tulisan 29 : The Royal Concert

Now, now. Its been a while since my last post. Is it not?

I have a question for you guys.

Have you been to any concert before? Doesn't matter if its nasyid, orchestra or band. Any concert.

maybe this

or maybe this

You did not?? Owh really??

How about you there? Yeah you. No also?

Well, some of us will say no. Some will shout yes. 

Me?

Yes!! I did go to a live concert before. Or concerts. Hmmm. Can't really recall how many in total as to date.

Normally when there is a concert, I will just be an audience watching from a distance. Enjoying the show and clapping whenever possible.

But most of the time, I will only be an audience in front of the television at home. Although its not really a 'live' concert, its cosier isn't it? =P

Alrighty, the thing is last Wednesday, a royal concert was held in UTP as a tribute to the current Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Muhibuddin Shah. I had mentioned in tulisan 23 about his birthday which of course had been announced as a public holiday for the citizen of Perak.

The royal concert was quite short. It took only one and a half hour. Kinda weird for me since its my first time involving in such concert. Its getting weirder when I was among the performers. Haha.

The feelings was totally different. It was my first time after all. I've been singing in lots of competitions but not in a concert. The crowds were different and yes! I was nervous!! 

But all in all, there is only one word to describe the concert

The royal concert was a collaboration of performances between Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris and Universiti Teknologi together with Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Permaisuri Bainun. The performances were dancing, gamelan, UPSI orchestra, UTP Virtuoso and songs by guest artist. 

It took us one whole week of training and rehearse to prepare for the real thing. I just joined UTP Virtuoso team last semester. It is a team consists of musicians and singers which represent UTP for any performance and can also be better known as UTP Band. And of course since my knowledge of music is unfortunately zero, I am one of the singers. Haha.

The Virtuoso

The preparation was not an easy task. A royal concert will need us to follow all the rules and protocols which are really strict. Time must be managed well. We need to synchronize our performances from the start until the end of the concert. It is not simply the same as synchronizing a nasyid team or a band. Its a mixture of an orchestra, band, gamelan, singers and dancers. There were like hundreds of us performing and I assure you this kind of concert is totally different. The outside guests must be invited or else you are not allowed to enter and the dress codes must be followed accordingly. Its not like other concerts where you can simply wear jeans and t-shirts and make noises with your friends. You have to respect the concert and enjoy the performance in silence. That is how its done. 

Throughout the week, we've been doing lots of practices together with the UPSI and SMK Permaisuri Bainun students. They were talented musicians, dancers and artists. It was a great pleasure to know them and train side by side with them. I did not know that secondary schoolers can play violin really well. That is why they were invited to perform. No wonder huh.

with some of the UPSI staff and students

Ahhaaa. I totally forgot to mention about the guest artists.

They were Suhaimi Mior Hassan and Aisyah. You do know them don't you?

Come on guys. Suhaimi Mior Hassan

with Suhaimi Mior Hassan

"Bole pandang-pandang, Jangan pegang-pegang"

Yup, that song with Ana Raffali.

I did not really have the chance to talk with him since he was placed at the other side behind the stage during the concert. But Aisyah was with me. She was kinda talkative and she brought her two kids as well. The youngest, MasyaAllah. Bla bla bla bla bla bla non stop. Haha. Truthfully, I am not a fan of Aisyah before this until I met her in person. She is amazingly humble and have a great sense of humor =P. She is like 47 now but she looks 30 to me. Maybe because of her personality or its just her make-up =P. Just kidding Kak Aisyah. Haha.

Aisyah with her two kids

Both of the guest artists performed together with the music played by UPSI orchestra and SMK Permaisuri Bainun violinist. They sang two songs each.  I could not recall the title of the songs by Suhaimi but I do remember Kak Aisyah's. They were Janji Manismu and Antara Cinta dan Kasih. Great songs!!

There were other songs too which were performed by various artists from UPSI and UTP. Most of them were traditional Malay songs. But we the UTP Virtuoso gets to perform the song We Are The Champions by Queen at the end of the night. It was energetic. Alhamdulillah, everything went well from the beginning until the end. The royal concert was a success. Everybody was satisfied with their performances. That includes me. To have the opportunity to perform in front of the Sultan of Perak was a great experience. But frankly guys, I don't think he really enjoyed the concert at his age. At 83, he should be getting more rest, rather than listening to We Are The Champions. Haha =P

after concert

Well, well, well..What else huh?

Personally, the bond that we, all the performers, had created through the one week of preparations and the night of the concert was priceless. We had fun. I do hope that there will be more event similar to this which can be a great platform to show our potential. We are not just teachers or engineers to be. We can also play music, dance and sing. We are not that boring for sure. Haha~