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Charity concert raises over $30,000 NT for orphanage

Charity+concert+raises+over+%2430%2C000+NT+for+orphanage

At this year’s annual Tri-M Charity concert, a fundraiser event for St Anne’s Orphanage held by TAS’ Tri-M Music Honor Society, sold 203 tickets, raising over $30,000 NT.
The Tri-M Charity Concert was founded 21 years ago by Bill Kang, who also founded the honor society. Throughout the year, Tri-M Music Honor Society helps out at concerts such as the Jazz Supper Club and the U.S. Celebration of Chamber Music. With 66 members and 13 officers, Tri-M has its hands full, not only with the charity concert but also with organizing the Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools Music Cultural Convention.
Tri-M Honor Society started preparing for the concert in the fall, completing tasks such as filling out logistical forms, holding auditions, and, as co-president Brian Kuo (’18) says,  “just in general making sure things would be in the right place at the right time.”
The concert had a variety of genres from the school jazz ensemble to plenty of classical groups, acapella groups, and guitar and vocal duets. In particular, co-president Sarah Chin (‘18) says, “I think DRM’s performance was unique in that it was such a huge group created through a music club instead of from a class. It astounded me that they could have rigorous and periodical practices with so many members passionate about the music they play. Also, their La La Land medley was arranged and conducted by one of their co-presidents [Celine Hsu (‘20)], which I thought was an amazing feat to pull off. In addition to the astounding performance of 22 students, arranged by only a sophomore, “the Piao Xiang Bei Fang performance shocked me as well because the audience reaction it elicited was overwhelming. I don’t think people expected the Chinese rapping mixed with the melody,” she says.
Event attendee Glenda Foo (‘19) says, “In between the performances, the Tri-M officers were really professional. What really stood out was the way Sarah Chin introduced each performance. She added humor to engage the audience throughout the concert.”
Performer Annabel Uhlman (‘18) says, “I think Tri-M is a great opportunity to showcase musical talent in the Upper School. I feel that the musical arts often get overlooked and thus the charity concert is a great way to highlight all different genres and abilities!” Likewise, Jasmin Yu (‘19), a fellow performer, says, “Tri-M was a very eye-opening experience. It was really breathtaking to see the hustle and rush of energy backstage in the room with the other performers.”
Besides the Tri-M Charity Concert, Tri-M Honor Society is looking forward to making the IASAS Cultural Convention better than it has been other years. “We want to make sure everyone is welcomed and when they reflect back, think ‘that was a great IASAS, I loved being at TAS,’” says Brian.
With its vast number of officers and members, Tri-M Honor Society was able to manage all the chaotic performances  and was able to achieve its hope of improving upon the Tri-M concerts and focusing on getting the message of charity out. Brian says, “We all have a common goal, a common interest—we all enjoy music.”
Correction, Feb. 9: A previous version of the article cited the founder of the Tri-M Charity Concert as Bill Kain, instead of Bill Kang. Also, the Tri-M concert was started 21 years ago, not 20. We have updated the article to reflect this and regret the errors. 

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