Highlights of the Winter Concert

On the morning of Thursday, December 14th, VPCI held an air of anticipation unlike any other. Months of hard work and dedication were finally to come to fruition– it was the day of the Winter Concert!

There would be four performances total, with an evening pre-show to add in some spice. All of VPCI’s musical groups were to perform, including the jazz, symphonic, and concert band. The songs would cover a wide variety of genres and artists, with modern pop songs like Skyfall by Adele being performed hand-in-hand with classics like Tchaikovsky’s Trepak from The Nutcracker. It was going to be a jam-packed concert– with, of course, some notable highlights peppered throughout.

BTS: The Hair Curler Incident

Just before the third show was set to start, the musicians at VP made a startling discovery. Jonathan Wang had (inexplicably) brought a hair curler, and was curling the hair of an excited, and rather reckless, musician. As more people crowded around to take a look at what could possibly become a fiery disaster, advice began to flow freely. Tips on how to properly curl a hair, and how to ensure that nothing was singed, were exchanged. Throughout the rest of the concert, musicians could be seen crowding around the glorious hair curler, ready to either gawk at those getting their hair curled, or go through the ordeal themselves. Although the styling qualifications of almost everyone in the room were questionable, slowly, techniques were learnt and the smell of burning hair became less prominent. When the Winter Concert finally came to a close, a musical spark may not have been ignited. Rather, it was the newfound passion to become a hairstylist, and the gratification that came from freshly curled hair, that carried VP’s musicians home.

The Mic Incident

Were the microphones at the Winter Concert cursed? The MCS, Thomas and Pearl, had had trouble getting them to work throughout the day, but the true catastrophe didn’t occur until the evening pre-show. The first two acts– Quinn Wang, performing Polichinelle in F-sharp minor, and Emily Dai and Jasmine Chen, with Carol of the Bells– had played beautifully, starting off the evening show without a hitch. However, when time came for Jonathan Wang and Shirley Chen to sing Love is an Open Door, disaster struck. The microphones refused to work properly, shutting off at inopportune moments and leaving the stage crew fumbling, the singers thumping the mics in a desperate attempt to get them to work, and the audience mildly hysterical. It was so, awfully good that in the end, they were invited back onstage for an encore, where Wang let loose his inner theatre kid, introducing some impromptu choreography into the song. All in all, despite the microphone mishaps, it was a truly spectacular pre-show.

To conclude, the Winter Concert had been a resounding success. VP’s musicians had truly outdone themselves, with their strenuous morning rehearsals paying off well. It would be a day remembered not only for its musicality, but also the small, warm moments that stringed the concert together.