Despite all the problems we faced, OPus 2011 was a complete success last night; not without all the strong, passionate musicians and music director(s)!
First it was the numbers- initially it was quite tough trying to get enough musicians to have a complete band. But I am thankful that our alumni is made up of musicians who are passionate and try their best to make it for rehearsals. And I am also very very thankful for the guest players- namely Benjamin Kok, Gavilan Neo, Lee Mei En, Mr Rasull, Mr Aw, Gena Ng, Christine Lim, Jason Tan, Toh Jing Si, Mr Neo, Iskandar Ramadhan, Christina Lim, Yiang Shan and Cliff Stephen- who were willing to commit to our rehearsals and perform as guest players for this concert. A big THANK YOU to all of you. 
Then it was the music- When I first told people about us performing James Barnes Third Symphony, many doubted our ability and went,“Are you serious? I’m worried!”
But you know what? We pulled through- and we pulled through well! I guess what makes us different from other bands is that we’re a band that dares to dream; it’s as if we believe no piece is too difficult to handle. Who would have dared to do James Barnes’ Third Symphony with only 6 rehearsals? Kudos to 1) the soloists- the solos weren’t easy and it took great courage to perform them, 2) the Sax section for conquering the killer section in Third Symphony’s Scherzo, 3) and EVERYONE, for giving nothing but their best effort in performing this piece of music
Then it was the ticket sales- All of us were worried we would be performing to an empty hall… 840 tickets to be sold. But I am thankful the ticket sales pulled through. We sold about 5/8 of the tickets!!! I’m sure all of us felt great on stage, performing to such a good response Thank you all for working hard on selling the tickets!!!
I feel really proud looking at how far OPAW has come As quoted by Christopher who came for the concert as one of our audiences, “The tone and the maturity of the sound that the alumni produces is really really pleasant. and that only comes after years of experience and playing. If you guys continue to be a strong alumni with regular pracs and commitment, I dont see why OPAW cant be a force to be reckon with amongst all the alumni band in Singapore.”
So OPAW, let’s not take this as the end of our journey. Let’s fight for our band together; and eventually become what we have always hoped to be. I LOVE ALL OF YOU SOOOO MUCH! The feeling I get playing in this band; I can never get it elsewhere. Really.
Love,
Nisa <3 :)
