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1. Initially, during the preparations of the trip, Prof Wei gave me much to think about and taught me many important lessons. this gave me the drive and determination to work even harder for the trip. when we reached there, i saw how eager the german and indonesian students were to perform and that greatly inspired me. under prof wei and mr chua's teaching and guidance, i successfully managed to pull off a performance, which theoretically was impossible in a short period of 2 weeks. i realised that anything is possible if we put our hearts and minds into it. most importantly, this trip made me finally realise the importance of using my left brain and not letting my right brain dictate my every move. i was born as an extremely right brain dominant person and this gave me alot of difficulties as i had no control over my emotions and solely used my feelings to decide on things in life. my life lacked logic and reasonable thinking and this often led me to make mistakes. correcting this huge problem and letting my left brain take over was very difficult for me. through the piano, i slowly corrected my mindset during the 14 days of this trip.i had to be conscious to be calm and think logically when i faced a problem and not just jump into it and immediately try to solve it based on intuition like i always do. sometime at the end of the trip, prof wei told me that i have successfully managed to use my left brain.this served as a great encouragement to me and gave me confidence. indeed, this trip has not only been a time of fun where i learnt many things about the culture of europe and made many new foreign friends, whom i still keep in close contact with now, but also a time where i learnt many things about the perspectives of life and more about using the left brain to tackle problems easily and effectively.
Stephanie Zhao
2. I had a lot of fun and experience in Germany. My feedback is that there could be more people who went on the trip, so as to expand the social circle.
This trip has allowed me to widen my knowledge of many things about piano, life, people, and problems we face, emotional or physical, and also how to cope or solve those problems. I am beginning to understand that piano is not just about playing notes, it's more than that, it's about using both brains, solving problems, and not about a cycle of practice. Of course practice is important, but practice always requires a good method to accompany it. Which also applies in real life, that whenever we trying to work things out through repetition, we must know what is exactly the problem, and then repeat on the solution.
Min Junyi
3. The following is my review on the Germany trip!
I had an absolutely amazing time in Germany! This trip was more than one to teach us more about music; it provided us with a multitude of invaluable experiences! Through this trip, I understood more about how to maximise the capacity of our left brain while playing the piano. By identifying patterns, we can overcome almost any piece! By practicing systematically and in a logical manner, seemingly complicated runs will become effortless for us. It is also important to understand fully and express our pieces, because that's what performing is all about! This trip provided me with numerous stage performances that taught me how to deal with it emotionally and mentally.
Besides the piano aspect, the fellowship and communion with the IBA students was also a fruitful exchange! We got to know amazing people from Germany and Indonesia, and there are many fond memories to behold. Being around them allowed me to understand their culture, and fall in love with Germany! This trip also allowed me to meet and get to know people I would otherwise never have known--my Singaporean counterparts. This trip was a fresh experience, and has motivated me to play "hard" pieces and has challenged me to learn them in a short space of time, through which I can hone my left brain.
This trip was an unforgettable experience, and I would absolutely look forward to attending the next trip.
Lim Yi Xuan |
