I am a piano player, so there is some time for me to rest and some time for me to play. I was able to use the time freely; so if I got enough rest, then I would go practise my music and I also accompanied the choir with their music. Luckily, in Shanghai, I had already had an experience of accompanying a choir, so it wasn’t a really hard job for me. I enjoyed accompanying a choir with such talented singers. I played Jazz Cantate which is a swing type jazz piece which repeats and repeats and is actually really modern. But also, there is a part where it is classical, so I guess it’s a mixture of modern and classical. When the choir sang the music it sounded different to what I expected.
Another interesting thing that happened yesterday was that I was interviewed on video. A professional videographer named Mezza asked me some general questions and a few really deep philosophical questions like what this opportunity feels like for me. I was really pleased that I got to say what I thought inside of me and I was also pleased that it might help other people when they have opportunities to get closer to their dreams.
In the evening, we went to dinner, free from rehearsal, to the famous Hard Rock Café in Times Square. I expected people to feel unfamiliar with the place since we’re all classical musicians and rock is completely different to what we’re in New York for, but I was surprised and also pleased when our group all danced to the music, enjoyed the music and had fun. It was great to see them enjoy the Hard Rock music, showing they could enjoy all sort of music and that different types of music could entertain them. Even I danced to the music. The food was really American. I had pork ribs which were really good.
I was so excited as the dinner ended because we were actually going to see Matilda on Broadway. Matilda is a musical with a mixture of humour and philosophy and Broadway style music. I just loved how they performed. Every part of the star’s actions were realistic and I was able to sense how much practice she had done to get to such a high standard. I never realised how tired I was as I had to fight falling to sleep. However, I still enjoyed everything, including sleeping when we finally got back to the hotel at 11:30pm.
We spent Saturday rehearsing the whole day, just like Friday. I saw that the level of technique has got higher over the two days. By concert day, it will be like a polished diamond and I think the show will really move people’s hearts.
Tonight there is going to be a rooftop show, in the basement, because it is raining. It will include solo singers and musicians. I just hope they can perform at the standard they are happy with after all their practice and that they will be satisfied and enjoy the performance.
Tomorrow we go sightseeing and I think I’m going to have a pretty good idea of what the city is like after the day. One thing I know is that it’s going to be awesome.