The NCV Factor: A Night of Entertainment

Over the last five years NCV has developed quite a bit of tradition in the area of music. Starting in 2010 as an evening of primarily classical music, NCV’s Music Night has morphed into a more contemporary talent quest, in the tradition of the X Factor (but without the scathing feedback from the judges!).

This semester we were treated to performances (among others) of the Maroon 5 hit “Harder to Breathe”, Nena’s cold war classic “99 Luftballons”, Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man” and Nat King Cole’s “Unforgettable”. There was also a shout out to the retiring Federal Member for Kingsford Smith Peter Garrett, with the NCV Band performing Midnight Oil’s classic “Beds Are Burning”.

The NCV Choir went retro with renditions of the ABBA hits “Thank You for the Music” and “Mamma Mia”. The night was great fun, with the NCV Band now turning it’s attention to the Inter Residence Band Night at the Roundhouse in mid September.

The NCV Factor: A Night of Entertainment

2012 NCV Talent Night

On Friday the 10th of August, NCV residents gathered in the Main Common Room for the ‘2012 NCV Talent Night’.

The night started out with the NCV choir performing ‘When you Believe’ from Prince of Egypt accompanied by Premilla Chinappa Quinn on the piano. This was followed by a short animation clip created by resident Shu Low.

Residents were also treated to a lovely piano piece (Rondo Capriccioso op.14 by F. Mendelssohn) played by resident Joni Mok.

One of the highlights of the event was resident Vivien Lee’s rendition of ‘Valerie’ which wowed the audience as they clapped along to the beat. Next up, resident Natalia Novozhilova performed a beautiful modern jazz dance routine.

One of the surprises of the night was the next act, by residents Theresa Crossing and Tim Amos. What started out as a simple juggling act turned into an acrobatic act leaving the audience gasping with amazement.

The evening took a more dramatic turn as resident Ahsan Kabir belted out a hindi song (Na Jaane Koyi) accompanied by residents Ria Dev and Pesila Ratnayake.

Resident daredevil Kevin Phang with the help of Platini Lee and Majid Sepanji then took to the stage to perform an acrobatic act called ‘the human flag’. Platini Lee put aside his usual role as the ‘official photographer’ leaving the audience in stitches with his stand-up comedy.

Not to disappoint, Cecilia White caught everyone’s attention with her poetry reading performance entitled ‘A Haunting of Nightvowels’.

Next up to showcase her talents, resident Rachel Chung performed the First Movement to Moonlight Sonata.

Kevin Phang then took the stage again to perform a solo guitar piece.

Stephan Chikazaza, a ‘usual’ in previous Music Nights left the audience in awe, performing one of his own compositions.

The night ended with a bang as the NCV Band performed ‘Somebody that I used to know’, ‘If you’re Gone’ and ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ while unearthing the talent of future rockstar Michael Sturm (senior resident).

Events such as these are regularly held at NCV to bring individuals together. It is meant to provide a venue for residents to showcase their talents while allowing them to get away from the stresses of work and university for that short span of time. All in all, the event was definitely a success, and one thing is for sure, everyone left with a smile on their faces.

And of course, at the NCV, the show isn’t over till the fat penguin dances. Our very own mascot, Frank took to the stage, getting the crowd pumped up while performing the steps to YMCA.

2012 NCV Talent Night

Jamaica Night at NCV

On 6th August 2012 the Caribbean nation of Jamaica celebrated 50 years of independence. On Saturday 4th August NCV’s only Jamaican resident, Master of Policy Studies student Tameka Lee, organized an evening of Jamaica-themed celebrations to mark the occasion. 

The Main Common Room was decked out in the colours of the Jamaican flag: black, green and gold, and residents were encouraged to wear something in the same colours. Tameka commenced the evening with an introduction to Jamaica, introducing the geography, demographics and history, accompanied by a slide show.  This was followed by a number of distinctly Jamaican items: a performance on steel drum, a recital of the Louise Bennett Coverley poem “Colonization in Reverse”, a rendition of the Harry Belafonte classic “The Banana Boat Song” and a lesson in elementary patois language: “wah gwan?” (what’s going on?). The NCV dancing group put together a dance for the occasion, and residents enjoyed some delicious Jamaican food (goat curry and jerk chicken). 

To cap off a brilliant night for Jamaica Usain Bolt commenced the ultimately successful defence of his Olympic 100m title in the early hours of 4th August.  Go Jamaica!

Jamaica Night at NCV

NCV Mid Year O'Weekend

At the start of each semester the NCV community welcomes its new residents with an O’Week program. The aim of the O’Week program is to help students familiarize themselves with Sydney, the University, and, most importantly, the NCV community. For Semester Two we hold an abbreviated “O’Weekend” program, which in 2012 ran from Friday 13th July – Sunday 15th July. The program included a Pizza and Karaoke Night, a day trip to Circular Quay, our Annual Cultural Night and a Games Night.

Some of the wonderful food

The weekend kicked off with Pizza and Karaoke in the Main Common Room. Residents enjoyed mingling, music and pizza, before the karaoke machine fired up and residents sang their own versions of AC/DC, Kenny Rogers, Avril Lavigne and Vanilla Ice (to name a select few)! It was a fantastic start to O’Weekend as people got to know one another and shared their considerable (or in some cases questionable) musical talents.

Shot taken from a Sydney Ferry (TC)

Wangari in traditional Kenyan dress

The day trip took students through the CBD to the popular tourist destination and transport hub of Circular Quay. After a few snaps in front of the iconic Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, residents took a look around the Harbour, enjoyed a short walk and made new friends. Sydney has one of the world’s most recognizable harbours, and for many new residents they were seeing Sydney’s most famous attractions for the first time.

On Saturday night NCV hosted its Annual Cultural Night. This event provided students with the opportunity to showcase their various cultures through food, dress, national symbols, general info, and music. Countries represented at the 2012 Cultural Night were Australia, Bangladesh, Chile, Egypt, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Jamaica, The Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the United States. The Cultural Night is a major highlight on the NCV calendar, and it is always fantastic to see people proudly representing their culture and history.

Sunday night saw O’Weekend draw to a close with some games in the Main Common Room. Between computer games, card games and board games there was something for everyone, not to mention some snacks and drinks as well. Monopoly was keenly contested, with one game continuing till well after midnight. With the end of that game the curtain came down on O’Weekend 2012, and rose on Semester Two!

NCV Mid Year O'Weekend

Curry Night

NCV is home to residents from all over the world, including a good number from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. On Friday 11th May a group of residents, led by resident Ria Dev, hosted a Cultural Night showcasing various aspects of sub-continental culture. MC-ed by residents Vinam Jain and Vivien Lee, the evening started with a series of video presentations about each of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Resident Shaupnil Khan then sang two Bengali songs, accompanied by Shamila Vijayanmohar on piano and Pesila Ratnayake on guitar. Ria then performed some Hindi songs with Gagan Singh and Adheesh Ramani, again accompanied by Shamila and Pesila.

The formal part of the evening concluded with a fabulous set of dances by the NCV dance troupe of Ria, Geetha, Ashi, Zeynep, Vivien, Tamara, Sumi & Geetu.

To conclude the evening resident Geetu Vanjani taught the hundred or so residents in attendance a few simple dance steps. Afterward, residents moved out into the NCV Courtyard to enjoy some delicious Indian food prepared by resident Uma Chellapandi and her team. The evening was a great showcase of sub-continental culture. Being able to participate in events like Curry Night is a great benefit of living in a community like NCV.

Curry Night

NCV Music Night

Asst Dean Viv Shek on Cello

On Friday 19^th August the NCV community gathered in NCV’s Main Common Room for the second Annual NCV Music Night. The evening was organized by the NCV Music Association which oversees the NCV Choir and NCV Chamber Orchestra.

To open the night we were treated to a medley of songs from Les Miserables, performed by the NCV Choir.  After this resident Armin Chitizadeh performed a piece called “Morning Bird” on a santour, a Persian instrument played by striking strings with very fine hammers.  You could see people all around the room craning their necks to catch a glimpse of this unfamiliar instrument and Armin’s elegant striking. 

Next up were residents Joni Mok and Serena Ma, who played a lovely piano duet arrangement of Mozart’s  “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”.  After this the evening switched (briefly) to contemporary music, with resident Kevin Phang playing three pieces on guitar (Andy McKee’s “Heather’s Song”, Tommy Emmanuel’s “Mombassa” and JZ Moolman’s “Jay’s Tap”).  Kevin is a completely home grown guitarist, having first picked up the instrument while a resident at NCV.  On top of this he also played a piece written by a former NCV resident in JZ Moolman. 

Following a short interval where residents enjoyed some drinks and nibbles, resident Hsuan Tan played two pieces on piano: Paul de Senneville’s “Triste Coeur” and “Tonight I Celebrate My Love For You” (by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin).  Hsuan is a talented pianist who is currently undertaking a Master of Optometry.  Following Hsuan, Master of Design student Kay Chen gave a great recital of Bach’s Sonata 1035 in E minor on flute.  For her performance Kay was accompanied by Vivian Shek on piano.

Performers on the night

The next items were vocal.  Friend of NCV Steven Chikazawa sang his own composition called “Providence”, and was accompanied by his cousin Tino on guitar. After this resident Theresa Crossing sang the Rick Founds song 'Lord I lift your name on high', accompanied by Vivian Shek on piano. 

To finish off the evening, the NCV Music Association Chamber Orchestra played two Mozart pieces: "Oboe Quartet in F major, K.370 1st movement and Symphony No, 40 in G Minor, K550 1st movement.

At the end of the formalities many residents stayed on in the MCR, playing together, getting to know one another and generally having a good time.  A great night was had by all.

NCV Music Night

O'Weekend was a great success at NCV

At the start of each semester the NCV community welcomes its new residents with an O’Week program.  The aim of the O’Week program is to help students familiarize themselves with Sydney, the University, and, most importantly, the NCV community. For Semester Two 2011 an O’Weekend program was held from Friday 15^th July – Sunday 17^th July. The program included a Trivia Night, a day trip to Circular Quay and Manly, our Annual Cultural Night and an afternoon of sports at the University Gymnasium (indoor soccer and badminton). 
 

For the Trivia Night, residents were divided into teams alphabetically, and their knowledge of entertainment and pop culture, sport, music, history and geography was tested with a series of quiz questions.  As an example, residents were challenged to name seven South American capital cities, the three types of blade used in Olympic Fencing, and the first names of cycling’s Schleck brothers.  Residents’ aural skills were also tested, the challenge being to identify artists as diverse as Kate Bush, Moloko, The Jackson Five and Kelis with only a 10-20sec excerpt.

The day trip took students through the CBD to the popular tourist destination and transport hub of Circular Quay.  After a few snaps in front of the iconic Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, residents took the famous Manly Ferry to the beachside suburb of Manly, for a short walk and some hot chocolate.

The Cultural Night was a real highlight, with students showcasing their various cultures through food, dress, general info, and music.  Countries represented were Australia, Bangladesh, Chile, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, The Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Sri Lanka.  A separate post on this event will appear soon. 

On the Sunday afternoon those residents keen on sports gathered for a game of indoor soccer and badminton at the University Gymnasium. This provided an opportunity both to meet NCV’s other keen sportspeople but also to check out some of the University’s sporting facilities. 

O'Weekend was a great success at NCV

Cultural Night a Great Start to Semester

The NCV community is highly culturally diverse, with over 40 different nationalities represented.  At present there are residents from every continent, as well as from Pacific nations such as New Zealand and French Polynesia.  With such a diverse community, living at NCV provides a unique opportunity to meet people from many other places and learn about different cultures. 
 

As part of our Semester 2 O’Weekend, NCV hosted its Annual Cultural Night.  This event provided students with the opportunity to showcase their various cultures through food, dress, national symbols, general info, and music.  Countries represented at the 2011 Cultural Night were Australia, Bangladesh, Chile, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, The Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Sri Lanka.  

A particular highlight was provided by those residents who donned their traditional dress for the evening.  To see residents in traditional costumes from India, Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh highlighted the rich multicultural tapestry of the NCV community.

 

Cultural Night a Great Start to Semester

African Night

NCV is home to students from 50 different nations. Included among these are a number of residents from Africa, and in particular from Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritius, Uganda & Egypt. On the 17th September, a group of our African students hosted the inaugural “NCV Africa Night”, which was aimed at showcasing the art, culture, language, music and food of the African continent.

To start the evening, residents were welcomed in the local languages of Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Mauritius. This was followed by an opportunity to enjoy some of the sumptuous food which had been prepared by the organising team. Lyz Murago and Wangari Muchiri, both from Kenya, introduced all the different dishes with some background on what they were made from and how to eat them.

Once residents were settled with their food, the African students performed a short drama based on an traditional African folktale about the origin of thunder. This was followed by a sing-along in Swahili, which was introduced to the attendees by Senior Academic Tutor Mark Dixon, who had formerly worked in Africa aboard one of the Mercy Ships. Patience Mbabazi, from Uganda, then explained some of the traditional jewellery of Africa.

The night continued with poetry, African tea and coffee, music and dance. To conclude the night, everyone joined in for an “African Shuffle”. It was fantastic to leave the evening knowing a bit more about where many of our residents come from. It is hoped that there will be more opportunities to showcase different ethnic groups and nationalities of NCV at similar events in the future.

Above: Residents of NCV doing the African Shuffle

African Night