I remember growing up as a neophyte of MSC, attending the regular weekly rehearsals under the supervision of the legendary Sir Roni Verga. It was done usually in the evening when most members come either from work or school. In my case, I was either coming from school or from a gimmick!
That is why when we scheduled an evening rehearsal recently, it sort of brought me down memory lane. It was like this: seeing my older co-members, rehearsing, being scolded at, once in a while and then go on for gimmick afterwards. Like eating at a nearby 24-hour "lugawan". Moreso, bringing Sir Roni to his Quezon City house is already a gimmick for me in those days. Practices were difficult before. The big OLHRP church was still in its young construction phase. We had to bring out the heavy church organ from a stockroom and then return it once we're done rehearsing everytime for security purposes, that is. The church literally, barely had walls then!
That time, the feeling was impersonal. I felt practices were a chore. And the thought of being with my MSC co-members instead of my school peers is really a drag! But eventually, everything turned around quite significantly in my life. And I started enjoying the rehearsals. The responsibility and commitment that goes with being a TRUE-BLOODED MSC! These days, we get to practice at night if we're a bit in a hurry to finish learning a music sheet and perfect it for a certain commitment, task or what have you. Since Meanne's wedding is just around the corner (May 2), we needed to find more ways to make our availability work out for us.
So far, I don't hear any backing-out from my members about the schedules like the way I used to... (ahaha!) ☺
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