In this moment, we are confronted with an unprecedented crisis the world has never experienced before.  However, on the cool evening of 13th December 2020, were you one of 3,339 viewers who joined us for Joyous Rhapsody?

Joyous Rhapsody is a yearly event where a group of Insightful Praise enthusiasts from BW Monastery would gather to make voice offerings to the Triple Gem and to lovely audience.  In this exceptional year, more than 30 melodious Insightful Praises were sung and streamed live via YouTube, BW Monastery website and Facebook!

These insightful praises provided a sanctuary, enabling us to recharge, rise and be triumphant! Songs of hope, compassion, wisdom, courage, praises to the Triple Gem filled the night for 2 hours. The event was co-hosted by Jolynn Chew and Koh Weilin, our bubbly youths.

If you did not manage to join us, fret not!  Let’s do a short recap here.

Insightful Praise Choir Group 1, made up of 24 performers, was the first to perform. They brought us a medley of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva themed songs, inviting Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva to grace this online performance. They also sang the Insightful Praise “暇满人生多美好” (a wonderful human life of leisure and opportunity) which expressed great delight to all who have attained the Human Life of Leisure and Opportunity, as mentioned in the Great Stages of the Path to Enlightenment as being very precious.

Performances by the orchestra, 吉祥心品华乐团 (Ji Xiang Xin Pin Hua Yue Tuan) using musical instruments such as Chinese Bamboo flutes, cello, Pipa, Chinese plucked zither (guzheng) and tambourine, set the tone for the evening. The pieces played were peaceful and soothing; “思念” (Si Nian) expressed the longing for one’s spiritual teacher, to find the anchor and be guided in their spiritual practice. “月上青天” (Yue Shang Qing Tian), “我的回忆” (Wo De Hui Yi), “知音” (Zhi Yin), “观音菩薩略頌” (Guan Yin Pu Sa Lue Song) and “忆昔人” (Yi Xi Ren) tugged the heartstrings of gratitude to our teachers representing our hopes of coming out of the cyclic existence.

A music skit was uniquely presented by our bilingual class students sharing their way to happiness - a Dharma learning journey. This short skit spoke volume, as learning the Lam Rim has indeed been a life-changing event for many of us!

The next choir group, 吉祥佛曲班 (Ji Xiang Fo Qu Ban) not only sang “树影婆娑明月照” (Shu Ying Po Suo Ming Yue Zhao), “摇篮曲” (Yao Lan Qu), they also performed with another group,吉祥欢唱班 (Ji Xiang Huan Chang Ban) on Insightful Praise - “善友” (Shan You).  It was very heart-warming to see collaboration amongst the various choir groups especially when we could not meet up and practice as a group of more than 5 people.

东部心乐颂(Dong Bu Xin Le Song) performed Insightful Praise “旅程” (Lu Cheng) and even had a dancer amongst them! 吉祥欢唱班(Ji Xiang Huan Chang Ban) gave another beautiful performance on Insightful Praise “鲜花谷” (Xian Hua Gu) in MV style, accompanied by graceful dance performance.

Irene Lee, our director of BWM Arts and Culture Department, gave a summary update on BWM’s activities and turnout numbers for 2020. Not all was bad in 2020, as BWM had about 16% increase in the number of activities and an almost 90% increase in the turnout as compared to 2019.  Very encouraging numbers! Rejoice to everyone! Additionally, Irene showed the audience how to download tutorial videos such as Japanese Flower Arrangement class, Chinese Knots and Beaded Card holders using QR code for their leisure viewing. To top it off, there are 100 pieces of Chinese Knots to be given away!

Do you miss the BW Auspicious Choir who performs every Sunday? They too gave a much anticipated performance on the 13th Dec singing “There's None Like Buddha”, “On You I Rely” and  “White Lotus”.

歌咏班(Ge Yong Ban) brought to us an uplifting song, “生命协奏曲” (Sheng Ming Xie Zhou Qu), accompanied by a slideshow on environment awareness; the need to preserve and take care of our Mother earth. It wass pertinent we start to reduce, recycle and reuse.

The highlight of the evening was none other than Professor Wang’s performance. Professor Wang, a Conductor and Violin Virtuoso, who has been the Conductor of Dream Lotus Symphony Orchestra and has performed in many famous concert halls around the world over the years, was a crowd-favourite! There were many “likes” when he came online and performed. Professor Wang’s sincere and soulful rendition of Insightful Praises “In this moment” and “Avalokiteshvara” was mesmerizing. During his moving performance, we paid tribute to our frontline healthcare workers, employees in the service industry and foreign workers who have selflessly contributed to our efforts in combating COVID-19.

Additionally, his adorable 3.5-year-old daughter “Ah Chu” made a surprise appearance during encore time, who sang “Snowflake” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.

The night ended with performances by BW Youth groups - 吉祥寺青年部 (Ji Xiang Si Qing Nian Bu), Heyday CO, The ODDs, Yazers, Wisdom Youthnited and Zest Universe. Like a breath of fresh air, they injected a new life in their interpretation of the Insightful Praises. For instance, 吉祥寺青年’s (Ji Xiang Si Qing Nian) melodious and crisps voices gave a youthful cover to “记忆” (Ji Yi) while Heyday mashed the East and West to bring us an adapted version of “A Thousand Years” with Er Hu (2-string fiddle) leading in the ensemble. 

The ODDs did a very creative and contemporary cover on  ”一同想着你” (Yi Tong Xiang Zhe Ni) and

Yazers, a 20+ member choir, brought us an euphonious 4-part arrangement of the Insightful Praise ”觅幽兰” (Mi You Lan). They harmonised so beautifully! 

Wisdom Youthnited introduced themselves in a video and shared with us on what they do in their lessons - they learned more about the Teachings, how they engaged and bonded with each other, where it was also a platform for them to seek guidance from Venerables.

The finale was brought to us by Zest Universe, the young talented children sang and danced to the tune of ”点灯的孩子” (Dian Deng De Hai Zi).

It was a memorable and joyous night where we all rose and were triumphant! Looking forward to the next concert and see you again very soon!

Written by: Kerry Boon

在这个时候，我们面对着世界从未经历过的危机。 然而，在2020年12月13日的夜晚，您是否与3339位观众一同线上观赏2020的吉祥悦？

吉祥悦是一年一度的活动，由吉祥宝聚寺的一群热爱赞颂的同学聚集在一起，为三宝做音声供养及愉悦观众。 在这一非凡的年度，音乐会通过YouTube，吉祥宝聚寺官网和F脸书直播，节目包含了30多首悠扬悦耳的赞颂！

这些赞颂充满正能量，提升我们对抗困境的意志力，“赞出胜利”！ 充满希望、慈悲、智慧、勇气及赞叹忆念三宝功德的赞颂，以精彩多元化的方式在两个小时里的音乐会呈现。音乐会由充满活力的年轻人Jolynn Chew和许炜琳共同主持。

如果您错过了今年的吉祥悦，不用担心！ 让我们在这里简要回顾一下。

第一个节目是由4-5位团员组成5组的赞颂一班合唱团，为我们带来了以千手观音菩萨为主题的组曲，祈请千手观音菩萨加持音乐会并赐福于所有参与者。 除此之外，演唱的“暇满人生多美好”，表达了获得暇满人生的极大喜悦。

吉祥心品华乐团透由华族传统乐器，如竹笛、大提琴、琵琶、古筝和手鼓等，设置了音乐会的基调。 演奏的曲目平和而舒缓， “思念”表达了对师长的忆念，渴望他们的教导。 “月上青天”、“我的回忆”、“知音”、“观音菩萨略颂”和“忆昔 人”，首首曲子扯动了观众感激的心弦，流露我们渴望脱离生死轮回、圆成佛果的愿望。

双语班的同学以独特的戏剧音乐小品分享学佛之旅，深度地阐述了学习佛法如何真实地改变了自己的生命！

接下来吉祥佛曲班，不仅演唱了“树影婆娑明月照”、“摇篮曲”，并与吉祥欢唱班合唱 “善友”。 合唱团之间的合作非常令人振奋，尤其是在无法见面并以5人为限的时局下，排除万难，进行练习。

东部心乐颂表演了赞颂“旅程”并穿插了一位舞者！ 吉祥欢唱班以MV风格呈现“鲜花谷”，配合优美的舞蹈表演，不愧是一场赏心悦目的表演。

吉祥宝聚寺文化艺术处，处长李宗矜简要介绍了吉祥寺的2020年线上活动和线上活动总人次。2020年并非一切都不好，因为吉祥寺的活动数量增加了约16％，与2019年相比几乎增加了90％，令人鼓舞的数字！ 值得大家高兴！ 此外，李处长向观众展示了如何下载视频教程，如日本插花班、中国结和串珠，也可以扫描QR码为进行休闲观赏。 最重要的是小组将赠送100个精美吊饰给线上的观众们！

您是否想念每个星期天在寺院表演的英语吉祥合唱团？ 他们这次为演唱了“There’s none like Buddha”、“On you I rely”和《白莲花》。

歌咏班给我们带来了令人振奋的歌曲，“生命协奏曲”，利用传达环保意识的幻灯片、 保护和照顾地球的需要，提醒我们记得减塑、回收和再循环。

王教授是一位指挥家及小提琴演凑家，曾是梦幻莲花交响乐团的指挥，多年来在世界各地许多著名的音乐厅里演出，深受观众的喜爱！ 他上网表演时收到有很多“赞”。 王教授对“在这个时候”和“千手观音”所作的真诚和深情的介绍令人敬仰。 在他出色的表现时，我们向医疗工作人员、服务行业的员工和外劳表示敬意，感恩他们为对抗疫情为我们做出了无私的贡献。

出人意料地王教授让他那可爱的三岁女儿“阿啾”在节目出现，她演唱了“雪花”和“小星星”。

音乐会也邀请了乐者来助阵。他们是拥有20多位成员的合唱团，这次他们以四部和音演唱赞颂“觅幽兰”，赞叹他们美妙的合声表演！

吉祥寺青年部，Heyday CO，The ODDs，Wisdom Youthnited和Zest Universe也呈献了一系列的精彩表演。 就像呼吸新鲜空气一样，他们在赞颂注入了新的生命，吉祥寺青年悠扬而清脆的歌声为“记忆”注入青春的活力，而Heyday CO，青年华乐团为我们带来了以融合东西方风格改编的《千年》，以二 胡领凑的方式呈现，令人耳目一新。

The ODDs以非常具有创意而新颖的方式呈现 “一同想着你”。Wisdom Youthnited同学进行了自我介绍，并分享他们在课程中所做的事情-学习的更多佛陀教法，如何彼此互动和联系，这也是他们获得法师指导的平台。

Zest Universe呈现的是一群年轻并才华横溢的孩子们，随着“点灯的孩子”的歌声起舞，音乐会进入尾声。

这是一个令人难忘而又欢乐的夜晚，希望所有参与者都”颂出正能量，赞得胜利！ 期待下一场音乐会我们再见！

中文翻译: 李金英