Pitch Perfect Tanglewood 2nd Annual String Competition
One of the most influential pedagogues of the 20th century once said,
“Any child can be developed; it depends on how you do it”.
On 26 April 2008, 32 budding maestros proved that statement to be true. From Bach’s Minuet No.1 to Haydn’s cello concerto in C played by a nine-year-old, the students at Tanglewood Music School made their parents and teachers proud by lighting up the YMS Auditorium with their string performances.
Principal Karen Yap with the opening address
Tanglewood’s principal, Ms Karen Yap, was on stage to welcome this year’s participants and audience to what she had hoped would be an exciting event and the participants did not disappoint.
Category One winner – Julie Kang
Ms. Julie Kang opened the competition brilliantly with Weber’s Hunters’ Chorus in Category One. This set the tone for the first category and Dr. Wilson Goh, on behalf of the rest of the judging panel, applauded the young participants for a mark improvement from last year’s performance.
Category two had a tough act to follow, but the eight participants in the category managed to calm their nerves and put up a good performance before the intermission.
Category Two winner – Dana Goh
Even during the break, participants in the third and final category were seen preparing themselves for what was to be the most anticipated category of the day.
Category Three participants preparing during the intermission
The participants, regardless of age, showed why they deserved to be in Category Three. They showed true showmanship and musicality that had the judges commented on their well-grounded fundamentals and playing technique. This led to the judging panel of Dr. Goh, Mr. Eric Lee and Ms. Kalina Peeva, praising Tanglewood’s teachers for their meticulous instruction that helped to give their students the potential to develop even further.
Category Three winner – Brendan Goh
It definitely was not easy being part of the judging panel that day, as Dr. Goh admitted and so the one thousand dollar grand prize, sponsored by Team GPA, had to be awarded to three winners. Category One’s Julie Kang and Category Three’s Brendan Goh and Ng Peiyi were the deserving recipients as their performances “made us (the judges) cry”, said Dr. Goh.
(Left to Right) Judge Eric Lee with Grand Prize winners Brendan Goh, Ng Peiyi and Julie Kang alongside Principal Karen Yap and Judge Dr .Wilson Goh
Principal, teachers and participants of Tanglewood Music School 2nd Annual competition
Principal Karen Yap concluded the event by thanking her team of teachers and presenting each of them with floral bouquets. From the performances seen during Tanglewood’s second competition, the teachers proved that every child can be developed and they knew exactly how to do it.
