EMCC: Fiesta Rondalla @ UCC Dance Studio

It was a full-house audience who sat in for an entertaining night of Rondalla music at the Exxon-Mobil Campus Concert held last night. The NUS Rondalla, together with Dr. Joseph Peters their instructor, put up a delightful show last night at the UCC Dance Studio. Due to the layout of the performance area, the audience was able to get up close and personal with the performers while they strummed and played.

The concert had four parts; Main Rondella Performance, a showcase of student-arranged works, Trainee Rondella Performance and Guest Performance. The Main Rondella consisting of mostly seniors and alumni members put up an impressive show of their technique. My favourite would have to be their rendition of Persian Market, which was lively and reminded one of a happy, festive celebration.

The guest performers were from Tango Ensemble, a group of 4 NUS Alumni who showed off their prowess on their respective instruments. It was enjoyable as well as educational, because it was my first time listening to live Tango music.

What struck me most about this performance was probably the type of instruments used. One hardly gets to see such unique instruments in music performances - such as the Tipakangklung, which is supposedly the only set still used for performance now. It was definitely enriching to hear about the various instruments played during the show and I must thank NUS Rondalla for this entertaining show.