OLPS ensemble's practice resumes this Friday after our short break! Updates at www.olps-ensemble.org
Do you have friends who can play instruments like flute, clarinet, oboe, violin, viola or cello? If you have, kindly let us know or let them know about us! ;)
Thanks and God Bless,
Sam
PS: Meanwhile, have fun with below, I personally think it kills classical music.. hahaa:
Wonderful interpretation of classical music with electric rock guitar.
We had a fun dinner out last Friday, went to NYDC at Bugis! We discussed what we could do for the next half of the year and here it is. Meanwhile, if any of you itching to play again, you are still free to join us, as always, yeah?
Our upcoming "planned & to-be-planned" events:
11 - 18 September St. John Vianney Statue at OLPS (Taize prayer session) - More details later
End October Propose to try out a session of Taize before a Mass
November Prayer for Vocations Mass
8 December (Tuesday)
Abi’s Wedding!
Meanwhile, since we have now 2 pianists around, Abi and I will look into getting some duet scores to play with piano!
We have a break again this Friday 31st July as William, Gillian and myself will be watching a SSO concert titled "Postcards From Spain" to "appreciate" some classical music.. aka:
RAVEL - Pavane pour une infante défunte CHABRIER - España DEBUSSY - Fantaisie for piano and orchestra DEBUSSY - Ibéria RAVEL - Bolero
Haha.. the rest.. unfortunately not interested.
So... See you all again at our next practice on 7 August!
Our practice starts again this Friday 15th May! 8pm at St. Peter & Paul Room!
We will look into practising for Mass, arranging our parts and so forth.
So... each week might be creative, and it might be hard work. We might have to focus on just 1 song per practice. but at the end of the day, we hope to play for mass in parts, not just blend into the choir as we did before.
Also there is better sound system at the choir loft now, with the possibility of up to 4 mics for our parts, so it is good news for us.
So this will be our "project" for the upcoming few months and will wrap up with playing at an actual mass (will tie up with the choirs, Family Life, or so forth).
After that, we can look into other creative and fun things to do again later!
Warm greetings,
The Letter from Kenya written by Bro Alois, Prior of the Taize community, is the
highlight of this issue of the Letter from Taize.Please see below.
God bless
----- Forwarded message from Pao <pao@...> -----
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:45:13 +0100
From: Pao <pao@...>
Dear friends,
Please download Letter from Taiz N 1 from this link.
http://files.taize.fr/asia/091en_asia.pdf
Thank you
Br JPatrick
Dear friends,
Please download Letter from Taiz N 1 from this link.
Hi Sam,
Just to confirm, is the prayer for vocations on 15 Mar? Its a Sunday leh...
I don't mind playing for both... miss touching my violin and playing with u guys.
Will book the room after u guys confirm that we're playing k.
Abi
To: olps-ensemble@yahoogroups.com From: samanthamariechan@... Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2009 07:55:20 -0800 Subject: [olps ensemble] Time for Music once again!
Hi all,
Is everyone having a good break? Time flies, it's almost end of FEB! So, want to get everyone up again for some music time!
Keep your next few Fridays free for 6, 13, 20 & 27 March. 8pm at St. Peter & Paul Room as usual!
Abi - could you help us book room again?
We have some lobang: 15 March - Prayer for Vocations (who wants to play?) 4-5 April - Lenten Vigil 2009 (over the wee hours at nite.. it's a vigil!)
Hope you can confirm if you'd like to play for the above events!
The current members recently met and discussed that this year we want to keep it simple, really targeted, light. The members are still now, Richard, Abi, myself, William and Cassie our youngest member and Elizabeth (hopefully still!)
We will look into a few areas to play at this year... they are:
2) Holy Family Lent-Easter duration - playing with GII choir again
3) Playing with Novena Taize group - for 1 session this year (external exposure)
4) Playing at Abi's big day in December!
We may play at various other events personally or in small pairs as our availability calls it.
Practices will thus begin again in March and we will have a 2-month break!
Lastly, if any of you in this mailing list STILL can play on an one-off "ADHOC" basis, you are still invited! We will definitely be like to have you to play with us!
Last Thursday, we played at the Holy Family Christmas Midnight Mass. Hope everyone had fun.
A big thank you to Richard, Pao Yen, Abi, Cass & Mum & Dad, William, Liz, Lhea, and all our older members who have been joining or simply being aware about us. It is now the turn of the year again and we hope to continue, if not discover yet new things and joys of playing music for the church & God's people!
-----Original Message----- From:taize_sg@yahoogroups.com [mailto:taize_sg@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Angela Lee Sent:Sunday, November 30, 200812:07 AM To: Taize yahoo egroup Subject: [taize_sg] [TAIZE-L] News from Taize by email - 29 November 2008
Here is the latest news from the Taize Community. The section on "CDs for download" may be useful to you. Shalom, Angela
News from Taizé by email Taizé, Saturday 29 November 2008 -------------------------------------------- * In Nairobi: "Sharing hope" * Brother Alois in the Paris region * In England: "the promise of mutual enrichment and joy" * In Brussels: a beautiful sign of communion * CDs for Download * New Books CDs and DVDs * Prayer
In Nairobi: "Sharing hope" -------------------------------------------- "Sharing hope" is the theme of the stage of the Pilgrimage of Trust that is taking place at this very moment in Nairobi, Kenya. Lasting till Sunday 30 November, the meeting has brought together 7000 young adults between 18 and 30 years of age from the different provinces of Kenya and from other
African countries. The meeting has been prepared over the past year by brothers of the Taizé Community with a team of volunteers from different continents, in collaboration with youth chaplains from the Nairobi Churches. Over 120 young people have come from Europe, Asia and North America. The first arrivals began on 15 November, to take part in immersion programs in different towns and villages in the Nairobi Region.
The program of this international meeting consists mainly of times of celebration, prayer and sharing. The main venue is in the grounds of Queen of Apostles Minor Seminary (Thika Road, Ruaraka). The morning program takes place in the 80 parishes and church congregations and religious institutions where the participants are receiving hospitality. Young people from the host parishes enable their guests to discover "places of suffering and hope" as well as the commitment and the initiatives of the
"people of hope" in their neighbourhood.
Brother Alois along with several Taizé brothers is taking part in the Nairobi event. The Archbishop of Nairobi, Cardinal John Njue, was present during the evening prayer on 28 November. Other church leaders from various denominations were also expected to take part in some of the prayers. http://www.taize.fr/en_article7659.html
Catherine is part of the welcome team: "Wednesday 26: This has been a day of welcome, which continues after the sun has set. Tomorrow, in the light of day, we will discover how many have joined us. For now, we know that we have been blessed with visitors from Uganda and Rwanda, from Mozambique and Sudan, and from many other countries in Africa and beyond. Of course, many groups are also travelling from provinces across Kenya - Kisii and Nyahururu, Machakos and
Mombasa - and from the suburbs of Nairobi itself.
The Kenyan tradition of offering hot sweet chai (tea) to visitors seemed unaltered by the sheer quantities involved. And it was gratefully received by many weary travellers - one young man I spoke to had been on the road from Burundi since Monday. Others were returning from fruitful times with families in rural parishes during their 'pre-meeting' stay.
In one of our prayers this week, we heard the story of the widow who gave two copper coins - "She, out of her poverty, gave everything". In many ways the welcome that the young people receive here, in parishes and in families, echoes this gospel. In fact, it goes further – Catholic parishes welcoming members of the Pentecostal Church; Anglicans welcoming those from the Presbyterian Church of East Africa. Once again the barriers that exist are called into question..." http://www.taize.fr/en_article7677.html
Brother Alois in the Paris region -------------------------------------------- A prayer for young people in the Paris region, organized by young adults of the Nanterre Diocese, will take place in the afternoon of Sunday 7 December. Mgr Daucourt, Bishop of Nanterre, and Brother Alois will be present. Young people from all over the Paris region are invited to take part in this time of prayer and sharing: Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur Parish, Montrouge (92), Métro Ligne 4, Porte d'Orléans. Among the afternoon workshops proposed: "Risk: a way towards God?", "Living your Christian faith in a company with a short term view of the market: dilemmas and
challenges", "Good news in the life of a young person: commitment in the Young Christian Workers", "Solidarity football in the Paris region". A prayer open to everyone, at 18.30, will bring the day to a close. http://www.taize.fr/fr_article1046.html
In England: "the promise of mutual enrichment and joy" -------------------------------------------- "Diversity, instead of leading inevitably to divisions or rivalries, bears within it the promise of mutual enrichment and joy" (Letter from Cochabamba). In England the situation of the Church is probably the most fragmented of any country in Western Europe. During this series of visits by one of the brothers of the community, there were prayers and meetings in churches of many denominations, Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, and meetings with young people in Soul Survivor cell
groups. The Church in England is very divided, and yet that "promise of mutual enrichment and joy" can already be discerned, first of all perhaps in the ease of contact and friendship across church boundaries. When a Catholic bishop arrived for the evening prayer in an Anglican Cathedral it was the most normal thing in the world, just as it was when a Church of England bishop came to the evening prayer in a Catholic parish near his home.... There is a very large number of young people from Central and Eastern Europe in Britain. Lithuanians, Czechs, Slovaks and Poles were present as significant minorities at several of the meetings. The young priest who conducted the music practice in Dewsbury Minster had the task of combining local 6th-formers with the youth choir from Huddersfield Polish Church into a group which would lead the singing for the evening prayer... http://www.taize.fr/en_article7684.html
In Brussels: a beautiful sign of communion -------------------------------------------- Bénédicte is active in the preparation for the end of December European meeting: "Each day, in Saint Nicolas' Church in the centre of Brussels, more and more people come to join in the mid day prayer, to confide what is being prepared. The daily rhythm at the preparation centre is as sustained as ever. Above all, we have to find accommodation!... There is always a smile to share, good news to announce and the desire to come back again. The team who prepared the meeting in Geneva last year sent a large envelope filled with short messages of encouragement for all those who are committed in the preparation this year. What a beautiful sign of communion! The days of the young volunteers are very full. They take care, for example, of announcing the
meeting in the schools. Certain schools are in majority Muslim. Yet the young people there do not feel themselves any less concerned by the meeting. One of their teachers stressed, "You are one of the faces of Brussels. It is important that you make this known also to the young people taking part in the meeting." Several of them came to the preparation centre to find out more. They discussed with one of the brothers how they could take part in a meeting like this and finally they decided to help organize a welcome point... " http://www.taize.fr/nl_article7599.html http://www.taize.fr/en_article7593.html
CDs for Download -------------------------------------------- The CDs recorded at Taizé are now available for legal download from the main digital outlets (iTunes, eMusic, musicMe, fnac, music4help, Deezer...). They are all listed with the single word "Taizé", with or without the accent, as the artist name. Follow the links on the recordings pages of the Books, CDs, DVDs section of the Taizé website, or for more details see: http://www.believe.fr/labels/2833,taize.html
New Books CDs and DVDs -------------------------------------------- - A book of
guitar accompaniments for the songs of Taizé, "Chants de Taizé: partitions pour guitare" is now available in several countries. 87 songs, each with chords, a simple accompaniment in tablature and classical notation, and several further variations in order of progressive difficulty. Notes and tips on how and why to accompany. 192 pages, A4 format, spiral bound. Distributed in France by le Seuil/Volumen, in the USA by GIA publications, in Germany by Verlag Herder. - A new title in French has been published by éditions Nouvelle Cité: by Sabine Laplane, "Prier 15 jours avec frère Roger de Taizé" takes the reader on a journey of prayer through the writings and intuitions of Brother Roger. 2008, 128 p, ISBN 9782853135535 - A DVD of the high points of the European Meeting in Geneva is finally available: "Oh! Que c'est chose belle - Taizé à Genève / Taizé in Geneva ", distributed by Sari Press, Geneva. 45
minutes, in French and English. - For further details and links to the distributors: http://www.taize.fr/en_article1221.html
Prayer -------------------------------------------- God of peace, you do not wish for any of us to be troubled by remorse, but for a surge of trusting that enables us to place everything in you. And so, in your continual forgiveness, we discover peace of heart.
---
News from Taizé by email is available in English, Croatian, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish. Subscription is free.
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Interested in this ? pls pass to other string players.
Best wishes
Richard Ang --- On Tue, 18/11/08, Sales_and_Marketing@... <Sales_and_Marketing@...> wrote:
From: Sales_and_Marketing@... <Sales_and_Marketing@...> Subject: <ADV> An Evening with Christian Howes and the Silent Violin - 5 December 2008 To: leorich2@... Date: Tuesday, 18 November, 2008, 2:36 PM
If you are unable to view the image below, please click HERE.
New Email names for you!
Get the Email name you've always wanted on the new @ymail and @rocketmail.
Hurry before someone else does!
The Ensemble has been having a wonderful long break this November. What's been happening you ask? Well... literally... Nothing! But we are still around! December will be a time of fun and rest for us as well. And we will only begin proper practices in January, as well as decide on where we are able to serve at once again for the year of 2009!
So far over this year, we have been asked to play at various events namely the OLPS Monthly Night of Prayer ...Prayer for Vocation prayer meets... and Quarterly Taize events at OLPS. We also played at the Music of the Spheres Concert plus jammed with Holy Family's GII choir for some of their event! Next year, we have the option of joining back with Felix & the Ave Maria choir to play for Mass. So we'll go wherever the Lord guides. More updates on our 2009 direction later!
So do keep us in prayer... that we will continue to play with the same zeal next year and that we may have new intakes and new friends joining us! And if you are still around getting this email, you are also invited to join back again. Don't forget, we are playing for a purpose yeah! ;)
In the meantime, you are invited to these joyful events for DEC!
Want some Wii Fun??? 14 Dec Sun - late afternoon to nite Wii game @ Richard's House at 4:30pm to late. Dinner at the house (order in!!!) RSVP with me soon!
Year End Dinner! 22 Dec Mon Nite Ensemble Dinner (for past friends too). We'll simply go out for a nice meal together! & exchange some x'mas presents too... ! VENUE & TIME will be confirmed later too. Can you make it? Please make it! Come & Join us!!! RSVP FIRST with me by SMS or email.
Christmas Midnight Mass 24 Dec Wed Midnite Jam with GII choir from Holy Fam for Christmas Eve mass (play at their midnite mass)
If you want to come for this, please RSVP with me early so that I can inform you about rehearsals.
You are welcome to attend this on 29 Nov! I'm playing in a very short poetry recital, there'll be a violinist and I'll be playing the viola.
29 November 2008 World Aids Day Mass 6:00pm Cathedral of Good Shepherd Church Click to view the postcard & poster
Though, the main thing is really not
me,... it's that this mass has been organised to bring awareness that the catholic church is also doing our part to support more education of aids, and bring hope to sufferers of this disease.
The organiser is our ole friend Anthony Chew, for those who know him. Come and support ;)
Thanks so much for performing for us! It was great, you all were fantastic!?
The concert was a success!?
All your hardwork paid off! I am so proud of you all!
God bless!
Amanda Chen
amanda@...
96907090
To: olps-ensemble@yahoogroups.com CC: giang@...; luhann@... From: samanthamariechan@... Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:44:38 -0700 Subject: [olps ensemble] Music of the Spheres -- Thoughts!
I was really glad that we got this little opportunity to play.
Music of the Spheres was a "sacred music" concert, so what better to play than Taize songs? We therefore played 2 Taize songs: "Wait for the Lord" and "Bless the Lord", and our third song was "Holy Darkness", a beautiful hymn by Dan Schutte.
All in all, the experience was worth it. The ensemble was able to perform publicly for this first time, and because of this, we really worked together to practice - with a goal in mind. For some of us, this was our first public performance. For myself too, even though I have performed on stage before, this was the first time being in a small-ensemble scenario in a proper concert. And the pressure is even greater!
And so what I learnt from today is that certainly, with time, we are always brought into to new stages, new situations. That is when you are challenged to face up to the task, and it is also when you know you are growing.
And while I can complain forever about about how my last ending note was kinda "weak" with the violin not sounding out at that last bit (due to trembling hands!!!).... I just want to thank God for bringing the ensemble through all this while, for keeping us together and giving us this common passion to play music!
I thank also our four singers from the GII Choir and the St. Teresa Church: Melvin, Alvin, Dion and Delvinia, for lending us their wonderful voices which were an invaluable part of the whole performance.
Lastly, many thanks to Amanda & Han Oh for organising this wonderful charity concert for the Jesuit Refugee Services!
And so, it was really fun after
all!
So now, what's next? We look forward to many other events like the next Parish Prayer Meeting at OLPS which we'll be playing at (31 October), the World Aids Day Mass on 29 Nov (only Elizabeth and Sam performing) and Christmas at the end of the year with the GII Choir!
Group Shots taken before the concert
BELOW: Samantha (Violin), Richard (Flute), Delvinia (St. Theresa Church choir), William (Guitar), Melvin (GII Choir), Elizabeth (Guitar), Alvin (GII Choir), Dion (GII Choir), & Abigail (Violin)
I was really glad that we got this little opportunity to play.
Music of the Spheres was a "sacred music" concert, so what better to play than Taize songs? We therefore played 2 Taize songs: "Wait for the Lord" and "Bless the Lord", and our third song was "Holy Darkness", a beautiful hymn by Dan Schutte.
All in all, the experience was worth it. The ensemble was able to perform publicly for this first time, and because of this, we really worked together to practice - with a goal in mind. For some of us, this was our first public performance. For myself too, even though I have performed on stage before, this was the first time being in a small-ensemble scenario in a proper concert. And the pressure is even greater!
And so what I learnt from today is that certainly, with time, we are always brought into to new stages, new situations. That is when you are challenged to face up to the task, and it is also when you know you are growing.
And while I can complain forever about about how my last ending note was kinda "weak" with the violin not sounding out at that last bit (due to trembling hands!!!).... I just want to thank God for bringing the ensemble through all this while, for keeping us together and giving us this common passion to play music!
I thank also our four singers from the GII Choir and the St. Teresa Church: Melvin, Alvin, Dion and Delvinia, for lending us their wonderful voices which were an invaluable part of the whole performance.
Lastly, many thanks to Amanda & Han Oh for organising this wonderful charity concert for the Jesuit Refugee Services!
And so, it was really fun after
all!
So now, what's next? We look forward to many other events like the next Parish Prayer Meeting at OLPS which we'll be playing at (31 October), the World Aids Day Mass on 29 Nov (only Elizabeth and Sam performing) and Christmas at the end of the year with the GII Choir!
Group Shots taken before the concert
BELOW: Samantha (Violin), Richard (Flute), Delvinia (St. Theresa Church choir), William (Guitar), Melvin (GII Choir), Elizabeth (Guitar), Alvin (GII Choir), Dion (GII Choir), & Abigail (Violin)
The concert is tomorrow night 8pm, pray tt we play well.. haha.. !
Cheers, Sam
----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Facebook <notification+md1w3vhi@...> To: Samantha Marie Chan <samanthamariechan@...> Sent: Friday, 10 October 2008 02:04:40 Subject: "Music of the Spheres" sent you a message on Facebook...
Amanda Chen sent a message to the members of Music of the Spheres.
-------------------- Subject: 11th October Jubilee Hall Concert
First and foremost, I would like to thank everybody for supporting this event. As you all know, the Music of the Spheres concert is this Saturday, 11 October 2008, 8pm.
There will be tickets on sale at the door and proceeds will go to charity. The beneficiary is Jesuit Refugee Service Singapore, funding projects that aid displaced people, namely refugees. More info can be found on www.jrssingapore.org
We
hope and thank you for your continued support! --------------------
Come and support us at the Music of the Spheres Concert, which is happening next Saturday 11 October, 8:00pm at the Jubilee Hall, Raffles Hotel.
This is OLPS Ensemble's first public debut! We've been practising.. and hope to bring you some nice taize music during our little 10min slot at this concert...
Hopefully, we won't sound too bad. We've been practising. But for soome of us, this is really the first time being in a concert like this.
Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
This event is OLPS Ensemble's upcoming debut as OLPS Ensemble per se in a public setting. So this is our first proper performance. Do come and support!
We are selling 20 tickets for this event, so please come get from me if you are able to come! And tell your friends too.. hear the famous Nelson Kwei and the choirs...
And... Sacred music would be nice once in a while compared to all the pop & rock music out there right?
“Music of the Spheres” A Sacred Music Choral & Instrumental Concert, in aid of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS).
The OLPS Ensemble will be playing in a short stint consisting instrumental taize songs and hymns, together with the award-winning choirs from Meridian JC, Anderson JC and the National University of Singapore led by the renowned Mr. Nelson Kwei. Do come and support!
DETAILS: 11 October 2008, Saturday, 8:00pm - 9:15pm at Jubilee Hall, Raffles Hotel Cost: $20, Free Seating For ticket sales & enquiries, contact Dawn Yen 9825 6621 or Amanda Chen 9690 7090 or email amanda@...
All proceeds will go to the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), Singapore, an international Catholic organization with a mission to accompany, serve and defend the rights of refugees and forcibly displaced people. More info at www.jrssingapore.org.
Following NTU String Orchestra’s tradition to delight audiences with our ensemble of string instruments, this year’s Journey ‘08 will be no exception.
Be enthralled by the playing of renowned pieces like Handel’s Water Music and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, featuring our very own student soloists.
Coupled with the ambient rich presence of the performance location, the concert will leave everyone with a memorable experience—an experience through the musical journey all of us at the String Orchestra have chosen to embark on together…
Buses that reach within 100m of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Campus 3: 56, 64, 65, 131,139, 147, 166, 857, 980.
Suggested Route: Take the MRT to Dhoby Ghaut Station. Take buses 64, 65, or 139 from outside Long John Silver's opposite the train station for 3 stops to reach NAFA Campus 3 at Bencoolen Street.
New Email names for you! Get the Email name you've always wanted on the new @ymail and @rocketmail. Hurry before someone else does!
The key quality in the musician that we seek is flexibility – the music in this show spans several different musical genres. Experience in musical production is not a prerequisite.
If you are interested, come for this concert. I'll be playing the viola this round!
Finally, I've travelled from 1st, to 2nd to viola. What's next? Cello? Wahahaha..
Cheers,
Sam
Following NTU String Orchestra’s tradition to delight audiences with our ensemble of string instruments, this year’s Journey ‘08 will be no exception. Be enthralled by the playing of renowned pieces like Handel’s Water Music and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, featuring our very own student soloists. Coupled with the ambient rich presence of the performance location, the concert will leave everyone with a memorable experience—an experience through the musical journey all of us at the String Orchestra have chosen to embark on together…