Battle Royale - 日本

Yet another outcry from the Genus senior community, this time sparked by an email sent by Dom regarding the auditions for the impending Japan visit.

Nothing to do with me, to be frank, since i am neither going to Japan, nor will be involved in the auditions in any manner. But the episode has nevertheless been rather amusing and even funny, in a manner of speaking. It made me think:

这趟日本之行，到底是为了什么？

我想对很多人来说，是一个难得的机会。能够老远地飞到 Ｎｉｉｂｏｒｉ 吉他的出源地 － 日本，和当地的吉他团“砌磋”歌艺，又能同时欣赏到那里的风俗和美景，肯定是一件赏心乐事。

但对另一些人，这也可能是一种骄傲，一种肯定。怎么说，能够代表自己的团队“出征”海外，并不是人人都能拥有的宝贵经验。

这也许就是为什么有些人对这次的日本之行怀着一份强烈的期待，一份执著。。。

But because the trip is NOT going to be paid for by the CFA management nor by Genus ( even with the subsidy, the costs would still be significant), another train of thought or emotion surfaced:

They (ie. CFA/Genus management) should be glad i am willing to (take time off/leave, and spend my own $$) go. If not for a substantial group of us stronger players going, Genus may suffer a loss of face, loss of reputation, even loss of relationship with the Japan side.
So why should i subject myself to ridiculous demands such as attending AUDITIONS to prove my "worth"?

This perhaps and unfortunately, may clash with Dom's opinion that "members should feel PRIVILEGED to have this opportunity to go Japan and represent Genus, and (much as i'd liked to send every single member there) due to budget/logistics constraints, only the deserved members can go". Hence the silly auditions...

As it stands, i am not sure how many members are really keen to go (mainly due to the costs involved), but i do feel that having an audition may dampen the interest and force some people to rethink their decisions.

Yes, we DO want to send a strong team over to Japan, to carry Genus flag high and to show them what we can do, even as a NON professional music group. But on the other hand, we have to remember that Genus IS a CCA club meant for undergraduates who like playing in a guitar ensemble setup. We are NOT a music school (like Yamaha, or YST Conservatory), and our members join purely out of their own interest in guitar music.

So is it really a "shame" EVEN if we end up sending in a young undergraduate team which may not play as well as we'd have hoped?

IMHO, showing great commitment to the cause of Genus, and hence be willing to practice doubly hard on the performing repertoire (for Japan) is good enuff to 'qualify' someone for the trip. And after spending at least a year (or years) together in the ensemble, surely the group's manangement (including the MD!) should have a good idea which player(s) belong to the siow-on & committed and which are the bo-chap & cannotmakeit ones ... *in the 1st place, this 2nd category of people wouldn't even want to go! rem: it's NOT free *

Audition? For fxxx...?