Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium

The past two weeks have been among the busiest/ most stressful ones of my life.

I now know what it feels like to have only 4 hours of sleep before waking up early to catch a 7 a.m. Env. Sci. exam (which I probably flunked, I almost fell asleep several times... drat those chemical reaction series! I just wanted to say: "Sir, I am not a chemistry major...") because I performed the night before, and was predictably puyat and exhausted.

That unpleasant experience aside, I am very grateful for the tremendous honor afforded me: to sing in the Christmas Oratorio of J.S. Bach.

So many memories... oh, where to start? I shall always remember with fondness:

* the wonderful rehearsal of the U.P. Camerata which I got to listen to backstage, before performing Parts 1 & 2. And to think it was a FIRST READING!?!?! Mga henyo ang mga college mates ko!

* the time that we "made takas" to eat dinner in Red Ribbon (which was only a block away from the performance venue, so it was ok). Kuya Cholo and Cat Cheng were the only ones talking since Apol, Ervin and I were on voice rest, haha! It was as if we were from the Institute of the Deaf and Mute, communicating mostly through charade-like gestures and hastily scrawled messages on tissue paper

* the beautiful way that Kuya Marz Taylan fixed my hair (it was SOOOO gorgeously done, my mom wouldn't let me take it down when we got home. "Paano niya ginawa yan?" she asked, and all I could say was: "Mama, I don't know. Nakatalikod ako nun." She even took pictures so she could "analyze" it daw)

* the way Sir Arwin and Joel Aquino were dancing backstage before performing Parts 5 & 6. I couldn't quite reconcile the image of THE Sir Arwin (infamous for being the "terror" prof. handling the History of Western Music classes at our college) making like a Rockette, haha, with Kuya Joel keeping him company. Think Highschool Musical worthy actions being done by *ahem* mature and formerly-known-as distinguished individuals, haha!

* the way Sir Arwin told us all to SMILE! SMILE! and kept everyone's spirits up ... he was so positive and full of tireless energy! I love "energizers" like him

* the magical way Sir Chino conducted the MMCO. I could watch him forever. *sigh* Plus he's so kind and fatherly; he never shamed anyone who wasn't performing up to his standards. And I never saw him lose his temper even during the most stressful of times (There was this one time he said the S word, but that was the worst, and it was understandable because it was during the run thru for the super-duper-beautiful yet super-duper-difficult tenor aria Ich will nur dir zu Ehren leben in Part 4; which incidentally has GOT to be one of my favorite pieces from the entire work). He would always deliberately lengthen the timpani part at the end of the encore piece, a medley of Christmas songs. He did this in all 3 performances and it never failed to crack me up, hahaha!

* the rehearsals at Miriam where Ma'am Chinggay would always treat us with so much grace and warmth; I felt so special and take care of! :)

* the wonderful sunset in Ateneo which we got to enjoy while chatting with some MMCO members. We were munching on N.Y.Fries, food is really more delicious when it is shared! There was a Dulcinea as well as an Ice Monster stall nearby, which caused Apol and I to experience a great deal of heartache since we had to reconcile our cravings for churros con chocolate and mais con hielo with the fact that if we chose to eat these 'forbidden foods,' we wouldn't be able to sing come performance time. Our iron wills won out... just barely.

Will post additional memories when I'm feeling more up to the task.

My bed beckons *sighs with pleasure at the thought of getting a blissful 6 hours of sleep*

We still have MuEd 191 class tomorrow morning, haha! To all those lucky enough to be on Christmas Break Mode: Enjoy!!!