My Last Guitar Concert

I told them I was leaving the school, and I wouldn't be here with them in guitar club the next year.

They looked at me - silent and not sure what much to say. They were really good children and some were very young, still looking confused.

"Teacher, why you need to go to the head..head...headquarters to work?" one of them asked.

I smiled and explained why.

It was a nostalgic moment for me. I had set up the guitar club with another colleague of mine last year. We were there from its beginnings. We build its structures and recruited its students, and saw it through till today.

My founding colleague left mid-way through this year. Now it was my turn...

I felt a little sad inside, but urged the pupils to put on their best performance ever - in a couple of hours when we were all to go up on stage to perform in our school's Annual Prize-Giving Ceremony Concert.

Most of the kids performing that day had only entered our club this year - so they were relatively new and this was their first big performance and hence, their first acquaintance with stage fright. Even the veteran performers showed hints of nervousness on their faces.

The time soon came. We went up on stage. I bowed to the audience and gestured for the ensemble to take their seats.

Then, I conducted the first beat, and we entered the music together.

For the first time since tons of practices (even compared to when the veteran performers had their concerts), I heard the best playing ever.

The melody section was strong and steady, but not harsh. The harmony and bass were rhythmic and harmonious. The performers were concentrating, but remembered to retain the happiness of the two songs we were performing, and the expressiveness came out from the music. The dynamics of the piece bowled me over - how they managed to negotiate the gradual soft and loud of the piece.

At the end of the second piece, I conducted my final four beats, and signalled a 'cut' for performers to stop the strings of their guitars from further sounding.

As I turned to face the audience, and led the guitar ensemble in bowing to the audience, I heard thunderous applause and cheers from the audience. Although my guitar students were standing behind me, I could feel the pride in each and every one of them that their hard work and efforts in performance had paid off greatly.

Now, as I finger a piece of rock that some of my guitar students had quickly decorated and given to me as a farewell gift, I think about the past - about how the club started. It seemed so long ago, yet so recent. Yet the memories (both sweet and bitter) will always linger in my mind.