There I was, a young man of 18 years old, attending an ensemble practice at 7.30pm on a Friday night. The air-conditioned room, with parquert floor was on the second level of Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Canteen 1. In this music room stood 20-odd chairs, arranged according to three guitar parts, all facing a wooden white long table, with a moveable whiteboard lingering behind.
As we practiced and waited for our conductor to arrive, I felt something electric in the air. For years, I had been a student of the esteemed Ernest Kwok, and as grateful as I was for the Maestro’s masterful guidance, there’s something special about getting to meet Alex.
Alex is the father of classical guitar in Singapore. A former student of the renowned classical guitar master John Williams, Alex had seen the Singaporean music scene develop since its infancy. He’s lived through British colonization, the Japanese occupation, Singapore’s merger with Malaysia and Singapore’s independence.
The man’s a living legend and I was going to meet him.
There we sat, preparing for the 70-year old maestro. As I sight-read the material placed before me, I barely noticed the backdoor opening.
In walked a rotund, Indian man. Alex moved slowly, almost in a hobble. I would later learn that a car accident had left his knee in bad condition, an injury that hindered his movement. He walked to the long, white table in the front and sat down.
There he was. It felt almost surreal to be in the presence of such a historical figure. He thanked us for coming and apologized for being late. He looked around and noticed the new members and cordially welcomed us before we began practice.
The time passed by quickly. During that session I quickly discovered Alex’s potency as a conductor. The clearly inexperienced ensemble group rallied around his focused and purposeful instruction and came off the better for it.
When I began my performing ‘career’ at Ngee Ann Polytechnic Strings (NPS), I was viewed as a hot acquisition. I was a student of Ernest Kwok and had been playing the classical guitar for nearly 5 years. I was particularly valuable to NPS because of the recent exodus of the key guitarists. The experienced guitarists had graduated and any remaining good guitarists had left in protest at the installation of the new executive committee.
At NPS, members are required to attend an audition before they can join. Typically, after a recruitment drive, an interview is carried out. Thereafter, NPS takes 1 week to consider potential candidates.
After my interview the President of NPS ran to fetch me a membership form after my audition of Tarrega’s Adelita. They were desperate. I was like a knight on a white horse, gallantly galloping to their rescue.
But tonight I had decided to stay low-key. I was too star-struck with Alex to formerly introduce myself.
Considering my importance in NPS, I knew it would only be a matter of time before I became more acquainted with Alex. Even though we didn’t formerly meet, that night would mark the beginning of a close friendship and an impromptu mentorship.
I am extremely lucky to have been tutored by two of Singapore’s great guitarists. Ernest and Alex would both leave an indelible impression on my playing style and philosophy. But that’s another story for another time.
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I was looking at this old article and feel compelled to mention that I wrote this article in 2009, when I was still writing under the screen name of NinjaMaster X.
Eventually I decided to give up the screen name because I was tired of maintaining a screen persona (which is difficult for me since I’m no schizophrenic)and I didn’t want to maintain an anonymous identity that could be stolen.
FYI, there is a certain Singaporean classical guitar ‘personality’ who has the tendency to steal online personas.
Also, I am not a NinjaMaster.