Review - STS Concert and Montage

On 21st and 22nd of April, our counterparts from across the street held a concert. This event featured their school band, their choir, and their dance troupe. The event was held at the Batu Lintang Teachers' Training College. I attended the second night's event, and I think I got quite a good deal for my RM30. And now, I present to you my review of the event from my perspective as a Josephian, and my coverage of the event.

NOTE: This review was written with as little impartiality as possible.

Anyway, the event began with a cultural performance. To summarize it, I could watch the same thing at the Cultural Village, but that's such a long way away, so I'm watching this same performance in the comfort of Kuching. That would more or less be Part I of the show, according to the programme. Then, as usual, everyone had to stand up for the national anthem. One thing of note for Part I was the irritatingly repetitive chorus/piece(?) played by the band. I think that was played about 7 times throughout the whole of Part I. Aside from that, I have no complaints.

After that, as usual, the second night of the event usually means the officiation of the event itself, and with that, means speeches. Lots of it. Well, only three, but those were long-winded(as usual). Finally, after maybe 20 minutes, the show got back to being interesting. For Part II of the concert, I was treated to a performance by the STS Choir and Band, and one dance. The choir opened Part II by performing songs such as 'Some Enchanted Evening', Siti Nurhaliza's 'Bukan Cinta Biasa', and a medley of three Disney songs. After that, we watched a dance performance of Janet Jackson's 'Together Again'(If Chan were there, maybe he'd like Aguilera better). And, at last, I got to see for myself the STS Band. I must go out of the way to mention that, for a symphonic band, John Philip Sousa pieces seem highly inappropriate, considering they're mostly military marches, and one certainly loses the feel of the song when one doesn't perform it while marching. Aside from that, it was pretty decent. Then we listened to another medley, this time of ABBA songs, and finally, another medley of classic rock and roll songs. My friend Richard notes that the trumpets love blasting too much, and too loudly. Thus was Part II concluded, and a short break.

Part III was apparently, the highlight of the entire event, or so the emcee's said.All three groups performed simultaneously for this last part of the concert. The school band performed classical pieces from Georges Bizet's compositions, the choir sang along, accompanied by the dance troupe. My good friend Richard, gave his (somewhat biased) opinion of their performance that evening. Overall, I would agree with him on a few points. He applauds them for their courage to actually perform difficult pieces such as Carmen and Tchaikovsky's '1812 Overture', even if it sounded messy in most parts, especially the Overture. But, again, kudos to them for actually trying it out. After that, the concert concluded with the STS School Rally, to which unfortunately we ALL had to stand up. No offence to them and all, but why should we? After all, not everyone in the audience is a Teresian, or an ex-Teresian.
So, the answer to that eludes me. It's akin to brainwashing, albeit an ineffective one. But, we, as a respectful audience, stood up nonetheless. Thus concluded the concert that I attended last night. Personally, I would give it a 3.5 out of 5. It was enjoyable indeed, but not as spectacular as I thought it would be.

And now, I present to you the photos.


This is roughly everyone that will be performing that night.


Oooh, electric sapes. My kind of tribal guitar.


The ethnic overture of Part I.


Another shot of Part I.


Mr. Su, the STS principal, gives his speech.


The officiation of the STS Concert.


Part II of the show, kicked off by the STS Choir.


A piano accompaniment provided a musical background for the choir.


A dance performance of Janet Jackson's 'Together Again'.


The STS Band opening up with J. P. Sousa's pieces.


The STS Band has a sousaphone; Richard notes that the SJS Band doesn't however, but has two convertible tubas(whatever that means).


Ah, a saxophone solo. I heard David was hard-pressed to go up and do a solo himself too.


Finally, Part III of the concert, with the band and the choir performing together.


The choir complementing the band in Part III.


Accompanying both groups is the dance group.


After the show, the Teresians went into 'After-party' Mode.

That concludes my review of the STS Concert. Anyone interested in procuring the 150 pictures I took of the event, be it Teresian or Josephian, drop me a comment.