Verbalism Personified

It ain't Like that Anymore

This Sunday, Martin and Pui Leng will be relocating back to Detroit. Taking young Cameron with them, we won't be sitting around talking and drinking for a while.

Arriving in Singapore some years ago, my parents conspired to keep me in the country for the longest possible time. Being gainfully employed and a productive member of the family was part of the plan. So hardly a month had passed before I was interviewing for a marketing position at the symphony orchestra. And that was a three month contract with an option to extend.

Among the first few musicians I got to know were Martin, Jon and Scott. Martin, a double bassist, had been with the orchestra a year prior, while Jon and Scott were to arrive later in December and January. There was also a trombone player but that guy kept pretty much to himself.

Not that it mattered either way, as these corn-fed American boys traded tales on their exploits in the music schools they studied at and orchestras they performed in. Eventually talk came around to the star soloists you see on CD covers. Every suspicion about how "down to earth" some of them are, was narrated in every thrashy detail. Having heard them play monumental pieces with earth-shattering gusto, this was the equivalent of an insider's account of a who-hates-who, who-likes-who and who-did-who. Musicisns, you see, can be just as warm or arrogant as the next Hollywood moviestar.

In the course of my eighteen-month tenure, I got to meet soloists as they flew in for performances. Most of the up-comers were accommodating with administrative and promotional details. As I had a job to do, I got around by humoring them. To their credit, being veterans in the world of suck-up, they knew the benefits of media exposure and many were troopers as we rushed from one media event to the next.

As for us lowly executives and musicians, we'd hang out after concerts with drink, food conversation. Such was the usual practice to end the stressful week. Sometimes the more out-going office colleagues would join in the banter, a clear differentiator from those who were too-serious, too-married and too-everything to make time for the lighter side of life. With other like-minded musicians, Jon's apartment became the de-facto stopover given its centralized location. As rabid movie fans, DVDs would be broken in and comments traded. All done with characteristic Aussie and American wise-crack to keep the brain sharp.

Ivetta joined in the second half of Two Thousand. After hitting it off with Scott, they were married a year later. By then I was way into my third job at the university. Along the way, came Clair and Danielle. Adding their New Yorkian sense of humor to our already lively group of revellers, it was a joy looking forward to their company after spending the week with stiff-necked colleagues.

Though many of us had talked about leaving Singapore, it was Scott who clinched the coveted position of Principal Trumpet with the Denver Symphony Orchestra. Baby Annael arrived just months before they were due to leave. Suddently spending every evening and weekend with them was no longer enough in spite of plans made for cross-continental visits and city-hop-overs in Two Thousand and Five.

With that move, began the cycle in trickles.

Just earlier this year, Tim the Tuba player left with his wife Cindy. They were expecting their first child when they both decided to up and go home. Being a Texan, his practical approach to conflict management made for interesting narration. When confronted with people who don't listen too well, you've got to find the fastest way of getting the message across effectively. And being a former American high-school football quarterback, he certainly had the beans for doing so. Evasive and shady characters found out the hard way as Tim had neither the patience nor the temperence to suffer fools lightly. Those who are direct and up-front usually get on best with him.

With Martin and family leaving this weekend, it's down to Jon and I to hold the fort on what-once-was. However circumstances change. With e-mails and instant messaging, distance isn't an issue anymore. But the lack of physical presense diminises the experience. Teaching at the Music Conservatory, Jon and I meet once a fortnight to catch up and talk about where the Australian dollar is heading. Given the substantial investment he's placed in my city, he has genuine concern about what's in store for the next five years. As for the rest, the latest development is that Ivetta will be back with baby Annael in February for a guest performance, I'll be meeting Claire in Melbourne later this year while Martin will be in around July to promote an album he's putting together.

Not merely content to keep in touch, all of us are making the effort to stay close. Looking back on the old days, it certainly isn't like that anymore.

posted by Teutoburg @ 1:56 AM