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14th Guitar Camp 2012 CGS IGF&Camp
14th Guitar Camp ( 7-9 December )
Documenting the camp in Photos
by
Lee Ji Xuan / Simon Cheong
Day 1
Once again, the annual camp in its 14th edition and being part and parcel of CGS International Guitar Festival & Camp 2012 was not just successfully held in our usual location, which is Shahzan’s Inn in Fraser’s Hill but…was just the best ever camp!!! There are many reasons for this claim and it is the participants themselves who will attest to it! As the organisers, we are ecstatic!
Here are some of the pictures showing the arrival of the participants and our registration process. At the registration desk the participants were given their name tags (hmmm…very important for the lucky draw on the last day!), official camp T-shirt (to be worn on Saturday for the most important activity – our group photo! What a great memory to have), and this year, with compliments from Fraser & Neave, a can of drink each. Oh, room keys too.
The registration desk. The participants receiving their room keys, T-shirts, camp programme, name tags and their door gift – a can of Fraser & Neave.
With the registration settled, next on the agenda was the welcoming speech. The Society’s President as well as the Festival’s Director, Mr. Simon Cheong started with the introduction of our guests.
For the first time in the history of the camp, we were having guests from four different countries. They are Huy Thanh Nguyen and Phuong Hoai Tran (Vietnam), Padet Netpakdee(Thailand), Johannes and Mat Moller (Sweden) and our special guest of honour to be the Artist-in-Residence, Mr. Carlos Bonell (England).
Here are photos of each guest being invited to say a few words to the participants…
7th Guitar Alive 2012
Documenting the Photos
by
Low Yang Li
Guitar Alive! 2012 was held on 8th July 2012, at Dewan Auditorium, Muzium Negara.
This year, Guitar Alive! was held at a different venue for the first time as the usual venue, the Mini Auditorium was too small a hall to use and the larger Tunku Abdul Rahman Auditorium at Malaysia Tourism Centre was booked. The usual Mini Auditorium was really too small as in the years that we have used it, it was always totally packed and there were complains from those who could not get into the hall. This year the huge audience we were expecting calls for a larger hall definitely. Hence all effort was made to locate another suitable auditorium and it was decided that the auditorium at Muzium Negara was the next most suitable for the concert. Although cost-wise, the rental fee was considerably higher, the Society did not hesitate to book this hall as we wanted to give the audience a pleasant experience in appreciation of their support and belief in the Society’s endeavors.
The concert saw 11 ensemble groups participating enthusiastically. The performers came from Klang, Petaling Jaya, and Kuala Lumpur. They had been practising together for at least 2 to 3 months before the concert, while some groups came really prepared with about a year of practice before the concert, just to perform the few pieces like professionals on the concert day.
Let’s have a look at the goings-on for the day.
Carlos Bonell in Kuala Lumpur! CGS IGF & Camp 2012
Documenting the Photos
by
Simon Cheong
This concert is the first part and starts off the festival with a bang! The festival lasts from 2nd December till the 9th.
For the first time since we started again in 2004, in this festival we have a very big name in the classical guitar world – Carlos Bonell! (The only other really big name is my teacher, John Duarte in 1996). He gave an excellent recital which received a rapturous applause and all I heard is – wow! He is really gooooood! One of my students who could only attend this concert and could not go for the camp said ‘Now, I regret not going for the camp’ and my reply was ‘Yes, and we are closed for registration!’.
Well, here are some photos for your viewing…
Mahogany CGS IGF & Camp 2012
Documenting the Photos
by
Mahogany
Part 2 are masterclasses on both Monday and Tuesday from 10 a.m till 6 p.m. and since it is not a public affair I will not post any photos nor make any comments.
This concert is the third part of the festival and it is named Mahogany. As with last year’s concert entitled ‘Sonata’, this year’s concert entitled ‘Mahogany’ is a tribute to our sponsors who has continuously supported us.
Here are some photos of the concert –
Kuala Lumpur Guitar Ensemble II starts the nights proceedings.
This is the fourth year in our collaboration with Thailand and this year we have Padet Netpakdee…
Kuala Lumpur Guitar Ensemble II & Simon Cheong - Memories from Thailand International Guitar Festival 2012
Documenting the Photos
by
Mahogany
A week or so before today, we received notification from Air Asia that our flight has been cancelled! Arrgh…! We managed to book MAS luckily…
Anyway, we arrived at Suvarnabhumi Bangkok Airport and mind you, the queue at immigration seems always to be a long one and filled with foreigners, so I guess the tourist industry in Thailand is definitely thriving. Well, we were met by one of Nutavut’s trusty helpers and there waiting was Maurizio Di Fulvio who had also only just arrived. After reaching the hotel, we put our things down and decided to get down to the cafe for a drink…Maurizio had the same idea…
Next day, we got up for breakfast and then went back up to our room to practice until lunch time at 12.00 pm before going to the hall where the festival is held for the competition at 1.00 pm. In the first photo below is the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre where the festival is held. The hall is on the fifth floor and in the second photo, we see some of the competitors practicing as we come out from the lift. The third photo shows the entrance to the auditorium with a crowd gathered there and here we have stalls displaying guitars from the Thai Guitar Makers Association, Ratih Mita from Indonesia displaying her guitars, Kim Hee Hong of Korea and there was a shop selling all guitar stuff. The fourth and fifth photos shows Nutavut’s new guitar made for him by Kim Hee Hong of Korea. It is a special model named after Nutavut and his girlfriend.
The Junior and Local competition started at 1 p.m., as we were members of the jury, Sew Hong could not take any photos of the participants and there were over 40 of them! My goodness! It was a marathon! Six hours of non-stop judging… we were spent!
The competition was divided into different categories. Category A was for the young ones, Category B was for ages up to 16. Here, there were competitors from India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Category C was for ages up to 18 and the competitors were mainly Thais except for one from India and an Indonesian who took part in both B & C categories and, the local category.
After the competition, came the concerts. Below are some photos with Mr. Nutavut Ratanakarn, MC extraordinaire, addressing the audience and then the performance by Silpakorn Guitar Orchestra (Thailand). They started the festival and finally, Nutavut started as MC extraordinaire is now as Festival director, presenting a bouquet to the leader of the Silpakorn Guitar Orchestra…
