(This is the first part of my writing about the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, a London-based examination board for music. I will try REALLY HARD not to be too opinionated, although I know I might break my own rule.)
Now this first writing is going to be about High Scorers' Concert (HSC), an annual event held by the ABRSM and its local representative, in this case, Indonesia. Every year they choose some kids in each exam centers (cities) who got the finest results, told them to play 1 (one) piece which bears the highest mark, to the invitees of this concert, who are mostly parents and teachers. Afterwards these kids will be given a pin and a certificate and they got to take hundreds of pictures with one or sometimes two ABRSM's officers who come especially from London to celebrate their success.
Now I just came back from this year's HSC for 2010 result in Jakarta. This was how the day went.
I drove at 5.30 a.m. from Bandung so I could be in Jakarta to accompany an 11-year-old violinist who happened to be selected for this prestigious event. Her parents were ecstatic and enthusiastic. They were in great mood and glorious. We drove through the fresh morning weather. Since the road was still quite empty, and this girl's dad just couldn't wait to see his darling play, we arrive 1 hour before the scheduled time for general repetition. So we waited. At 9, we started the whole procession. It was a procession indeed. We were given a fanfare music to walk to the stage as the concert manager introduced us to the audience. The "introduction" consisted of us standing up, walking down, forming line, going on stage, off stage, then repeating the whole thing up to three times because the manager couldn't decide whether she wanted us to form 2 or 3 lines. After 45 minutes, we were finally given a chance to try out the piano. But since there were so many of us today, each performer were allowed only less than 1 minute. This part of rehearsal, which was supposed to be the most important one, took only 60 minutes for 57 performers. By 11 a.m. we're allowed to try out one more time, so everybody literally ran to stand in line so we all could play our piece in one piece, but by 11.30 we were told to have lunch and get dressed and be ready by 12.30.
The concert began at 1 p.m. Before I proceed with time-table, there's something worth mentioning here. FYI, all ABRSM-related events (concerts, seminars, etc.) are always held in hotels, minimum four-stars. Today it was at InterContinental Hotel. Sure enough, it was posh. But the carpeting, the softboard wall, the chair with all its fancy pinafore, created a totally dry acoustic in the room. The grand piano was almost mute, and the sound of Chinese and Korean violins on that room was funereal, so the concert manager even asked accompanists to even lower that already-faint sound. It was the quietest concert I've ever attended.
Now, let's continue with time. So I sat next to my violinist at 1 p.m. in a cold room before our turn to play. And that came sometime around 2.25. My fingers were already stiff because of the air con. We took the stage for 1 minute, then sat again waiting for the concert to finish, which was at 3. There were certificate and pin and gift distributions for about 40 minutes, because each performer took 2 pictures with each of the ABRSM's officers who came today. Then there were what I thought would be an endless photo-taking session with everybody: parents, teachers, organizers, and we left the hotel at 4. I got home at 8 p.m.
I know it happens all the time with such communal concerts. You waited for hours just so you can show people how far you've done with your instrument. When you're not that far, you can only show it in 50 seconds. When you're already quite far, you're lucky because you get to enjoy the stage at least a bit longer. But here are some financially-related facts: (1) each performer (except accompanists) has to pay USD 45 to participate in the concert, plus (2) USD 15 to get their profiles appear in concert booklets. That's USD 60 in total for one single performance, in which the artist plays not more than 3 minutes. Now for those of you who do not aware of the value of USD 60 in my country, let's just say that this amount can pay a rent for a very decent room for one month.
All of this just doesn't make sense. First of all, ABRSM exam is known to be pricey. And each year their prices go up. They don't have a policy on different fees for different countries with different economic situations. When I took my diploma in 2006, I had to pay about 1 million rups, which I did so unwillingly. Now a grade 8 exam alone costs 1,4 million rups. (The diploma costs 2,5 million, in case you're curious). Second of all, after everybody gets their results, the best musicians of them all get a treat, only they themselves have to pay a lot of money for this treat. And a lot of this money go to unnecessary stuffs like renting ballroom. And third of all, there were 57 mums and dads in that room today who happily paid for this.
I guess it's everybody's right to feel good, and that sum is probably nothing compared to the pride of seeing your children step in front of the piano or sing or strike their violins, or to the satisfaction of knowing that the money you've invested on their music education are not wasted. My only complaint was that after sitting all day in that cold ballroom, I got a sore throat and a tummy ache. But hey, at least I didn't have to pay a dime.
