Grand appearance of new members from SOC

By Chong Wan Chi

MAIN CAMPUS, 1st April - USM Sekretariat Orkestra Cina held a wonderful performance party at DPS 1 of KOMCA on the evening of March 31 (Sunday), with the theme of “Stars Rhyme Night”. This performance night aims to give freshmen a stage to showcase their performance talents, allowing them to gain valuable performance experience, while also presenting a musical feast to the audiences.

The event started with a speech by Lim Xin Jie, PP Seni, Year 2, president of the organizing committee for the SOC Performance Night 2024 from all grades, warmly welcomed all the audience present in his speech and explained the theme of the performance night: “Star Rhyme Night” represents new life and the perfection of music and also the combination symbolizes a new start for the new members of the USM Sekretariat Orkestra Cina.

She believed this is a good starting point for the freshmen to be more confident and calm in their future performances.

In the performance of “Good Morning Teacher” by the large ensemble, the erhu group and cello group are located on the right side of the audience's vision on the stage. Photo by Chong Wan Chi

The entire performance night was divided into eight performances, including two large ensembles and six small groups. At 8 o'clock, the event officially started. All the audience stood up and sang the national anthem and the school song, and then Lim Xin Jie, the president of the organizing committee gave a welcome speech. Then came the first large ensemble “Good Morning Teacher”, which consisted of erhu, cello, double cello, dulcimer, chinese zither, medium ruan, liuqin, tenor sheng, opera side blown flute, chinese bamboo piccolo, snare drum, bass drum, hanging drum, money drum, etc. The performance of various musical instruments kicked off the performance night.

Then came the wonderful performances of each group, including “Totoro” by the wind group, “Rain Broken Jiangnan” by the string group, “Gavotte” by the bass group, and “Bull Fighting Tiger” by the percussion group. Each performance All have honed their playing skills and strict teamwork spirit.

After the intermission, the audience was once again immersed in the beautiful music and enjoyed performances such as “Cage” by the Liuqin Group & Ruan Group and “Datian Young Boy” by the Dulcimer Group. The whole observation session ended with the performance of the second large ensemble “Xiao Li Flying Knife”, which pushed the celebratory music night to a climax.

According to Lee Wan Jing, a performer and vice president, the number of audiences at the scene reached 48. They participated enthusiastically, encouraged and cheered for each performer, and jointly created a warm atmosphere.

“The performance night provided valuable performance experience for the freshmen, allowing them to express themselves more naturally, and it was also a test and display of past learning results. This is a rare opportunity for freshmen to showcase their musical talents in a relatively relaxed atmosphere and lay a good foundation for future study and performance,and set a goal for them to continue learning.” Lee continued.

In this “Star Rhyme Night”, the USM Sekretariat Orkestra Cina is not just a group of performers, but also a big family that unites and pursues musical dreams. They use music to convey enthusiasm and beauty, and to inherit and carry forward Chinese music culture.

The SOC Performance Night 2024 “Star Rhyme Night”  came to a successful conclusion, but the melody of the Chinese orchestra will forever echo on the USM campus, inspiring more students to pursue their musical dreams. The USM Sekretariat Orkestra Cina also stated that it will continue to hold similar activities to provide more students with opportunities to showcase themselves and jointly write a glorious chapter for the Chinese Orchestra.