Ernie (1996 and 1997 / Viola), Wang Meng Ngee (1991-1993 and 2000 / Double Bass), David Wong and Tan Kang Ming in action. They also went to Ernie's house to interview his parents, my house to film me doing my AYO webpages and also Meng Ngee's house to film her yacht!
It was proposed to have a group filming cum interview of Singapore alumni together. Edde suggested a reunion to film all of us playing our instruments together. For this purpose, we tried to inform as many alumni as possible, and gathered at a fellow alumnus Yong Chee Ong's house, on Wednesday 19 May.
A total of 12 alumni turned up! They were
Even Andrea Ng, a violist who is joining AYO for the first time this year, also came to play with us! And guess what we played? We played Pachelbel's Canon in D. Lim Chun and Andrea can play the violin besides viola, on that day they played the violin, so, we had 8 violinists that day to play the 3 canonic parts, with Glenn and Terence playing the bass line.. the french horn and cello sounded very well together!
A close-up photo below of the 8 violinists... see how engrossed we were in our playing...
After our Canon which we played about 5 times for the filming, we had sumptuous pizzas, courtesy of Chee Ong and his wife Mew. Many alumni brought photos which they took when they went for AYO, and some even brought the newspaper cuttings. We had a good time eating, browsing and chatting!
Later, David Wong and Judy Tay managed to rush down to Chee Ong's house, and we had a group interview.... It was a rather nervous session, but fun! It was like a chatting session but we had to face the camera. We shared our feelings, thoughts and deep appreciation for AYO, which had given us so much..
Thank you Edde and Sing, and all the alumni who turned up that night! Many alumni commented that it was an enjoyable and interesting reunion because of the filming and interview. Special thanks to Chee Ong and Mew for the delicious pizzas, for calling up people, for preparing the Canon scores, and for so graciously allowing us to use their spacious house for this very memorable evening. His house is very big and the accoustics is nice, suitable for our Canon. Chee Ong said that this is his way of saying "thank you" to AYO by helping. Indeed thank him so much! Let's look forward to the next reunion, or the next filming session, or just gather to play music again!
Click here to go to the official AYO website!