After going through in-school guided tours, in-class introduction by the music teacher, presentations from the teachers, performance from the Cyberfair teams, and videos of HanGuang Vocal Band, our students have gained some preliminary understanding about a cappella and HanGuang Vocal Band.

However, these presentations are not comparable to experiencing actual performance by the group. After we have stirred up everyone’s interest, we invited HanGuang Vocal Band to Yu-Tsai for a live performance. We want to let our students experience a live a cappella performance and show them how the band is able to harmonize classical poetry with a cappella.

The Cyberfair team acted as the bridge between the school and HanGuang Vocal Band in this event, and a date was finally chosen for the band to perform at Yu-Tsai. This concert differs a lot from other concerts that we have had before. Besides singing a cappella, HanGuang Vocal Band will also give us a quick hands-on lesson on a cappella!

		http://www.ytes.ntpc.edu.tw/life_pic/103.1video/1201concert.htm 【Click me to see the concert video.^^】

Planning

After the date was confirmed, the Cyberfair team discussed all necessary preparation work beforehand and job assignment on the day of performance. During preparation, we were assigned to groups responsible for ad design, promotion, reception, or miscellaneous work. Everyone got going and worked non-stop preparing for this special concert.

Ad design group: Apollo, Henry, Vanilla

A week before the event, ad design group got really busy. They had to not only design posters and programs for the concert, but also restore damages on the sign boards during the guided tour.

Promotion group: Samantha, Cherry

Days before the concert, we informed the students about the concert and briefly introduced a cappella during lunch time broadcasting. In addition, we hung up posters all over the school ground, including the bulletin board next to front gate, welcoming people in the neighborhood to take part in the concert.

Reception group: Oliver, Andrea

Reception group is responsible to welcome HanGuang Vocal Band after they arrive. They will take the group to the waiting room and take care of any requests made by the group on the day of the concert. In addition, the group must invite the principal and directors to the concert and lead them to their seats.

Miscellaneous group: Nicole, Jessica, Ryan, Winnie

Campus Concert

In the morning of December 1st, 2014, HanGuang Vocal Band finally arrived! A great a cappella musical feast was about to commence.

Rehearsal

Even though the concert was scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m., the whole band got here long before that! They paced back and forth and tested the microphones while rehearsing the song that they were about to perform. Everyone on the Cyberfair team, along with our teachers, was busy arranging the seats to make sure the concert could start smoothly.

Campus Concert is about to start!

'Is it really possible to perform melodious music with our mouth?' was the question that many of the students pondered upon as they proceeded into the concert area. Everyone expected a great show from HanGuang Vocal Band. In today’s performance, we had lively songs and melodious slow tempo songs, songs in mandarin, Taiwanese, classical poetry, and even a few popular songs. The students rocked with the lively songs and indulged themselves in the slow songs. Through their eyes and ears, they learned what a cappella and HanGuang Vocal Band was all about. Besides listening to music from the band, we also learned about a cappella, how to make a cappella music, and even how to do beatbox! It was fun to watch the whole school doing beatbox with Teacher Allegro and Jing-Teng. In the end, members of HanGuang Vocal Band took a memorable picture with the whole school on the school playground.

In today’s concert, we not only enjoyed an a cappella musical feast, bust also learned how to fuse classical poetry into a cappella. So, it is possible to 'sing' poetry after all! After the concert, our students can then start preparing for the up-coming a cappella campus competition.

Performing Numbers

• 1.A spray of flowers (Not giving in to old age)- coda ／ Original lyrics by Guan Hanqing, Yuan Dynasty
• 2. Drunken Flowers ／ Original lyrics by Lee Qing-Zhou, Song Dynasty
• 3. Joy of Studying in Four Seasons ／ Original lyrics by Weng Sen, Yuan Dynasty
• 4. Full River of Red ／ Original lyrics by Yue Fei, Southern Song Dynasty
• 5. Everything Changes ／ Original lyrics by Dai,Pei-Ni
• 6. One Night in BeiJing ／ Original lyrics by Chen Sheng, Liu,Jia-Hui

Event highlights

Afterthoughts

		Winnie Before every formal performance, band members needed to go to the venue for a dress rehearsal, and it made me understand that it takes lots of preparation to perform on stage. And when they were on the stage, they needed to be confident and enjoy performing and singing. I saw each member sang with lots of emotion, and their body would sway with the melody, and convey the song’s artistic conception with their expression on their faces. It was so interesting! After this concert, I learned one thing form the members of HanGuang: Before doing anything, we need to practice and prepare seriously. And while we have enough practices, we can show ourselves confidently and don’t have to be afraid of any challenges.

		Ryan On the day of the music seminar, members on the Cyberfair team needed to get the venue set up. It was not a beautiful day, the temperature was a bit chilly, and there was a light drizzle. I think the band was really professional, none of them put on any heavy clothing to stop the cold, and they always have a smile on their face throughout the whole concert. I was really impressed by that. After this concert, I found out there are lots of chores in holding a concert, like getting the microphone and speakers ready. And the band members worked extremely hard to give out their best performance. I learned from them to never give up what one has to do over minuscule things.

Text: the Beautiful Voices Compiled by Cherry｜Pictures: the Beautiful Voices