the draft of our letter:
Monday, April 30, 2007
hello! here is the latest update from Mrs Tan WC: Date:30042007 "i spoke to Mrs Carolin Tan this morning, she said most of the money goes to paying the instructors. She has sent out letters to ask for sponsors but none has responded so far. She hopes that CO members come out with a proposal on co-payment and other plans so as to "save" CO. Please find out from friends from other schools on how much each member pays and how they help. She also express displeasure of some CO members on incidents that happened in previous years. Meanwhile, all the best for your exam." The attachment is the draft of our letter to Mrs Carolin Tan done up nicely by zoey, but it has to be edited as more ideas of how to "earn money" and about CO-payment has to be included. So PHSCO members, please tell us of ANY CONSTRUCTIVE ideas... u can email me if u have any ideas... aLICIA's email (if you dont know (= ): liciax_x@hotmail.com thankyou! aLICIA<3the draft of our letter:
(and i think zoey did a very good job!!!
(: )
Mrs. Carolin Tan
Principal
Presbyterian High School
28 April 2007
Dear Mrs. Tan,
RE: Closure of the Chinese Orchestra
We are writing on behalf of the rest of the orchestra and they had also signed in agreement of the contents of the letter on the last page.
We received news that the school will be closing down the orchestra if we cannot find any sponsors to sponsor us the expenditures of the orchestra. We do understand that it is not easy to look for a sponsor, but we hope that the school will not give up easily on this difficult task. It will be a regret for everyone for CO to be closed down due to the failure of finding a sponsor.
It has not been easy functioning CO for the past 7 years. CO has not been contributing to the school community much and has also only started to take part in the SYF Central Judging this year. This is the first time CO has gone for the judging and we attained a Silver award. To be truthful, CO’s standard has not really reached the expectations for a Silver. We are all aware of this, and we know that we need to work hard in order to live up to the name of it. We had already made plans to improve on our skills and all of us are willing to spend time and efforts to improve ourselves during the practices after the Mid-Year examinations. 5 of our members are also going to attend the MOE-SCO Music Camp after passing the audition held on 21st March.
We are aware of the huge expenditures of the Chinese Orchestra and it would be impossible for the school to support us alone without the help of any sponsors. We have considered about this problem and we know that we will not be able to help much in the aspect. However, we have thought of holding a mini concert to raise funds. It will be at the YMC Auditorium, a mini auditorium with only 200 seats. We are trying to keep things within our strides as we know that we are not capable of a grand concert. Thus, this venue will be the most ideal for us, with the stage size and hire cost. We want to give the audiences a concert with good quality music and we are willing to spend time to learn more good pieces for the performance.
We have many plans and ideas for the future of the Chinese Orchestra. We believe that we can be better, in many different aspects. We do not wish to return to the previous state we were in the past. In fact, we want to improve ourselves and all become better as we learn and grow in this CCA. Please take a look at the proposal we have for CO.
Proposals for the Chinese Orchestra
1 Raising Funds
As mentioned, we would like to hold a mini concert with duration not more than 2 hours at the auditorium of the Young Musician’s Society. The seating capacity is 200, with 126 stalls and 74 at the balcony. It is ideal for mini concerts as the stage is not too far off from audiences’ seats and it will create a cozy ambience. The cost for the rental of the auditorium is not too high for us, with $80/hr for the minimum of 3 hours for performance and $75/hr for the minimum of 3 hours for rehearsals. We hope to keep the costs as low as possible so that we will be able to gain more profits from the ticket sales. We can also make use of the chance to sell some souvenirs to profit more.
2 Forming of PHSCO Alumni
We would like to form the alumni as we would still like to keep touch with the graduates. They will be able guide us with their past experiences in CO and we will be able to know more about the past from them. This will build a sense of belonging for both the graduates and current members to the school and orchestra. This will enable us to stay as one even though we may have graduated from PHS. Alumni will also be invited join in the performances of CO.
3 Sectional Practices
In order to brush up our skills, we can also hold extra sectional practices to brush up on our foundations. It is very important for us to build up on our basic skills. Improvement in our basic skills will enable us to express ourselves better in other pieces as we play. This will improve the standard of the orchestra directly or indirectly. Sectional Leaders will be the ones guiding their own members during sectional practices and the instructors will only check on their progress once in a while. Thus there is no need for the instructors to be present all the time during the extra practices.
4 Bonding Camp
A good orchestra requires their members to be bonded and have chemistry with each other. This will aid us in improving our standards as when we are bonded, we will be able to play the pieces better, with more feelings and expressions as a whole orchestra. A bonding camp will let us have the chance to interact with each other more and build relationships with one another.
5 Frequent reviews on the progress of the orchestra
Reviewing the progress of the orchestra frequently will let us know ourselves better and let us change our mistakes as soon as possible. Thus, we will need to be more responsible to keep track of our own progresses in order to keep up to the pace of the orchestra. CO will also be able to improve ourselves frequently.
Like what you have once said, CCA moulds our characters. We grow and learn a lot from our CCA. We have faith in CO that it will be a very ideal CCA for everyone who wants and are willing to learn from it. We all have experienced it and we want more people to benefit from it too.
CO has grown up. It is no longer the CO in the past. We feel that this should not just be the end of CO, instead, it should a very good start for us. It will be a regret that CO has to end like this as we still have many dreams of CO.
“Dare to dream.” Our dreams in CO have not been realized yet. We need a chance to realize them. The School must also have dreams of CO when she started it 7 years ago. She went a step forward to set up the CO and it would be a pity for her dream to end without having a chance to have a perfect ending. We should all be given a chance to realize our dreams.
All of us have feelings towards CO. Knowingly or unknowingly, it has already become part of our lives and we want to do something for it. Please do give us a chance to let us progress together with CO. We believe that we are able to do it.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Yours sincerely,
Executive Committee of PHSCO---and jeanette would like to wish all the best to everyone seating for exams.
yes, i know it's torturing and tiring to study. but think of the fun you can have after exams! (:
after exams, CO will together come as a whole family to settle whatever problems we are facing.
EVERYBODY, JIAYOUUU!
- jeanette(:
