小光葛格

幾天前，房東伯伯跟我說有個新房課搬進我們這層公寓，但是他因為實習期間只有三個月，不確定之後會不會續住，並且急切須要網路『查資料查論文』，問我該怎麼辦，總不能為了三個月去簽兩年的ADSL約吧。好吧，念在伯伯對我很好的份上，我就跟他說，要是真的不得已，可以從我這裡share一條網路線給他。

開花一下，伯伯還說他之前也是念資訊的，但是他覺得念資訊沒前途，所以重考念XX﹝馬賽克一下，以免被告﹞，ㄟ...是啦，念資訊的人的確跟想像中的『科技新貴』有點落差，但是沒前途到比XX系糟，這讓我整個開始思考要不要去國術館拜師學藝。

在他搬進來之前，八十歲左右的伯伯神奇的去買了網路線，裝線走天花板，一切都搞定，而且幫我跟這位新房客談好share 一半的網路費用﹝事實上他付500，我還倒賺﹞。

問題在第一天就出現了。

整個網路擁塞到任何一個動作都不太可行，連ping都會掉了封包，很合理的，我把他的線從ip分享器上拔掉，網路瞬間回到了飛也般的狀態。

可是我一早起來念書，我也不能把他吵起來叫他關掉P2P，也不能讓自己發呆一早就為了成全他抓『一個片』，好，先拔他的線，等我上班再裝回去。

晚上要跟他好好討論一下。

如果晚上他在的話。該死的又來，晚上找不著人，整個網路擁塞到想哭，這真的不能怪我，我只好把他的線拔掉。

最近公司出現了一些糾紛，主因還是在於一些可大可小的抱怨傳到了高層耳中，加上當事人的情緒，沒有辦法在事件中解放，這問題就變得很複雜。

高層找了我和學妹曉珮試圖瞭解整個狀況，在我們努力讓整個事件平息的過程中，高層大人跟我們聊了很多在工作時應該抱有的良好心態和健康的態度，以及面對不滿的事情時，除了抱怨外可以盡的最大努力以及委婉的手腕。

我討厭自己成為只會埋怨的人。

也許自視甚高，所以當我遇到了努力不被重視，或者沒有得到我所期盼的回報時，總是會有強烈的落寞感湧上心頭，也在此際，我的抱怨便遲續地出現一直到影響了我的工作心情。

但是我真的討厭變成這樣的人。

自從和正要離職的前同事--老大--的一番談話，我開始反省自己的處世態度以及方式，也觀察了身邊的人事物，例如Julie，總是能夠在衡量上級所交付的任務、自己擁有的時間與資源下，謹慎的告知主管她所能夠達到的目標，讓主管能夠合理的預期最後所收到的結果，而她之後也總是顫顫兢兢的努力將工作做好，最後完美的完成主管們的期望。

所以我試著回歸基本面，不再預期或埋怨，只求能盡力將自己份內的事情，做到最好。

在當我努力一小段時間後，這個風暴來襲。

我是一個很兩極的人，對生活大剌剌的，但是對一些情緒卻很敏感；討厭細瑣煩覆的工作，卻對程式有容不下一粒沙的潔癖，願意為了一丁點的不完美砸下兩個工作天去修正。

當我 go on 一個產品時，除非我認定這個東西並不是我的心血結晶﹝有時候總是要 maintain 別人的成品﹞，否則我一定是卯起來用盡本公子小小的腦袋瓜，去把我的產品 tune 到我知識所及的完美。

maintainance, readability and then performance

湊巧，本公子身處一個對 schedule 莫名的 loose 的公司，所以在完美品味的驅使下，schedule 便被我放在上述三者之後有點遠的位置，差異大概是VIP貴賓席和五樓拿望遠鏡還瞄不到球員的地方。

剛完成的 module -- notification manager -- 是我用盡畢生所學的 programming knowleage 完成的驕傲，每一個幾乎不得不妥協於 requirement 的部份，我都巧妙的用一些方式避免了傷害到架構的 integrity，Object-Oriented精神以及其它 delicate creativity。

這樣的產品，加上對於要想辦法和C++的STL混熟的必然所需，我的 schedule delay 了，雖然我仍然在其它部份產品完成前達陣。

不過這對這個部門的主管可是大不誨。

就說我是個大剌剌的人，從來沒有的藝術家臭脾氣這會兒油然而生，

由於怡君三天後出國，於是有機會遇到久惟的張璧，五年不見了吧，自從99年金穗音樂營後應該就沒有遇過她了。其中，她去德國三年，如謎一般的三年。

也見到了士猷夫婦，致維，後來荃--理律名律師--也在下班後趕來參與我們的聚會。

其實這些組合相當有趣，我們彼此間互相認識，卻未曾同時在同一個合唱團聚集過大家，台大團、金穗、愛樂、T42，大家各自參加過其中的一兩個﹝突然發現，士猷全都走過一遭，真了不起﹞，就這樣的跨接住所有的人。

話說回來，聽到張璧說著她在德國的所見所聞，在一個人生地不熟，語言又不通的國度，遭遇到挫折、誤會與失落，一次一次跌倒再爬起來，如何的自我追尋，以及對其它人的應對進退，讓人由衷的欽佩。

今年該應該是個好年吧，合唱圈的朋友們，好幾個選了今年出國念書，炫超、怡君、文珩、桂薰、亮亮、景雰，挺壯觀的陣容。

由於可惡的指揮吳尚倫老師隨便在msn上扔下一句話，叫我今晚寫出曲目介紹，要趕著申請國家音樂廳演奏廳的場地，而我又是無敵尊師重道，敬重學長的好孩子，害得我只能熬夜趕稿，從我的CD架上，找出了Tallis Scholars演唱過的CD，然後卑鄙的把解說看完，生出了以下這篇。

It's the last concert I joined in this Taipei Internation Chorus Festival. Finally, there is a traditional-style chorus in the festival. That doesn't mean these popular a cappella group -- hmm... actually, most of works that the Winnipeg Singers presented are a cappella works, but they are totally from the other groups that added dancing and funny amusing music to give concerts more attractiveness -- is not welcome to me or not qualified, and they have different style and wonderful presentation.

I am delighted to hear their performance. They easily gave harmony and nice voices in these complicated works. Maybe sometimes their sopranos bursted out some not-well-controlled voice, but generally speaking their performances were still very good and worthy our applause.

Here are the introductions of the Winnipeg Singers and their conductor Yuri Klaz. All of these including the photo are cited from the Taipei Philharmonic Fundation.

The Winnipeg Singers

The Winnipeg Singers, Winnipeg’s premiere choir, has long been regarded as one of Canada’s finest choral ensembles. The Winnipeg Singers consists of 24 trained voices, performing music that spans the times from the Renaissance to the present. The choir’s mandate is to make a diversity of choral music, performed to the highest standards, accessible to a growing audience. Each year the choir commissions new Canadian works and premieres other new works for its Manitoba audience. It presents a concert series each year, engaging some of North America’s finest musicians as guests. The Winnipeg Singers have performed joint concerts with such diverse organizations as MusikBarock Ensemble, Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers, and Les Danseurs de la Riviere Rouge. The Singers regularly appear as guests of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and have given concerts and workshops for local social agencies, business firms and high schools.

The Winnipeg Singers can trace its origins to a choir begun in the 1930s by composer and voice teacher W. H. Anderson for radio broadcast on the CBC. His choir, known as the Choristers, performed secular music and on occasion offered public concerts. Filmer Hubble, who conducted the group for a national weekly CBC radio broadcast of sacred music called Sunday Chorale succeeded Anderson in the 1950s and ‘60s. This choir also performed a series of yearly concerts. He was succeeded by a student of W. H. Anderson, Herbert Belyea, also a composer and voice teacher. In the early 1970s, William Baerg was asked by the CBC to form a group of singers which would perform concert broadcasts. This choir, the CBC Winnipeg Singers, was devoted to the exploration of both sacred and secular works from all eras and initiated the form of The Winnipeg Singers as it exists today. In 1973, when the CBC was no longer able to support the choir, The Winnipeg Singers began to produce its own annual concert series, which it has done ever since. Past artistic directors of The Winnipeg Singers include Bill Baerg, John Martens, Wayne Riddell, Mel Braun, Vic Pankratz and Rudy Schellenberg. The current Artistic Director, Yuri Klaz, began his tenure with the 2003/2004 Season.

The Winnipeg Singers are regularly heard on local and national CBC radio. They have released two compact disc recordings, O Praise Ye the Lord and Prairie Voices. The Canada Council with the awarding of the Healey Willan prize has twice recognized The Winnipeg Singers for their excellence in choral music. The Winnipeg Singers performed at the Toronto International Choral Festival in June 2002. The choir was one of three choirs invited to perform at the Gala Concert of Podium 2004, the national biennial convention of the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors held in Winnipeg in May. The Winnipeg Singers have been honoured by an invitation from the International Federation for Choral Music to perform at the 7th World Symposium on Choral Music to be held in Kyoto, Japan in July 2005.

Yuri Klaz

Born in Petrozavodsk, Russia, Yuri received his Masters degree in conducting at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory. He was an associate professor of choral and orchestral conducting at the Petrozavodsk Conservatory and later became the artistic director and conductor of the Chamber Choir of the Karelian Art Centre.

In 1995, Yuri was awarded the prestigious title, “Honoured Artist of Russia”, and received a silver medal for exceptional achievement in the development of art in Russia. Mr. Klaz came to Canada in 2000 to become the artistic director and conductor of the Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir. Most recently Yuri conducted The Winnipeg Singers, the Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir and Renaissance Voices in performances of Bach, Verdi and Faure with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Klaz also directs the First Mennonite Church Choir, the ShaareyZedek Synagogue Choir, and the University of Winnipeg Student Choir. He is a faculty member of the Manitoba Conservatory of Music and Arts. Mr. Klaz was appointed the artistic director and conductor of The Winnipeg Singers on July 1st 2003.

 

Another a cappella group but a little different from the Real group and Rajaton. It is composed of 32 singers and a conductor, not like the Real group or Rajaton that owns less than ten members. Therefore, their performances had more multi-layer variety. Not only rythm, their companiment supported sweet harmony as well as abundant sound effects. I think the only pity in their performances was their speaker was too louder to make the subject be inundated. In fact, I sat in the 4th floor but still got ears hurt because the loud sounds sometimes. As 炫超 said, he almost cannot hear any good voice but noise because he sat in the 2nd floor. Ha, ha, ha... it's so lucky to me that I didn't change the seat from the 4th floor to the 2nd floor since they didn't have break time after I went getting into. Such a nice luck I owned. XD

Here is the introductions of the Vocal Line and their conductor, and they are cited from Taipei Philharmonic Fundation, as well as the photo.

Vocal Line
Vocal Line is a modern a cappella choir boasting 32 singers, directed by Jens Johansen.

The choir was formed in 1991 inAarhus, Denmark and our goal is to be trendsetters in the development of contemporary a cappella music on a national as well as an international level. Over the years, we have continuously sought to expand the limits of a cappella singing, and we aim to keep improving our art.

We concentrate almost exclusively on new compositions and new arrangements. Although deeply rooted in the Danish choir tradition, we have developed a personal style and sound, which can be characterized as a mixture of pop, rock, jazz, world, and classical avantgarde.

With this highly original take on modern a cappella as it is presented at the beginning of the new millennium, it is safe to say that nobody sounds quite like Vocal Line!

Vocal Line is known throughout the Danish and European choir community, has won a number of international awards and prizes, and stands as a role model for choirs and conductors across the country and internationally. As one of the “foremost choirs of Europe” Vocal Line has recently received an invitation for the 7th World Choral Symposium in Kyoto, Japan in 2005. Vocal Line has decided to give two performances "Take-off: Taiwan-Japan Tour 2005" in May in our hometown of Aarhus.

Jens Johansen, Conductor
The conductor and musical director of Vocal Line is Jens Johansen (b. 1952). Vocal Line was formed in January 1991 by Jens Johansen, who has conducted the choir in a dedicated and energetic manner ever since. Besides conducting, he also finds time to arrange new songs.

He is employed as an assistant professor at Musikvidenskabeligt Institut, Aarhus Universitet (the Musicology Department at the University of Aarhus), where his lectures include "Arranging for Pop/Rock Choir", "Conducting Contemporary Choir " and "Music Theory and Analysis".

In addition, he also teaches "Conducting Contemporary Choir" at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. He has recently completed a research project on "Part-singing in Pop/Rock Music", in which Vocal Line plays an important part.

Jens Johansen has given lectures at various seminars and acted as conductor at a number of choir festivals in Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Germany and Hungary. Over the past 20 years, he has published numerous choir arrangements and compositions that are performed by a wide array of choir singers all over Europe.

On top of this, he is a board member on the committee of the choir organization KOR72 as well as on the committee of Danske Korledere (Danish Choir Conductors). In these capacities, he helps organize seminars, workshops and choir contests to the benefit of Danish choir singers and conductors.

It's amazing that the choir is pure a university choir, not a society choir or a professional choir, so, how do they own such good voice and well-trained skills?

As my expectation, their famous performance was in the bottom half part with traditional choral music accompanied by the brilliant dances. Maybe we could kid that they are close to a variety entertainment group. However, their gorgeous body performance doesn't imply that they don't have talent at music. In the up half part, they represented very difficult 20-centry compositions including the Five Flower Song. They can easily handle the irregular rhythm and discordant interval. Even those compositions are not my favorites, I still enjoy their amazing performance.

The followings are the introductions to this choir and their conductor, and they are cited from the Taipei Philharmonic Fundation, as well as the photo.

Parahyangan Catholic University Choir, Indonesia

Parahyangan Catholic University Choir (UNPAR Choir) is a professional music institution existed since 1962. After the national achievements, UNPAR Choir kept on achieving until international was in Holland Competition in 1995, in Italy 1997, in Linz Austria 2000, and lastly in The 8th International Chamber Choir Competition in Marktoberdorf Germany, 2003.

Until recently, UNPAR Choir has not only gaining more and more achievements, but has also secured its place to declare itself as the barometer for choir development in Indonesia. For the achievements in the International level and their consistency in growing choral music nationally and has proven internationally, they now become one of the best choir in the world.

UNPAR Choir tends to bring a new perspective to the classical music, make it possible to enjoy by all level of society.

Avip Priatna, Conductor

The first concert in the chorus festival this year.

Rajaton, Finland, owns the charming characteristic that is similar to the most famous a cappella group -- the Real Group. Rajaton represents their music with a theme from a singer and with the accompaniment of the others. The singers sing simple harmony or rythm under a bright and sweet theme. Not only that, they are as good as the Real Group to make sound effects by the collocation of they excellent voice skill, microphones and speakers.

Their performance is absolutely worthy all audiences's stand ovation. However, it's not surprising to me, I expect they are such a wonderful group in the beginning. In fact, the most astonishment to me is the performance of the domestic joint group, Xinxiang Bunun Children's Chorus. It's definitely hard to believe, a 20-children chorus gave me a shocking and beautiful harmony to start the concert. Clear and limpid voices seem to resound across the skies. They don't have the general flaw as other children choirs, not effective to control their voices. Even the processing of songs is a little bit monotonous, their impressive performance is no doubt to deserve our 3-minute applause -- it's pitty we cannot do it. Futhermore, don't forget that they come from a faraway mountain side that the supports of education are not enough as that in cities.

The following part is the introduction of Rajaton cited from the website of Taipei Philharmony Foundation:

The voice is boundless

Countless vocal groups around the world sing Christmas songs and evergreens. Some a cappella groups base their approach on jazz, some on classical choral music, while others go for a more straight-forward pop sound. Other groups specialize in spiritual music. A few even sing original material.

And then there is a unique group that does all of the above. It's called Rajaton. The Finnish word Rajaton translates as "boundless" - and that's precisely the right word to describe the way this vocal ensemble approaches music.

The six-piece a cappella group has performed around the world at concert halls, churches, and jazz festivals, singing everything from spiritual music to pop hits. In fact, it's hard to imagine an audience that Rajaton could not reach with its music, or a type of music Rajaton could not make its own.

Founded in Helsinki in 1997, Rajaton consists of Essi Wuorela (soprano), Virpi Moskari (soprano), Soila Sariola (alto), Jussi Chydenius (bass), Hannu Lepola (tenor), and Ahti Paunu (baritone). All members have vastly different musical backgrounds, ranging from classical to folk, pop, and rock.