Hi! Hi, I'm Jonathan..: March 2010

•Neighbours

ben try to bring out the message that we live among these people,and the things that happen surrounding,which i think is a great efforts, and i like when it start with the "negaraku" national anthem,(we was joking we might get caught like Namewee for changing some chords)but the version was extremely nice!.. waiting for them to post it..

the slide start with,

But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth?

Behold, the highest heaven cannot contain You.”

神果真与世人同住在地上？看哪，

天和天上的天尚且不足你居住的，何况我所建的这殿呢？

Eun chong and Ruth cheng start gracefully with the negaraku..

then the slide go on,(i have it cause i translate the chinese version for ben,hehe)

The river begins its journey in the mountains,

where it flows past a church.

河，从重重山开始了它的旅程，

漫漫的流过一座教堂。

People of all walks of life went to the church to pray

过着各种不同的人生的人们，走到教堂来祷告

Singer sings:

As I went down in the river to pray

Studying about that good old way

And who shall wear the starry crown

Dear Lord, show me the way

Oh brothers let’s go down

Let’s go down, come on down

Oh brothers let’s go down

Down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray

Studying about that good old way

And who shall wear the thorny crown

Dear Lord, show me the way

Oh sisters let’s go down

Let’s go down, come on down

Oh sisters let’s go down

Down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray

Studying about that good old way

And who shall wear the robe and crown

Dear Lord, show me the way

Oh sinners let’s go down

Let’s go down, come on down

Oh sinners let’s go down

Down in the river to pray

(i really love this song, went to prayer meeting on tuesday, pastor says:the busier we are, the more we cannot afford not to pray)

ben the conductor and he arrange all the the pieces to one great show!(he was trying to become dancer anyway..but..emmm....)

The river flows into the city, becoming polluted along the way,

even as we cannot stay in the ‘mountain’ all the time;

河，流进了城市，随着旅程，清澈不再，

如同我们，不能长居在“绿山”之中。,

(sad sad music)~~

We must enter the ‘valley’, and often the valley is dark.

我们必须流入“幽谷”，纵然很多时候幽谷阴暗。

(music getting louder..louder。。）like the world gonna fall apart...

Jesus said, “My house shall be a house of prayer,

But you have turned it into a den of thieves.”

耶稣说：我的殿必成祷告的殿，

但你们却将它变为盗贼的窝。

It is into this darkness that God enters…

“For God so loved the world

that He gave His only Son,

that whoever believes in Him shall not perish

but have life everlasting.”

神爱世人，甚至将他的独生子赐给他们，

叫一切信他的，不至灭亡，反得永生

come in the flute: by ivy HAR

then singer sings.

O come, O come, Emmanuel, 以马内利, 恳求降临.

And ransom captive Israel, 救赎释放以色列民;

That mourns in lonely exile here 沦落异邦, 寂寞伤心,

Until the Son of God appear. 引颈渴望神子降临。

Rejoice! Rejoice! 欢欣!欢欣!以色列民,

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. 以马内利必定降临。

(Emily chow with her angelic voice sang with soprano)(stunt by her voice)

Jesus cried, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”

(My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?)

耶稣大声喊着说：以利！以利！拉马撒巴各大尼？

( 我的神！我的神！为甚么离弃我？)

(she was nervous and not very confident ever since she joined in, "esther"(a little joke between me and her)YOu really did great, and i believe no one doubt that, you should just give it all out, well you did!! and did great:-)(ben didn't allow her to eat anything that could cost her voice out b4 the d-day(poor esther)only eating soup maggi(still think she enjoyed it!)

Then Hyma join in the scene, with a very sweet song (do you hear what i hear)

Said the night wind to the little lamb

Do you see what I see?

Way up in the sky, little lamb

Do you see what I see?

A star, a star, dancing in the night

With a tail as big as a kite

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy

Do you hear what I hear?

Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy

Do you hear what I hear?

A song, a song, high above the trees

With a voice as big as the sea

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king

Do you know what I know?

In your palace warm, mighty king

Do you know what I know?

A child, a child, shivers in the cold

Let us bring him silver and gold

Said the king to the people everywhere

Listen to what I say

Pray for peace people everywhere

Listen to what I say

The child, the child, sleeping in the night

He will bring us goodness and light

(i like the song s ben choose,i wiki it and found some interesting fact bout this song~~

"Do You Hear What I Hear?" is a Christmas song written in October 1962 with lyrics by Noël Regney and music by Gloria Shayne Baker.^[1] The pair were married at the time, and wrote it as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Noel Regney wrote the lyrics for the song, while Gloria Shayne Baker composed the Christmas carol's music in October 1962.^[2] This was an unusual arrangement for the two writers. Usually it was Baker who wrote the lyrics for their songs while Regney composed the music, as they did on their classic children's song "Rain Rain Go Away".^[1]^[2]

Regney was inspired to write the lyrics "Said the night wind to the little lamb, 'Do you see what I see?' " and "Pray for peace, people everywhere," after watching babies being pushed instrollers on the sidewalks of New York City.^[1] Baker stated in an interview years later that neither could personally perform the entire song at the time they wrote it because of the emotions surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis.^[1] "Our little song broke us up. You must realize there was a threat of nuclear war at the time."

However, it was Bing Crosby who made the song a worldwide smash hit when he recorded his own version of it in 1963.^[1] Ironically, Crosby recorded the carol for Capitol Records onNovember 22, 1963, the day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, and the recording was released a week and a half later on a then-new Christmas album. ):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_You_Hear_(What_I_Hear)

hear this in youtube if you want,

then my guitar coming with George powerful voice..(only in day 2, cause ben think it would be nice to have some happy instrument,:)

I believe in the Kingdom Come

Then all the colours will bleed into one

But yes I’m still running

You broke the bonds

And you loosed the chains

Carried the cross of my shame

You know I believe it

But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for

(wat are we looking for?)for christian , the answer is clear, but for those who don't, what are u looking for?

The Bible tells us that Jesus will reign forever,

as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

圣经告诉我们，耶稣将掌权到永远，

为我们的万王之王，万主之主。

(ivy complain i look too serius durin the play but wat to do that time i was trying hard to hold my pain (refer to my previous blog)

i like the part where all sang together and everyone involved during the king of kings, feel united as a team.(we can go for 10 more times for that)...and we end with great applause..~~

King of Kings and Lord of Lords 万王之王，万主之主

Glory, Hallelujah 荣耀，哈利路亚

King of Kings and Lord of Lords 万王之王，万主之主

Glory, Hallelujah 荣耀，哈利路亚

Jesus, Prince of Peace 耶稣和平之君

Glory, Hallelujah 荣耀，哈利路亚

Jesus, Prince of Peace 耶稣和平之君

Glory, Hallelujah 荣耀，哈利路亚

me and the trumpet, and hwei and shannon, (hwei can just play anything one glance and shannon just like born as drummer..

oo and ben wrote to all the ppl invovled a letter,

no harm sharing it too right..ben?(don't sue me for copyright)(to be honest i love his writing~~.)

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Dear all,

Once again I'd like to thank you for putting in the effort to make Neighbours and Constellations work.

This is officially the last project I'm involved in as an undergraduate, and I'm glad it went well. Indeed I will have fond memories of this last Easter; of beginning undergraduate life in UM with friends in the PKV, and ending likewise.

I can't imagine a better ending. ;-)

Truth be told, the last few weeks have been excruciatingly stressful in various ways; thesis and final sem studies being among the causative factors. Day in and day out, I would look forward to our practice sessions, as they were a means to escape, a refuge of sorts. I would find release and relief within the walls of the Cultural Centre.

It was a great joy and pleasure hearing all of you sing and play, and brainstorming ideas together.

Eun Chong, thank you so much for standing in on such short notice. You truly brought the violin parts to life and took the solo beyond what I'd imagined it to be. Great stuff from the "Eun Chong--Ruth--Tse Hwei" unit. Loved what you did for The Prodigal Son too. Csardas!

Ruth (Cheng), our professional cellist. I think you were a real inspiration to the team, especially in two ways: the cello really is a beautiful instrument, and you impressed everyone by remarkably improvising and working melodic lines out on the spot. To me, you were the heartbeat of the ensemble, the 'human' side of the music. I'd always imagined a singing cello; yours soared.

Ivy, my ideas for the flute began with 'O Come, O Come Emmanuel'. It was always meant to be one of the key segments of the piece, and I had always heard it in the voice of a flute. All that I envisioned that passage to be, you made happen. It would have been nice to have had a few more flute parts, but that will have to happen some other time!

Jon, it was truly encouraging to see you improve steadily as we went along. In a more ideal world and perhaps under more favourable conditions (more time to practice), perhaps we could have really developed more trumpet parts. Thanks also for stepping in with the acoustic guitar. No practice and all, but that gave it a truly spontaneous feel. And thank you, above all, for the help you so graciously extended as we worked on the slides.

Hwei, when Jesus talked about cornerstones, he must have had you in mind as well. Thanks for being so patient throughout the whole process, for learning up all those parts, for being the ever-dependable one. In sports they have a 'man of the match award'. This 'musician of the concert' honour goes to you, hands down. Someday we should record the piece with a real piano instead.

Shannon, indeed the drumstick is an extension of your hand, and the drum kit just another limb of your body. Another feather in the cap, another one for the record. Thanks for making time for this (no pun intended)!

Ruth (Vinoth), your enthusiasm is contagious. Not sure how many of the others caught the bug, but I sure did. Thanks for bringing so much life to the vocal parts; the a cappella and early practice sessions gave us much of the momentum we needed.

Emily, again and again I fall in love with your voice. You've a lot of potential; go train your breathing and gain more control over your lungs. And then perhaps we will all be able to hear the latent opera within the unassuming frame that is Emily Chow. Confidence! Anyway, a number of people commended your performance of 'Eli, Eli'. Told you the cello wasn't necessary.

Hyma, thanks for stepping on short notice and adding so much colour to the ending sequence! And thanks for helping and supporting our dear Soprano. :-)

George, some things you just can't put into words. (There's always pictures, haha! But that's another story and I digress.) Thank God for music!

Divya, thanks for the excellent slide work! Evelyn said the slides weren't necessary, and I'd tend to agree. But what to do lah, not everyone appreciates instrumental performances; so we had to trouble you.

Alan, great job on your first real extra-curricular challenge in UM. Now you have three obstacles to conquer: Number One, waking up for morning classes. Number Two, training your voice and stepping out to sing. Number Three, growing up. If I had to choose, I'd think Number Three can wait. ;-) But you're gonna be a senior soon, so do set a good example for your juniors!

As I said before, you are all such talented people, that I felt it wasn't as if the director was trying to get his musicians to rise to his level; rather, they had to go down to his.

I only have one tiny little gripe: the pause after "He will bring us goodness and light" wasn't long enough! :-P

Well, the next thing on our programme would be the post-Easter celebration dinner. And of course, the follow-up. But we should get together and jam sometime, perhaps once the semester is over and done with.

With much love,

Ben

p.s. How are the flowers doing? ;-)

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