Concert: German masterwork with The Radio Choir

8 February 2020

Volunteer duties with Kompis Sverige today. We went to see a concert at Berwardhallen. We took the train to Karlaplan train station and walked for 11 minutes to the venue. This was my first time here. There were no steps in the concert hall where we listened to the choir, instead, it was a gradually tilted floor. Today, we listened to the Swedish Radio Choir where they sang acapella. Their voices were amazing. 

Sarah Dawn Finer Concert

30 November 2019

Volunteer duties with Kompis Sverige to bring a group to Sarah Dawn Finer concert. It was a luxurious venue for a concert at Waterfront Congress Center. It was my first time in this venue and I was awe by its size. Well, I have not been to Friends Arena or Tele2 Arena but I suppose those 2 venues are larger as they have football events there too.

This was a lovely 3-hour concert with the theme of winter songs and what a cozy way to the start of Christmas' countdown. She sang and narrated a bit of her life intermittently. I did think there was slightly too much of talking. She is a host too, anyway, so it is not surprising that she talks a lot. 

The Valkyrie Concert

5 October 2019

Volunteer activity with Kompis Sverige - The Valkyrie Concert. There were texts when the opera singers sang and I had to google a few of the words. 

Synopsis from Concert House's website:

The first act from Richard Wagner’s The Valkyrie – a long love scene which is performed in concert here with international soloists. Siegmund is fleeing and ends up in the home of Hunding and Sieglinde. As Siegmund and Sieglinde fall in love, every dimension of emotion is portrayed in this evocative music. Soon it is revealed that Siegmund and Sieglinde are twins: their love becomes a symbol of the perfected symbiosis between two people, and brings an infusion of hope and confidence. 

John Lundvik Concert

1 October 2019

It is autumn now. Cold. Windy. Rainy. Cloudy. The sun is a rare sight now. How did summer fly by so fast? Goodbye warm weather and shorts.

Today's activity is courtesy of Kompis Sverige. I was a volunteer for that day with 2 others. We went to a John Lundvik concert. I had no idea who John Lundvik so I did a bit of research and found out he was the winner of Melody Festival 2019. Melody Festival is a singing competition in Sweden and the winner gets to represent Sweden in Eurovision Song Contest. Mr Lundvik got 5th place in Eurovision. 

The last time I went to a concert was in 2014. I am not a fan of concert but I participated to experience it. It turns out that I enjoyed his singing. He sang a few of other singers' songs and a couple of his own songs which I did not find them enjoyable. He was very happy to perform this evening especially in the premise of Cirkus. I get the vibe that Cirkus must be a reputable place for artists. He sang with his backup singers that are known as 'The Mamas'. They have powerful voices. 

In the end, I was standing and shaking my hips to the music. Well, I stood up because everyone in front of me was standing and I could not see the stage. What a fantastic 90-minutes' experience!

Lisa Nilsson Concert

29 September 2019

Volunteer duties with Kompis Sverige - this time, we watched Lisa Nilsson live at Hotel Rival. She was a famous songstress in Sweden in the 90s and today, she is less in the limelight. She sang and talked about her background. First, she related a short text on her background and then she sang a song related to the text. She has a powerful voice and it was a good performance!

Haenyeo Choir

25 August 2019

Today, a friend invited me to join her to listen to Haenyeo choir at the The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities which is also known as Östasiatiska museet. They brought in actual Haenyeo divers who are retired and are now travelling around the world singing about their previous job which brings tears to those who can understand. One of the divers shared her experience and answered questions from the public. One of her comments shocked me - pregnant divers could dive up to 10 days before delivery! Also, all these divers look so young despite being in their 70s or 80s. Cold water does preserve the beauty.

Here is a brief history on Haenyeo.

Haenyeo are diving fisherwomen on the island of Jeju off the south coast of South Korea. The Haenyeo tradition is more than 1000 years old and originates from small opportunities to feed on the barren volcanic island of Jeju. Desirable marine products can be sold and provide a good income for the families. Haenyeo is traditionally the breadwinner of the family, while the men care for children and household. What led up to women working at sea while the men care for children and households? One theory is that a long time ago the work was being taxed – and because only men were obligated to pay taxes, they stopped diving. Another explanation may be that women's physics, with more subcutaneous fat, made them less exposed to cold water than men. Source from Varldskultursmuseum.

There was an exhibition about the Haenyeo divers and this is one of the quotes from the Haenyeo divers. Yes, women are strong people. We persevere.

After the choir, my friend treated me to matcha cake and I had tea.

Saga Orchestra Fantasy Music

15 June 2019

Best concert ever! I got my free ticket from Kompis Sverige. The Concert House was packed!

This orchestra concert played music soundtracks from famous movies - Harry Potter, Lord of The Rings, Princess Mononoke, The Chronicles of Narnia, Conan the Barbarian and Games of Thrones. The 2.5 hour performance was fantastic. 

Concert - Ethel Smyth's mass

9 May 2019

Today's evening activity is brought to me by Kompis Sverige. I invited my colleague to join me. She is here for 3 months only and I decided to bring her to the concert. This concert is a first-time for me too. After the break (my colleague bought a snack plate - a delicacy and cup of coffee for SEK55), a group of people walked to the back of the orchestra and belted out a couple of songs together with the orchestra, and also to accompany 4 opera singers that sang in the front. 

Here is a bit history of Ethel Smyth that I took from Konserthuset's website.

Ethel Smyth (1858–1944) was exceptionally talented and went to Leipzig, which was one of the most important music cities in the nineteenth century. Smyth came to be a highly acclaimed personality, both as a composer and as one of the leading individuals of the suffrage movement which fought for women’s right to vote in England. In recent years, some of her music has been performed at Konserthuset, but this is the first time the programme will feature Mass in D – a Swedish premiere! The magnificent mass is constructed almost like an opera and is simultaneously melodically tasteful and intricate, dramatic and expressively imagistic. For her efforts in England, Ethel Smyth was named Dame of the British Empire.

'The Waves' by The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

13 April 2019

Today's volunteering activity with Konserthuset (The Concert House). I love concerts. This concert is different from the usual concerts as it has a huge screen with a soundless film being played and accompanied by the music from the orchestra. The concert is titled 'The Waves' (Vågorna in Swedish) and the film showed marine life in its habitat, the pollution that is killing the marine life, and strong waves at the end of the film. 

Our tickets were 3 rows from the front. So, you can imagine that my neck was aching after the concert. Haha!

Chamber concert - RSPO Orchestra Academy and University College of Opera

21 March 2019

Volunteer duties at The Concert House today. Today, I stood in Concert House to distribute flyers on Kompis Sverige and explain what is the organization about. We had an event today to listen to a chamber concert at The Concert House, so I did this before listening to the concert. 

I had an interesting experience explaining to the Swedes who stopped to listen. My speech goes like this - Kompis Sverige is an integration project that matches newcomers with Swedes based on their interests and background. Would you like to meet a new friend from another country?  I put on my widest smile! And prayed that they understand me.

I believe it is so important for newcomers to have friends in a new country because I was like that too - I did not have any friends when I came and it was so lonely and you have no one to hang out with or understand how things work. I could not train Swedish with any new friends. I got friends now from my language school and Kompis Sverige activities. So, I wished that the newcomers will have friends. One really needs a friend. In my case, I could not get any friends from Kompis Sverige because they did not have an agreement with my municipal, so I just joined their activities instead and got to meet new people too. 

Some responses I got from:

1) 2 elderly ladies: “We are married to foreigners. We have lots of friends from other countries.” One of them wanted to know where I came from. 

2) man and a son: “Son, won’t it be interesting to meet a friend from another country?” The kid was trying to pull away from the dad.

3) an elderly man: “I have little time. I want to watch the concert. Say as fast as you can.” Thankfully, I could because I have been practicing the same lines. 

4) most of the elderly folk: “I don’t want to meet new people”

5) 2 ladies: “That would be great to meet new people”

So, the best part is everyone who I spoke to understood what I am saying in Swedish because I thought the elderly would not understand me so well as I don’t have the accent. This accent is so important - because of the different accentuation in the pronunciation. 

The photo says - Say hello to our volunteer Shi Yan. Today, we have informed about Kompis Sverige at Konserthuset. 

This is a 40-minute chamber concert by the students of RSPO Orchestra Academy and University College of Opera. I realized I enjoy listening to classical music and opera or symphony concerts after going to these events that were organized by Kompis Sverige. It is amazing to note that I have a new interest now.

Korean performance - Coreyah and Nanta

14 March 2019

I had a fantastic evening watching the performances of 2 Korean groups (Coreyah with the instruments and Nanta with the kitchen equipment) that were brought to Stockholm to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Sweden and Republic of Korea's diplomatic relationship. It is as if I just watched a live performance of K-Pop concert! The Coreyah group even wore the colors of a Swedish flag.

Coreyah is a Korean music ensemble consisting of 3 performers of traditional Korean instruments, one vocalist, one guitarist and one world percussionist. Nanta is a non-verbal performance integrating traditional Korean rhythm with comedy and drama in the kitchen. 

The event started with an opening speech by the Ambassador of Korea. 

The Coreyah performance took about an hour and it was fantastic and lively. The drummer spoke and I thought he was cute on how he expressed himself. Haha!

I had no idea about Nanta until I saw its performance. The group came in by creating music with kitchen equipment and danced up to the stage. It was definitely loud because they were hitting pots and pans but there was a rhythm, of course. Nanta was really hilarious with their comical actions in the kitchen. I laughed out loud which I never expected myself to. Finally, it ended with the group playing their make-shift drums from barrels.

Pan flute by Dana Dragomir

29 January 2019

I have not heard of the pan flute until I went to an event that was organised by the Romanian Embassy to celebrate the Romanian Presidency of the Council of European Union. I was in awe of the performance for that night - by Dana Dragomir, the first female professional for the pan flute which is Romania's national instrument. If you have no idea how a pan flute sounds, you should find it on YouTube! She shot to fame in Sweden when she played a repertoire that was written by one of the ABBA singers.  

The pan flutes (also known as panpipes or syrinx) are a group of musical instruments based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length (and occasionally girth). Multiple varieties of pan flutes have long been popular as folk instruments. The pipes are typically made from bamboo, giant cane, or local reeds. Other materials include wood, plastic, metal and ivory. Source from Wikipedia.

Piano recital with Roland Pöntinen

27 January 2019

Afternoon well spent in The Concert House to listen to a piano recital. I am not musically talented but I did enjoy the music, although I almost fell asleep. The music is soothing to the ears and it will definitely serve well as a bedtime music. By the way, this event is brought to you by Kompis Sverige!

It is a 2-hour event. There were 40 seats reserved for us. I am really thankful for this opportunity!

Schumann's Cello Concert - Symphony Orchestra 2019

9 January 2019

The first local activity that I joined for the year was a symphony orchestra. It was a Christmas present by Konserthuset (The Concert House) to Kompis Sverige. It was my first time watching the orchestra and I watched them from the second floor. The first part before the recess was a cello concert. The second part after the recess included drums and harps. I wondered if one musician played a wrong tune, can it be heard? It was a 1 hour, 50 minutes that includes a 20-minute break. My apologies for my lack of description. As you can conclude very well from my lack of description, I am not proficient in music. Sometimes, I call myself 'tone deaf'. Haha!

This is me during the recess. It was a 20-minute recess for coffee or tea or toilet.

The second session has more musicians. It was Franz Schmidt Symphony No. 4 which I enjoyed.

Kompis Sverige: Theater and Concert

I found out about Kompis Sverige (pronounced as 'kom-pis s-veh-reah') in December 2017 and never got myself to research more about it, until one fine day, I got bored with all the Meetup activities and wanted to do something different. So, I went into Kompis Sverige website, and entered into a whole new world of theater plays and soprano singing which would never have been possible for me due to the tickets' prices. 

Kompis Sverige is a non-profit organisation by Red Cross that helps foreigners to integrate into the Swedish society. Bless their kind heart because it is REALLY difficult to integrate into a Swedish society. Kompis Sverige connects foreigners with Swedes and befriend one another. Unfortunately, I am not privileged to that because I live in Stockholm municipality which does not have an agreement with Kompis Sverige to connect me with Swedish friends. Do I have any Swedish friends? Just one - my mentor at work. I went on a guided walk once upon a time and the tour guide said that all Swedes have found their friends by the time they are 5. Haha! It sounds funny but it is the truth. It was difficult for me initially without a friend when I came to Sweden. Then, I found out that there are a number of websites that offers this 'getting-to-know-a-Swede' as a friend - which shows that it is not easy to get a Swede as a friend. Swedes are reserved. It is part of their DNA. Don't ask me why. Soon, I started school (to learn Swedish) and I have friends from other parts of the world except Sweden. Haha! The irony when I am in Sweden.

In the website, there are a list of activities where one can click to join and if you are late, you can join the waiting list and may be able to join if you are lucky. So far, I have clicked to join concert performance, theater play and a musical comedy. At no cost. Thank you, Kompis Sverige. 

26 February 2018

Final rehearsal of a play titled Ilya. It was staged in Kulturhuset (The Culture House) - a blue colour building. The play is about a lady who lost her daughter, found her but the child was sent to social services because the parents were not in a condition to bring up the child and finally found her again after 10 years. A 3-hour play with a 15-minute pause. A staff came out and rang a bell to get the crowd back in.

22 April 2018

Play by William Spetz. I had no idea who he was but apparently he is quite well known in the arts and acting industry. A 15-year old told me to check him out on YouTube. It was a 1.5 hour play about his memories of his late grandmother. His performance was amazing and he managed to hold the crowd's attention the whole time. He even got a standing ovation at the end.