To start the night, a choir of NCV residents sang the Jay Althouse & Sally Albrecht song “I am a small part of the world.” This was followed by the woodwind & string ensemble of Vivian Shek, Serena Ma, Kay Chen and Diane Wong, who played pieces by Haydn and Mozart. They also played one of Serena’s own compositions, “To Pop the Question”, demonstrating that NCV residents can not only play, they can also compose!
The next items were performed by resident Elina Yasumoto, who is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Music. Elina played the “Regard No. X: Le Regard de l’Espirit de Joie” (from Messiaen’s “Vingt Regards sur L’Enfant Jesus”) followed by “Etude-tableau Op.39 no.5 in E-flat minor” by Rachmaninoff. Elina also explained some of the history of the pieces before performing them, which was informative for those residents unfamiliar with the nomenclature around piano music.
In the next phase of the evening there were a series of guitar pieces performed by Kevin Phang, Roma Singhal and Sharon McGowan, punctuated by a Japanese item, “Niji”, performed by Mark Dixon (vocals), Diane Wong (piano), and Serena Ma (violin). Kevin played two pieces by contemporary guitarist Andy McKee (“Art of Motion” & “Rylynn”) while Sharon sang the Parachute Band’s “Salvation Song”. Kevin is a completely home grown guitarist, having first picked up the instrument while a resident at NCV, and having been initially taught by another resident! Completing this bank of songs were Roma Singhal and Sharon McGowan, who played guitar while singing a medley of contemporary songs. Sharon and Roma involved the whole audience, who sang along to familiar tunes such as The Cranberries’ “Zombie”, The Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” and Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars”.To conclude the night Elina returned to play Liszt’s Tarantella from “Venezia e Napoli”. During the performance the Dean’s six month old daughter Indumathi snuck down the front to watch Elina’s flying fingers. It was a fitting end to a fabulous evening, showcasing the incredible depth of talent of NCV residents.
