Tiffany Chan

Yesterday (December 6th) was the Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW, http://www.scaw.org) charity concert, and it was great, as it was last year. For those who don’t know, SCAW raises money for bedkits to send to children who have no beds to sleep on, and $2000 of what was raised during Charity Week at Woburn was donated to the organization. So, even if you didn’t make it down to St. James Cathedral last night to see the concert, the dimes and nickels that you spent buying cupcakes and samosas last week are still going to reach the needy children.

Jazz Combo (composed this year of Adam McLeod, Adrian Niculescu, Alex Farmer, Jesse Jang, Rahul Chandra, Ivan Khatchatourian, and me) got to perform alongside some amazing musicians--singers, piano players, clarinetists...oh, but the best of all had to be the Toronto All-Star Pan Band. This huge group of kids on steel drums played "Calypso No. 1" and "Broadway", and it was so great! I hadn’t thought it possible to play such great music on steel drums before I heard them play. They had all these coordinated actions and spins and even soloing during "Broadway"--on steel drums! There was this other kid there named Francis Li who performed this wicked latin/jazz piano piece he composed himself, and was only 13. Mr. Farrow tried to slip some subtle recruitment hints..."So, what high school are you thinking of going to?"

I could name-drop for hours and rant and rave about how great the other performers were, but really, you had to be there—and if you weren’t, you missed out. It definitely wasn’t just some slapped-together concert with a bunch of amateur acts. Almost all of the performers (except us, and the Cosburn Middle School concert band) had won prestigious awards in one competition or another, or were studying for their masters degrees in university, or something of the like. By golly, they were good. I can’t say I enjoyed all the performances equally, (I was never one for operas sung in foreign languages) but I was thoroughly impressed, proud, and humbled at the same time to be both audience and participant in a concert for such a great cause.

Combo performed "Sugar Rum Cherry" by Ellington, "Summertime" by Gershwin...and I got to sing to a big audience in a big cathedral. That was a lot of fun. "Summertime...and your mother is easy..." Hah. No. Despite how terribly tempting it was, I decided not to embarrass myself and sing the real words to the song. The piece included some well-played solos by Rahul on trombone, Adam on clarinet, and Jesse on piano. Compliments all ‘round.

The concert went by really quick, even though it was two hours long, and afterwards we loaded all the gear back onto the van and went out to dinner. Amazingly enough, everybody's instruments, plus two amps, plus 7 people all fit into the van without too much struggling. Oh, it was cozy alright. Then it was back to Scar-town for sushi. Being smart(er) this year, we decided not to eat downtown, and got our money’s worth.

The woman who organizes the concert, Lynette (and I regret not knowing her last name), is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. I walked into the cathedral and there she was, in her "trademark" Heinz Ketchup sweater and glasses low on her nose, and she greeted me by name in accented English. She recognized Adam and Alex, who were there last year as well, even though she only saw us for a brief three hours or so, and an entire year had passed since we saw her last. Her thank-you speech at the end of the concert was so sincere that when she began tearing up, I did too. She's soft-spoken and genuine, and my goodness, so nice. She asked me during rehearsals why I enjoyed playing in the concert, and while I fumbled for words I couldn't help but be amazed at the little pint of a woman standing in front of me for having such a huge capacity to give and be so thankful for everything.

The finale was "O Holy Night", and unfortunately for Alex and me, we had just heard the terrible version the night before (on woburn music’s very own radio show) I was hiding behind Rahul trying not to look like I was having some sort of seizure while holding in my laughter. Apparently Alex was standing beside the accompanist, who sang amazingly well, and was too intimidated to laugh. The singers from the concert got to solo the first verse, and all the while I kept thinking of the bad version and cracking up. At one point I was biting my lip really hard, thinking that perhaps pain would keep me from laughing. Mr. Farrow, standing two people over made matters worse by singing loudly on the last note in my direction: "Oh night diviiiiiiii...*breath*...iiiiiiiiine...." Despicable.

Adrian and Rahul had some sort of weird wasabi high on the way home after sushi and kept saying "in the pants" and "get your hand back here". I care not to discover what they were "actually" talking about. Poor Alex was wedged between them, a locked window, and two amps. "Let me oooout..." *scratchscratchscratch*

A night well spent.

Links: http://scaw.org
http://woburnmusic.com/hourone

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