Kuala Lumpur Guitar Ensemble II - Memories from Thailand International Guitar Festival 2010

Monday, 17 January 2011 09:45

4 November 2010 - KL Guitar Ensemble II members were not on the same flight although the three of us booked our flights at the same time on three different computers...! Well, I got booked on the early flight while Ernest and Sew Hong were booked on a later flight. Since we were booking online and paying by our credit cards, it only made sense that we paid our flights individually as our individual credit card would have separate insurance coverage and in case of any problems, we could deal with them without any fuss.

The festival was held at Phranakhon Grand View, situated in the historical setting of Thailand's first Teacher's Training Institute, Rajabhat Phranakhon, founded by King Rama V in 1892.This is the same place where the Bangkok International Guitar Festival 2009 was held and which we played in last year.



Here we are in the hotel's lobby waiting to go for dinner with Nutavut and his girlfriend, Cholinda Crabbie. The foreign guests who had arrived were Kim Hee Hong - a Korean guitar maker, Takeo Sato - a German Japanese, and ourselves, KLGE II	Here is Simon presenting Kim with the Society's publications and T-shirt.	This restaurant is opposite the university/hotel and is the unofficial 'official' caterer for our dinners.	Here we are having our meals and as you can see, Takeo is having fun with the fried fish - look carefully and you can see that he is kissing the fish.	Here we are having our meals with Kim digging in!

5 November 2010 - This day started with the first round of the open section of the competition followed by lunch in the university's canteen.



A beautiful setting outside the building where the auditoriums were. In the huge campus grounds, the auditorium's building was just a few minutes' walk from the hotel.	Here are the competition participants anxiously practising before the competition began. As we were on the jury, Sew Hong did not have the time to take photos except for a few shorts and since this was the preliminary round, I will not include any of the preliminary round photos here.	Here is Melissa from Indonesia testing out a guitar in the foyer. There were a few Thai guitar makers displaying their guitars as well as the Korean guitar maker - Alma Guitar.	There was a shop selling tuners, strings etc.



Well, after the preliminary rounds of the competition, it was lunch time. We were brought to another building where the canteen was - our official lunch caterer.	Here is a view of the canteen

After lunch, it was Berta Rojas's masterclass...



Here are two photos of the participants for the masterclass - the Thai student needed an interpreter. It is surprising, in my personal opinion, that the competition participants did not take advantage to improve themselves by having a masterclass with Berta! What a waste!	Here are two photos of the participants for the masterclass - the Thai student needed an interpreter. It is surprising, in my personal opinion, that the competition participants did not take advantage to improve themselves by having a masterclass with Berta! What a waste! Here is Melissa from Indonesia	To my surprise, Sazali, a former UiTM music student, was attending this festival and it was really great to have him remembering me although I never taught him the guitar. It is really great to have his support there.

6 November 2010 - This day started with the juniors category A (under 12) and category B (under 16) competition, which then moved on to the finals of the open category.



The reception table in front of the auditorium.	Here are three photos representing each category..(Category A - Under 12)	Here are three photos representing each category...(Category B- Under 16)	Here are three photos representing each category...(Open Section)



The jury discussing the points given...	The jury discussing the points given...Nutavut is tabulating the points	Definitely one of the jurors is taking this photo...who?	After tabulating the points, Nutavut printed out the certificates for the jurors to put their 'paw' marks on them.	The certificate.

After the competition, there was an afternoon of masterclasses with Enrique Munoz but we had to practise and prepare ourselves for the concert at 5 pm., so back to the hotel ...The festival officially starts at 5 with a series of concerts that lasts till 8.30 pm.

The schedule I received stated Ukulele Show by Eak Thaiderm followed by Thailand Guitar Orchestra. The photographs below are in order of the shots taken but not as with the schedule and there were two ensembles, so I will not be able to identify which ensemble is the Thailand Guitar Orchestra and what is the name of the other? I am afraid that KLGE II was too busy back stage putting ourselves into the right frame of mind for our performance to know what is happening out on stage. Well, did you noticed the music stands? These music stands are the wrong ones to use. They are blocking the view of the performers faces and guitars ! Music stands should be placed to the left of the performer and adjusted *low and flat like a table*. The audience should always have a full view of the performer and guitar - not the music stand!

KLGE II was scheduled to play at 5.15 pm and we got ourselves backstage by 4.30 pm. But we got on stage for our performance at 7.15pm as the organiser had some problems and had to reschedule us. We did not mind the rescheduling so we said OK. Well, we did regret saying that as waiting backstage was really trying especially when one is geared up for the performance already. We must admit that when one goes out there performing one has to be ready for all kinds of things happening and yet be professional and give your best.

Our performance as an ensemble presented ourselves as soloists as each of us took turns to play solo as well as trios in between the solos as contrast. In this performance, we decided to try out having all of us on stage during the solos and avoid moving in and out of the stage...did it work?

Here is Sew Hong playing his solo	KLGE II's trio	Ernest presenting his solo	Simon's turn at his solo.

After our presentation, there was some flamenco and the night was supposed to be ended by Takeo Sato.



Flamenco player, Tana Suebsiri	Takeo Sato	Nutavut came on stage for an impromptu duet with Takeo to round off the night.

Did the night end with the duet? Well, no. It ended with the announcing of the winners for the competition and prize presentation. The Thailand International Guitar Competition 2010 open section ended with a judgment that there will be no First Prize awarded as the standard did not meet with the required expectation. Therefore, a second prize was awarded to Hitoshi Miyashita, and since the standard between the second the the other finalist was rather distant, no third prize was awarded as well. The Category A section (under 12) of the competition ended with a clear-cut winner in 9-year-old Nadol Jutasompakorn who showed his ability in playing HM King's 'Love at Sundown' and Andrew York's 'Sunburst'. Believe me, he was really good for a 9 year old. The Category B section (under 16) was won by Warapat Yansupop with the second prize going to Tawanrat Kuwalairat.



Simon presenting the second prize to Tawanrat Kuwalairat in the Category B section	Ernest presenting the First Prize to Warapat Yansupop in the Category B section	Sew Hong presenting a certificate of participation to the finalist, Pitchawat Assawarungseekul, in the open section	Mr. David Foreman of Karura Case presenting the second prize to Hitoshi Miyashita	A group photo.

7 November 2010 - This morning was Takeo Sato's masterclass



Here is Takeo having a class with Irin Prechanvinit.

After lunch, it was KLGE II's turn for a masterclass. Look at the photos, guess what? Yes, I was elected representative to give the masterclass! By the other KLGE II members!

I had five students to teach with an interpreter at hand. All five of them were part of an ensemble but the 6th member was not around. I taught them individually first and then, they played their ensemble piece for my comments. I had a photo with all of them but I am afraid that I never got to know any of their names except for the girl - her name is Zeptoi as I later got to know her on Facebook.

The second night of concerts starts at 4.45pm



These were the students I had taught in the afternoon and here they are starting off the concert.	Enrique Munoz	Nai Noy Lap Tapping.

There was a flamenco, ukulele and the winners showcase presented before the highlight of the whole festival...

Highlight of the festival - Berta Rojas. She vowed the audience with her superb musicianship and technique.

The festival ends on a high note with Berta, and all the other artistes were invited on stage for the final accolade.



We were all invited to say something about the festival....	A final photo - from left to right - Berta Rojas, Enrique Munoz, Nutavut Ratanakarn, Takeo Sato, Simon Cheong, See Sew Hong and Ernest Thomas.