Project Week

November 29th, 2019

Investigation:

At UWCSEA, we have a wonderful opportunity to go on a trip with others all by ourselves and planned all by ourselves throughout South East Asia in order to complete one or more of the CAS objectives. (maybe more)

For my project week, I am quite interested to do an activity, most likely hiking, but I would most like to do an environmental service, especially with my GC—Gili Eco Trust. This is because we need to maintain a relationship between the school and the NGO we are working with.

Initially, we had some mingle activities and introduction to what Project Week is. At first, it was difficult to find a group that had similar interests and groups that I could find myself working well with. However, almost to the last minute of the deadline, I found a group that I could work with and I have some hopes and worries. Fortunately, there are some people I know including one person from Solar for East and another a member of my GC (is the co-vice chair with me). They seem to be a group that will do work and won’t slack off. However, I am not so connected with them at the moment and I am worried because 4 of them are in a relationship and that could end in a disaster both for them as a relationship but also onto the rest of the group members. But hopefully, everything should be good. Our group are planning to go to Gili and with the GC and hike on Rinjani Dawn. So it that sense, it has really lived up to my hopes for project week.


December 5th, 2019

Preparation:

For our preparation, we have made a plan (and it got accepted) and contacted our supervisor. We are planning a schedule and draft email to the NGO among many things that need to be done. As of right now, our preparation is looking pretty good. In this group, I actually haven’t done a lot of work and it has been spread out, which is a positive and benefit in working in a group. Also, in this case, things are going much faster than if I were to do this individually and in this kind of project it is always better to be in a group assuming those group members not only work well with each other but are somewhat productive.

 

 

Right now, my only main concern with our plan is about hiking. I’m quite an adventurous person and don’t mind hard work so, if anything, I would like for the hike to be as challenging as it can be. Some of my group members are not as adventurous so we need to compromise a bit. So far, we have a provider that will help us, and I am a bit worried that they will provide us with too much, meaning that they will do all the cooking, carrying and setting up the tents. The only good thing would be that we are supporting mainly locals but for me, I would feel too privileged and lazy if this were to happen. So, my hope is that I can at least relieve the load on these providers and help them too.

#LO5


January 24th, 2020

Preparation:

So far in the planning process, we have done a lot, from contacting the NGO and action providers to picking hotels to plan flights to doing all the necessary requirements for medical information and lots more. A lot of forms have been stamped and signed as well.

The process has been quite hectic and there has been lots of planning that I never thought of when going on a trip albeit it is also an unusual trip with lots of hiking and working with service partners. But despite this, there is a lot of planning involved in this sort of trip, even for just a few days. I feel as though project week and the whole journey from planning to execution, is an amazing opportunity that will help me in future projects and really just planning and working together as a team. It is a very special and privileged opportunity and I am quite excited.


February 11th, 2020

Unfortunately, due to the 2019-nCoV situation or Coronavirus, the school has decided to cancel all overseas trips until August 2020. This was decided by the Singapore government in support of international crisis management. It is quite disappointing and it was a once a lifetime opportunity but one cannot get or do everything in their life, and I already have a very privileged life and so I perhaps shouldn’t complain. Although sure, it would be a great experience and I would love to embark on this exciting opportunity, the actual trip part was the only thing left we needed to do. We did a lot of planning and this is a great learning experience that I can use later on in life as planning and organisational skills that are similar to planning trips or just planning, in general, are essential to keep on top of things and in some ways reduce stress.
So Project Week will not be happening this year and hopefully, next year’s Grade 11s will be able to embark on this exciting opportunity.

 

High School Chamber Ensemble (Includes ITP)

September 9th, 2019

Investigation:

I decided to join and audition for the High School Chamber Ensemble because of two things. One was that I was interested in it and wanted to try something new. The second reason was because of my hopes for joining the jazz band. Although I can already play a few instruments such as the cello and piano and could perhaps join the jazz band playing the piano (as I already can play really well and have played jazz pieces before), I wanted to join the jazz band playing a more interesting instrument. Last year I started playing the double bass and since I am a quick learner (due to my previous music experiences), I am already fit (and have been accepted) for the high school chamber ensemble. I do not have time for the Jazz band right now, or at least during their audition and rehearsal times so I have decided to start with this ensemble for hopes to be better at playing the double bass and possibly be able to join the jazz band on one fo their performances as a bassist (my orchestral conductor and organiser of the chamber ensemble plays the double bass and sometimes plays as a sub in for the jazz band (since there isn’t anyone playing the double bass at the moment except those playing the electric bass) which means that I could work with him to reach that goal).

Preparation: 

During today’s session, we introduced to each other and started on play two pieces, one a Beethoven piece and the other a Romanian folk dance. My role is to play the Double bass and to provide the rhythm and overall accompaniment to both pieces. Since the double bass is a relatively new instrument to me (although I am still able to play the pieces below), this will be a new experience for, as well as a new experience as I have never played in a chamber ensemble before. In order to develop this unfamiliar experience, I have prepared along with my conductor (who plays the double bass) to have ITP (Instrumental Teaching Program) to practice on the double bass. ITP is also a new experience of which I have not taken before.

In addition, I find it quite beneficial to work in an ensemble, especially with a double bass being a new instrument as I can listen to what the others are playing and maintain the same tempo and feel of the music. Since all of us are very good musicians, it was quick enough for all of us to start playing these pieces. However, it is a challenge to know what to listen for and being able to both collaborate and work together as musicians while still maintaining good articulation and style of one’s own instrument. So there is a bit of juggling with playing in an ensemble.

Below are the two pieces we have started working on:

 

#LO2
#LO5

———————————————————————————————–September 27th, 2019

CAS Audio Conversation Reflection


October 14th, 2019

I have had a few ITP lessons with my orchestral teacher who plays bass and I have played a few exercise pieces such as these below:

These are quite easy, but they are a good way to work on my articulation and bowing, as well as fingering, to be more prepared and confident when playing the difficult pieces in the ensembles I am in. Also, by being more confident in the playing I can focus on other techniques as a musician and will have an easier time at the following tempo and learning new pieces. I will be soon working on a bit of Jazz. In a way, this is quite vital for me to do this as the bass is still a relatively new instrument.

In the Chamber Ensemble, I have been continuing to work on the Romanian Folk Dance which bowing, articulation and rhythm are all quite difficult. This will be the areas I will be practising on.


November 4th, 2019

Today, I have been working on jazz including simple walking bass lines and walking blue’s lines. I have been doing some individual study in the walking bass lines and some of the jazz pieces (and even some rock pieces) that I play on the piano have similarities in the jazz I play on the double bass. Jazz is just a simple (sometimes complicated) skeletal structure in which musicians can improvise and play along. On the piano, when I improvise, it is all about following the chord structures or the main chord on the piano. For instance, when I play Green Onions (which is not jazz technically but has elements of it), I play around the F minor blues scale. When I play the double bass, I look at the chord that is currently being played and then play the notes in that scale. Sometimes I go up chromatically and sometimes I go up or down arpeggios and major notes in a scale. Also, by playing the double bass, I have been able to acquire more knowledge in jazz but also become more confused about what jazz really is.

Source: Louis Armstrong Quote. (2019). A-Z Quotes. Retrieved 5 November 2019, from https://www.azquotes.com/quote/10818

#LO2


January 13th, 2019

Today, My orchestra teacher and I noticed that my posture for holding the bass or rather when playing notes was off and possibly due to my wrist injury I created a new habit of playing wrong., so something that I will be working on for the next few weeks is developing my playing skills especially my hand posture and sustaining notes. After trying the correct posture I noticed that I came closer and closer to the bass and was not relaxed so it will take time.

This week we have been working on Capriol by peter warlock and And is a very famous and rememberable tune that I’m sure most people recognise. .We were going to play this in the orchestra a few years ago and at the time I was playing the cello but know I’m laying bass and although the parts are a bit easy and different it is still a fun place to play, but the downside is that there is a lot of rest and one where there are about 30 bars of rests, making me feel like the brass section of the orchestra, just kidding.

Unfortunately, I am unable to participate in this activity anymore because of the New Coronavirus outbreak. The Singapore government and the school have put tight restrictions on performances and events with many people. So the concert in school and the Esplanade concert will be cancelled. However, the Esplanade concert will be postponed to December.  Despite the bad news, we will have a relatively small performance in the Music Department for a few Middle and Junior school classes (they will rotate so not everyone at once) and we will play a few of the pieces in the symphony orchestra and perhaps the chamber music ensemble as well.

So far, both orchestra and chamber music has been going well. I have been able to keep up and balance with my demands from academics, yet still have intense but enjoyable sessions with the chamber music ensemble. We have even stayed after school for extra practices (usually after the orchestra because all of us lay in the orchestra. I am really glad that I pursued music as an after school activity here at UWC.

#LO1, #LO4


April 20th, 2020

We are living in quite a unique time right now because of the COVID-19 situation and almost everyone around the world have had and are having similar experiences with COVID-19 such as working from home, school closures, lockdowns, social distancing and many other methods. In Singapore, we have had almost a complete lockdown where schools are shut down, non-essential business are closed, people working from home, mandatory mask-wearing outside and when outside, only for much-needed exercise and buying groceries. This, of course, will affect the organisation and our service in Solar For East but despite the Circuit Breaker (that is the name of the lockdown here in Singapore which was extended to June the first from May the 4th), we still do some of the work that we still can.

We had a meeting online with Google Meet where we discussed a possible performance online where we each individually play a piece and then put it all together so it becomes like a real performance, and share this piece to the wider UWCSEA community. This is going to be lots of fun but also challenging because we are going to have to play the same tempo and the same tuning otherwise it can go horribly wrong. TO solve this, we will all tune to A 440 and have the same tempo (headphones on so with a metronome and not disturb the sound of the recording). The piece we will play will be the Romanian Folk dance by Bartok.

#LO4


14th June 2020

The only thing we managed to do in this circuit breaker period is an attempt to record a piece collectively but that went horribly wrong because we started around the beginning of the circuit breaker period to record this, and only a few of us including myself actually recorded our individual parts. This was disappointing that nothing really happened, but hopefully next year, we might have a concert and perform or practice new pieces.

In terms of the whole year, the chamber has been an amazing chance to practice a new instrument and moving to different genres of music like Jazz. One of my goals for this year was to expand my musical knowledge and that was defiantly met. I even learned a new instrument and I am grateful for the people who have helped me and the opportunity to grow in many of these ensembles. I am most certainly going to continue this journey next year and Chamber has absolutely been so amazing every practice session.

22nd September 2020

In this chamber ensemble this year, I hope to develop my skills in the double bass playing both modern classical and classical music to enhance my music skills. In addition, I hope to be more active in my notes on music sheets, I tend not to write a lot of notes and thus forget and don’t actively improve sometimes, so my aim this year is to actively take down notes on particular sections of music such as outlining a rhythm or circle an important dynamic marking or writing down fingerings and bowing and so on. This will not only help me practice but it will ultimately help be more active and contribute more to the ensemble as I am not racking my brain for a particular thing my instructor told me two weeks ago about a particular section in the music.

I have a study to look at which will help me a lot with the baroque (Bach) piece as there is a lot of sixteenth notes and scales which is quite difficult to play quickly and articulately on double bass. So that is something that I will work on.

Besides, the other two pieces are fairly manageable and the Despedida piece (a Filipino piece with marimba) isn’t particularly difficult but has an unusual and confusing rhythm because of all the key changes. But since the rhythm repeats itself, just getting it in the head at the start of the piece will make the playing of the music a lot easier. The switch between 6/8, 2/4 and 3/4 seems daunting in the beginning but after a while, it makes sense and isn’t all that difficult. It is just about getting that feel which I will be working on with this piece.

This is an exciting opportunity to play the double bass again and in a style and setting, I am very familiar with. But despite this, there is a lot to be learned especially with the Bach piece which is quite challenging.

   

#LO1, #LO2, #LO4

31st October 2020

Today we had a recording session of the 1929 piece (above image) at school which we will then send to the school community. We would have played this piece in the Wavelengths concert at school but of course due to Covid that will not happen. We might have a chance to play at the Esplanade concert hall in February but so far not likely. It was a great chance to play with others and hopefully share this piece with others. During the practising and actuating recording, it was really important to listen to others, breathing together and making eye contact with other players so that we are all on time and play harmoniously with others. It can be difficult to focus on others and oneself but with practice, it makes it easier. It is a lot of fun to play with others because it adds more richness to the music and it is a lot more fun to play with others than individually. Like there is a connection between music and people.

#LO4, #LO5

December 2020

Up to this point, we have been able to record the Marimba Concerto, the Price Quartet and the Bach Double despite the covid restrictions. It is nearing my end here with the Chamber Ensemble group and I have been ever so grateful for this experience, playing really challenging pieces with only strings and improving a lot on my bowing and playing higher notes on the double bass (new skill). The Bach double piece is a quick tempo and with lots of arpeggios and scales that can be difficult with the double bass, but I was able to overcome this challenge. I will continue playing for the chamber ensemble group next year and I will keep playing music and the double bass (as well as cello and piano) for the rest of my life. I have learned a lot as an ensemble and have made great friends as a result. This has honesty been a fantastic experience and a tremendous experience to share with the community the pieces we have been working on.

#LO2, #LO4

Final Reflection Post on Service: Urban Gardening

Urban Gardening has been fun and exciting. Through this service, I have progressed quite a lot and have learnt much about gardening and sustainability. Although I had a vague idea that green rooftops were sustainable I wasn’t exactly sure why or how. Green roofs act almost as an insulation and so a building doesn’t need as much air conditioning as it would normally do. In addition, although Singapore has no winter season, green rooftops also act as an insulator to the cold during winter. Thus they reduce energy costs and the Urban Heat Island effect which is a process in which urban environments absorb heat making the hotter than the surrounding rural areas.

Green roofs also provide shade, remove air particulates (as in pollution, especially carbon dioxide) and produce oxygen. They last twice as long as normal roofs and reduce and sometimes slow stormwater runoff. So this is what I have been contributing to school and what I have learnt about green roofs in urban environments and sustainability.

Furthermore, I have developed many group skills such as communication, leadership and organisation which is needed to maintain a healthy garden and a well-contributing group. I have also learnt a lot about gardening which includes gardening skills such as transplanting, propagating, fertilising. Or tools such as the difference between spades and shovels, and what a hoe is used for. I have also learnt different types of plants and what they need or provide through research such as how beans (image below) grow fast, release nitrogen into the soil and need to grow on something:

I have learnt a lot more about plants and something interesting that I have learnt is how asexual banana plants will grow smaller banana plants around the main one, which started happening when I transplanted a banana plant to my bed:

Moreover, not only have I been contributing to environmental sustainability but I have also used the garden for other purposes such as giving fruits, mainly papaya, to Fresh Fruit Friday, a service aimed at providing fresh fruits for migrant workers. I have also been planning on providing vegetables to another service which aims to provide fresh vegetables to the school community, and planning to give information sessions to parents on how they can make their own garden, especially grow their own food. This service has in somewhat inspired me to be more environmentally aware and I have started to grow into my passion for the environment.

 

Below are some photos of the evolution of my and my partner’s garden bed.

              

 

Final Reflection Post on Skills: Playing cello in a Symphony Orchestra

For my NYAA I started my activity in September of 2017 and finished in October 2018. However, I am still in the orchestra and I hope to continue through my High School years. The orchestra has taught me many things and most of all has been a lot of fun. One of the most important skills in an orchestra is listening to other musicians, and I have developed this skill and have seen the impact on my listening skills.

Furthermore, every piece that we practice requires a lot of practice and having the hard-working mentality has been very helpful in my academic classes. In addition to that, I have grown as a musician, being able to play a variety of genres and also expand my knowledge of music. The orchestra has inspired me to play or at least inspire me to play other instruments. Nowadays, I sometimes record a piece on a piano and then play it while I play the cello piece. Although it is great to play solo, I  believe playing in an ensemble such as an orchestra makes the music experience so much more engaging and fun which is why I have tried to play multiple instruments to get that feeling. This makes music much more engaging and fun. My grandmother came and visited us in December and January of 2017/2018and we played together as an ensemble (she the piano and me the cello) for some Swedish tunes which were extremley rewarding and fun, especially in front of a crowd.

Thus, I think it is safe to say that I have made a quite considerable amount of progress as a cellist, and a musician in an orchestra or an ensemble. Finally, through the variety of pieces/genres (we have played rock, pop, classical, scene music, and more), we have played and from previous ensembles and orchestra from previous schools, I have now explored new genres of music for cello and piano. Right now, I am playing Bohemian Rhapsody by the queen on both piano and cello and have started composing new pieces of my own creation inspired by other pieces or from my imagination. For the future, I would like to play other instruments such as the French horn, drums, bass, saxophone, flute and more.

Personal Statement

In the midst of the Midsummer’s day, or midsommarsdag as known in Sweden, and right at the coast of the southernmost point in Sweden stood a cottage so ordinary in Skåne (southern Sweden). Close to it, a juniper and moss-shaded green, and quite an ordinary forest shielded the fierce wind from the Baltic sea that day. However, what lay deep in the forest was a trädkoja, which in Swedish translates to a treehouse, but what was strange about it, wasn’t because it stood out, but rather because it blended right into the birches and ashes. You see, the treehouse was built with natural materials around it, no tools were needed in the construction except a saw, but there was a ladder from an old playground nearby. It gave a new meaning to sustainable architecture. Cousins, siblings, aunts and uncles from all over Skåne came, and either admire or aided the construction. Despite the few days when the logs from the second level fell down on unsuspected visitors or even one time when the whole structure broke down, we managed to build it up again and make it even sturdier. Hence, this expresses one of the fundamental passions that I have which has somewhat woven intertwined with each other is the environment and design.

Furthermore, in terms of academics, I don’t have any huge goals at the moment. I feel like the effort that I am putting in now is sufficient, sometimes even too much. Therefore, my “goal” in the academic side of things is to continue that effort and work that I am doing in academics. Of course, if there is anything that I in the future have trouble with, I will do as I have always done, to work hard onto improve that particular topic. As mentioned before my two passions are the enviornment and the design, or a least so far. Likewise, for service I am going to continue in Grade 10 to do the services that relate to the environment which are Climate Change and Clean Energy (college service), Urban Gardening (college service, East Solar Initiative (service started by a student) and Gili Eco Trust (Global Concern). Moreover, I used to play a great deal of sports, and a range of sports as well. I have been trying to balance academic and activities as well as service but it hasn’t worked out as I wanted to. Although I wish I could compete in a team, I don’t have time for that. This is why I have decided to do Floorball on Wednesdays and Badminton on Saturdays. Thus, for next year, I will do a similar sort of arrangement. In order to look slightly beyond my time in High School, I think it is safe to say, or at least at the moment, that my plan is to enroll in a university that considers environmental sustainability, and study/purse architecture (specialising in sustainable and “green” architecture) or something that relates to the environment. This isn’t the final plan, but I suppose it is good enough for now. The university that I would enrol in would probably be in Sweden, as I am Swedish and because they are free there, or possibly Canada, as I have a Canadian passport (my father’s Canadian)

I am not that type of person who wants to be the best at everything (although it may seem like it to some people, I really wish it weren’t true that I am good (not perfect or best) at a lot of things) or the person who does extra work, doing internships or anything like that. However, maybe I should consider doing some work that relates do what I am passionate about. In addition to that, at times, I feel like I have too many services that I commit to. Furthermore, I am in the High School Symphony Orchestra because I like that type of music and playing the cello (although I really want to try some jazz instruments because that is also something I’m interested in). In fact, I had real trouble deciding whether to do RM (resistant materials) or Music. I want to be that type of person at the High School concerts who is in the background and plays a range of instruments. My goal for music is to play in the orchestra for High School Musical next year and to perhaps try a range or a different instrument, and be more involved in the school concerts.

For me, except for my passion and the importance of environmentalism, I think that one of the most profound belief that I have is that everyone should have some purpose, something that is significant, even it is small, it has to have some impact. Of course, I would hope that one would do something good, but even it is bad, it should be significant. I don’t believe in any higher deity, but I feel like if your alive, you have to do something that is worthwhile. In the back of my mind, I sometimes feel hatred toward obnoxious jerks or if I feel like some person doesn’t care about the environment or other people. That they are selfish or that if they didn’t exist (I am sorry about this, but this is truly how I feel sometimes) nothing would change, or that the world would be a better place. Of course, if all humans didn’t exist, the world would definitely be a significantly better place, but I think you know what I mean. Thankfully, I don’t lash out or do something mean to them, but this is a problem but also a deep belief that I have.

GPers Essays and Summative Task

During my Global Perspectives or GPers units, we have always had a summative task, usually an essay, that sums up the unit. For our first unit, we looked at ourselves so we wrote an essay about our creation of our Mandalas. In the second, we explored faith, ethics and ideologies and chose one topic we were passionate about and looked through the lenses of those big ideas. Here are my essays:

10/10 2017 – Teacher: Sanjay Perera

Mandala Reflection

By Oscar Landgren

In our first unit in Global Perspectives, we learned about our personal culture. We have conducted research into sexuality, gender, stereotypes, identities, cultures and the debate of nature versus nurture. For our reflection and summative task, we were asked to create a Mandala in which one side was our sun side and the other the shadow. Similar to the concept of the Yin and Yang in which there are two components that represent a whole, the sun side represents what’s visible and projected while on the other hand, the shadow represents the side that’s hidden and may be deeper in meaning.

Firstly, in order to show what’s visible and projected, I have focused on three characteristics. In the beginning of constructing my Mandala, I thought that although I am not the smartest in the grade, many see me as knowledgeable and intelligent. Therefore, there are many elements of intelligence on my sun side for example, in many cultures such as Ancient Greek and Mayan, the owl is a general symbol to describe intelligence (Dawn, Farmer, Andrew, 2017). In addition to that, wearing glasses and reading a book is also a symbol to describe intelligence (Weller, 2017). Therefore, the owl wears glasses and has a pile of books near it. On the contrary, it was my own choice to develop this passion for learning proving how I also partly identify myself with free will. Furthermore, later on in the process, I decided to add a map of the world with flags from the places I am from and those I have lived in, to show how I identify myself as a collectivist. The map is a representation of a worldwide community showing how I am not a citizen of just one place, but rather a citizen of the world. I believe that we are in a sense, made up of places and my nationality and the cultures I have experienced are definitely aspects of my identity that is widely shown. Therefore, the globe represents a worldwide community that I am apart of, but also how I have become a third culture kid (Lily, Liu and thenativeforeigner, 2017). Moreover, through this Mandala project, I have realised how important determinism is to my identity. On my sun side, I have drawn a seed which connects to a plant on the shadow side through a green line. This green line is there to connect the two sides of the Mandala making it connected. Likewise, this seed represents the things that I cannot change, the things that I am born with which is a part of my identity. That seed and even the plant on the other side look healthy because a part of my nature and nurture have contributed to create a very privileged me. The seed and the plant are similar to the Yin and Yang concept and in this case, the seed symbolises my nature and my genes.  Despite the fact that some individuals are born with lower privilege than others, I believe that it is important to understand the privilege we have and to then take actions that benefit both ourselves and others. Furthermore, I have also focused on three characteristics to show what is more hidden but more deeply rooted in my identity. The education that I have had has impacted on my identity in ways that have made me extremely privileged. These schools that I have attended to have opened my mind to new possibilities and strengthen my passion for the environment and design. To show that gratefulness, I’ve decided to draw the logos of three schools in the Mandala to all symbolise…

Continue reading “GPers Essays and Summative Task”

Wavelengths Concert

On Wednesday the 13th in December,  I finally had a concert (Wavelengths) with my orchestra. We had to rehearse a lot before that. That Saturday during the week, we had to practice 2 hours with the middle school orchestra since our conductor wanted both orchestras to play “Dance of the Tumblers”. In addition to that, we had a sneak-peak or preview on Tuesday which at the same time, we talked about our instruments and the orchestra to the junior students (as in elementary school, not juniors in high school as they call it in the U.S.A). It was great fun that day but there was a lot of rehearsing and practicing before Wavelengths.

On Wednesday we had a two-hour rehearsal as well so as a result of that, I had to miss mathematics to meet this rehearsal. Furthermore, I was able to see the other performers and I thought all were really good. I liked the jazz bands, the singers, the Focus Africa group and even the Samba group as well. There were four segments in the entire concert. The first one was in the plaza where the Focus Africa group played their marimba and the Samba band played their instruments.

After that, the audience had to move to the second segment in the auditorium which was the bands such as the jazz bands. The third segment was the singers and there were many. I especially enjoyed the small group of high school singers which were really good. Kind of like High School Musical, just joking. Anyways, the final segment was the orchestral one and that is where I played.

During the second-half of the first piece which was the Holzberg piece or Suite im Alten Style prelude, my endpin of the cello slipped and some saw it who were at the front but luckily not my parents. In order to not cause any trouble, I had to hold the cello tightly and in some parts, fake what I was playing. However, the other two pieces went really well despite the fact that I didn’t have much room as I normally do because I was much closer to my cellist next to me on the left and really close to the violist on my right, therefore, hindering my performance.

Finally, even though there were some accidents and mistakes (not necessarily in the piece), my family, including my grandmother who was visiting, though it was amazing to hear me.