Leaving St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church in Valley Forge, PA, we had another long bus ride day to get to our final concert location at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, VA.  It is important for us to arrive at our concert location early for several reasons.  In addition to warming up and refreshing specific parts of each choir’s music, it’s crucial to sort out logistics for the evening.

Rehearsing in a new venue

As you have read these posts, you’ve seen how different every church has been.  The size and layout of the chancel area varied at each church.  Each night, the choirs learned where to stand to sing, what the space sounded like, how to blend in the acoustic in that location and of course, where to sit and how and when to get from one place to another. It was great watching the choirs maneuver the space with professionalism each night.  The last concert is almost always the best quality performance.  Singing the repertoire each night and fine tuning in rehearsals daily, always turns a good program leaving Charlotte into a fabulous one on the final night.  Our audience in Richmond agreed!

We did arrive in Richmond in time for a quick treat for each choir.  The Boys Choir went for ice cream, the MasterSingers visited their favorite Starbucks, and The Girls Choir had specialty cupcakes at a local bakery.  Everyone returned to St. Stephen’s rejuvenated for the final rehearsal and concert.

Specialty cupcakes in Richmond!

As you can see in the pictures, St. Stephen’s was the largest venue for our tour and reminded our graduating seniors of the English Cathedrals in which they sang during their freshman tour to England in 2006.

Performing at St. Stephen's Episcopal

The seniors sang the solo for the closing “Lord Bless You and Keep You”, but held their emotions in check until the end of the concert.  We will miss each other next year and wish them well.

Our seniors after their final concert

The Girls of the Touring Choir and the MasterSingers

The Boys Choir

The Girls Choir

Our hosts families from St. Stephen’s Episcopal and St. Bridget’s Catholic returned us Wednesday morning to celebrate the end of tour with our annual “Bennie Awards” before leaving St. Stephen’s.

"Bennie Awards" are next!

While all the singers looked forward to the time at King’s Dominion Amusement Park after the awards, we were concerned about the 100+ temperatures forecasted.  However, when we arrived, we enjoyed the time immensely- the cloud cover, trees and breeze made the temperatures tolerable and the crowds were minimal.  Records for numbers of rides per hour were achieved!

Keeping the group on the map!

Enjoying the Merry-Go-Round

King's Dominion

An easy ride at King's Dominion

King's Dominion and a BIG ride!

King’s Dominion conquered and it was back to the bus for our final leg of the trip.  We arrived in Charlotte on time to the waiting parents, unloaded the buses and all were headed home to sleep in our own bed.

Another successful tour and year completed!  Great plans are being made for next year!

After our annual pool party, a restful night and a great hotel breakfast, we arrived at our buses ready for our Philadelphia tour day.  Unfortunately, the girls choir’s bus had developed a flat tire and while the repair company had been called, it took a couple of hours for the company to find us and to repair the tire.

The flat tire that slowed us down for the day.

While the boys and the teens were able to pass the time on their air conditioned bus, the girls choir passed the time socializing in the parking lot.

Waiting for the repair truck

Enjoying the time socializing while the tire is changed

The good news was we were in the hotel parking lot- a safe location and with bathroom facilities.  The bad news was between the flat tire and bad traffic, we missed our reservations for part of our tour in Philadelphia.  The really great news was we had the best tour guide ever in Philly and he was able to adjust his schedule to guide us for the entire time we were available.  He had also arranged a fast and tasty lunch from what must have been one of the best lunch carts in Philly.  All 77 of us sat down for a picnic of hamburger, hot dog or grilled cheese in a matter of minutes!

A quick lunch before the Philly tour

We were able to eat, have a “kodak moment” in front of Independence Hall and were on our way for our historic tour including parts of the Visitor Center and Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and the printing shop in record time.

Quick photo op with Independence Hall, Philadelphia

Mr. Walker’s enthusiasm for history was contagious and several choir members earned money by answering his questions correctly.  The Liberty Bell is always a highlight of a Philadelphia tour.

Posing with the Liberty Bell

It was great to see in person the symbol we’ve heard so much about in school.  It reminded us of the many freedoms we have and enjoy daily.

Appreciating the Liberty Bell and its symbolism

Our last stop in Philadelphia was a quick stop at a printing shop where we watched a copy of the Declaration of Independence being printed.  We were presented with a copy for The Choir School- the only location in the country to print them in this manner.

Learning about Ben Franklin's printing press

Before heading to St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church near Valley Forge, we enjoyed a quick water and snack break before beginning our work for the day.

Water Break in Philly after the tour

Enjoying our water break before heading to Valley Forge for rehearsal and concert

Today we include more pictures of rehearsal and performance for your enjoyment.

Rehearsal at St. Matthew's United Methodist Church

Lining up for the concert procession

Teen girls directed by Mr. Currin

Girls Choir at St. Matthew's

All choirs in concert at St. Matthew's

As noted in the last blog, we finished our day in Boston with a quick visit to the Fisk Organ Workshop.  It was fun to see the scale model of the new St. Peter’s organ, Opus 136 after already enjoying it in Charlotte.

St. Peter's model, Opus 136- it looks just like St. Peter's!

In addition to seeing many of their models, we learned much in all of their rooms where they make the metal and wood pipes, and of course the keyboards, case, etc.  All of our 3 tour guides were enjoyed by all.  To complete the evening, we rehearsed briefly for the Sunday service in Fisk’s mill room.

Rehearsing at Fisk

The Fisk workshop

The Girls Choir at the Fisk workshop

Sunday morning was an early one so we could meet and load the buses in Gloucester and then travel into Boston in time to prepare for the 9:00 service at Trinity, Copley Square.

Our host, Richard Webster prepared us quickly for the uniqueness of their service.

Rehearsing in the choir room at Trinity, Copley Square

Rehearsing at Trinity, Copley Square

The Boys Choir began the service with the choral prelude and all the choirs contributed to lead the service professionally.  Following the service and the positive comments of many, we began the first leg of our trip home to the city of Philadelphia.

Trinity, Copley Square

Trinity, Copley Square

Sunday evening was our traditional night as a group in the hotel, complete with pool and pizza party.  This is always one of the anticipated highlights of tour!

Pool Party 2010- the water was great!

Pizza line at the pool party

Pool Party 2010- the big splash!

We had a great day on a whale watching cruise, a guided tour of Boston and a quick tour through the Fisk Organ Workshop.  We experienced great temperature variations from the cool ocean wind while on the boat to the heat of Boston in summer.  The whales entertained us right on cue.  It was exciting to see two different whales with their babies dive and jump and put on a show for us.  Everyone enjoyed the four hour cruise!

The tour guides divided us into four groups for our walking tour of North Boston and concluded with a cannoli for each.

North Boston with a tour guide

The evening ended with a tour of the Fisk Organ Factory and a quick rehearsal for Sunday morning.  It was interesting to see the process from design to manufacture.

Here are some pictures from the day.  More updates will follow as time permits.

Cruising out to see the whales

Cruising!

Heading out to the ocean

Posing on the windy boat

More fun on the boat

On the whale boat

Diving down for a swim

"The Pinnacle of Whale Watching" - a whale breach!

We left Norwalk behind and headed to our northernmost (and easternmost) destination.  We enjoyed second trip to Norwalk immensely!  They have been so welcoming during both our visits.  They even fixed a breakfast for all of the singers in the church parish hall before we loaded the busses and began the trip north.

Our dramatic boys!

It was a short first leg of the trip to Mystic Seaport, CT.  All enjoyed learning a little more about the maritime life of old.

Throughout the area, there were interpreters describing and even reenacting different tasks of the time.  Visits were made to the printer and the blacksmith. There were knots to learn how to tie and fish to learn how to clean and filet.  After learning we were a choir and hearing a few of them sing, the blacksmith taught the group sea shanties.  Over 30 recreated buildings representing a seafaring village were available to explore.

We visited the Preservation Shipyard and climbed on the Charles W. Morgan, 1841 wooden whaleship that has outlived all others.  We also toured the Dunton, an example of a 19th century fishing schooner.  The gutting, cleaning, etc. of the large fish was watched by many.

After lunch, we began our last leg north to Gloucester, MA, a town known as the home of the Gorton Fishsticks.  Sorting out our logistics and fine tuning some of our pieces was followed by a great dinner by the parish and a delicious cake and then the concerts.  One of the special things about this concert was the organ.  Many of our songs were accompanied by the Fisk organ at St. John’s Episcopal!  We look forward to enjoying our own Fisk at St. Peter’s next season.

St. John's Episcopal Church

The weather in Gloucester was delightful and we left with our host families looking forward to our whale watching cruise the next morning and our walking tour of Boston in the afternoon.

More pictures of the day:

Learning about cleaning fish

The next step in cleaning the fish

Boys at Mystic

Boys Choir Group at Mystic

Singing for the Blacksmith

The MasterSingers take on Mystic Seaport

Girls Choir group at Mystic

Learning from the interpreters at Mystic Seaport

Six states, the District of Columbia and three traffic jams later (Washington, Baltimore and New York City), we arrived in the beautiful city of Norwalk, CT.  Spotting the various memorials, monuments and various historical landmarks along the route was an enjoyable way to start the day. In Norwalk, a visit to Calf Pasture Beach, searching for shells, walking in the sand, and a trip out over the water via the pier to take pictures was enjoyed by all.  The weather is glorious- cool with low humidity! What a change a day makes.

Boys Choir at the Beach

Photo Ops on the Beach

Would be lifeguards

The MasterSingers

Next stop was our host church, St. Paul’s on the Green.  Several of the group remembered the church from the Ivy League tour in 2005. We had fond memories of the acoustics, the lovely setting, the welcoming volunteers and the appreciative audience.  The 2010 tour experienced this same warm hospitality and wonderful setting in which to sing.  A quick rehearsal refreshed our performance pieces before heading to a dinner of sub sandwiches and homemade pasta, fruit and cookies.

Once again we had a full church to entertain and the choirs rose to the occasion. Our goal is for every concert to be better than the last and we certainly achieved that today.  Another group of interesting and welcoming host families greeted us after the concert and we headed out for a restful night.  Enjoy some pictures of our day!

St. Paul's on the Green, Norwalk, CT

Tuesday morning at the Levine Children’s Hospital we gathered to perform for the patients before taking our show on the road.  The concert was broadcast throughout the hospital to the patients rooms and we hope our voices made their day a little brighter.  Charlotte News 14 covered our concert and then broadcast the story throughout the day.

The Choir School performs at the Levine Children's Hospital

Early Wednesday morning we met, loaded the busses and began the long trip up the East Coast.  We had great fun on the bus with our friends socializing and watching a movie.  Lunch on the first tour day is always a fabulous packed lunch from home and we found the Virginia Welcome Center a pleasant place to enjoy it. We had time to include this “photo op” at lunch!

Picnic lunch with the Girls Choir

Picnic with the MasterSingers

The first day of tour always includes a rigorous rehearsal to prepare us for our first concert.  Today was no exception and it was obvious in the concert that all had worked hard.  The church attracted a large and appreciative audience and our singers responded.  We enjoyed a reception with our audience and then headed out for the night, anticipating moving farther up the coast tomorrow into Connecticut!

In concert at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Alexandria, Va

The Choir School at St. Peter’s performs for patients at the Levine Children’s Hospital on Tuesday morning, June 15 as a prelude for their annual tour- this year up the east coast to the Boston area and back.

The Choir School performs at St. Peter's May 14, 2010

These premier choirs of children ages 8 – 18 look forward to spreading musical joy to the patients and their families at Levine.  Ben Outen, director of The Choir School, said “This is our opportunity to give back to the community and share our musical talents, hopefully brightening someone’s day”.

On Wednesday morning, the 65 students board two tour busses and head up the east coast.  Their schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, June 16: Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Alexandria, VA, 7:30 concert

Thursday, June 17: St. Paul’s on the Green Episcopal Church, Norwalk, CT, 7:30 concert

Friday, June 18: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Gloucester, MA, 7:00 concert

Sunday, June 19: Trinity Episcopal Church- Copley Square, Boston, MA, 9:15 Holy Eucharist

Monday, June 21: St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church, Valley Forge, PA, 7:00 concert

Tuesday, June 22: St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Richmond, VA, 7:00 concert

Each day, the students will have opportunities to experience tourist and educational opportunities in the various communities they visit.  This year’s opportunities include visiting Mystic Seaport, a whale watch expedition, walking tours of Boston and Philadelphia, just to name a few.

Follow us as we travel and if you’re in the area, come see us!

What a wonderful day in Chicago.  We were greeted this morning with happy kids and beautiful weather.   They were even more excited because we didn’t have to pack bags, check garment bags or write “Thank You” notes because they are staying with their current host families for two nights.  After a quick “see ya later” to their host family

The skyline from the boat

we were off for our big day in Chicago.

The morning began with a wonderful concert at the Oak Park Arms Retirement Community.  We had a small yet enthusiastic audience.  The choirs all did a fantastic job and sang beautifully.  In order to meet the boat for our first tour of the day we had to cut short our favorite part of singing at retirement home…the meet and greet.  We were off to the Wendella Boat Tour.

Everyone enjoyed the boat

The great boat tour!

After a quick lathering of sunscreen we jumped off the buses and directly onto our awaiting boat.  We were treated to a 90 minute tour of the Chicago river, through the lock and into Lake Michigan.  Our particular tour focused on the interesting architecture and history of the Chicago skyline.  It

Enjoying the Navy Pier from the boat

was fascinating to hear how and why many of the buildings were built or changed over the years.  When we reached Lake Michigan we got a good look at the Navy Pier.  The kids were excited knowing that the pier was our next destination.

The Girls Choir enjoying the boat

After a quick walk we arrived at the pier ready for lunch.  We broke into our small groups and enjoyed the various offerings available all along the pier.  Most groups enjoyed some form of ice cream as the walked.  When we arrived back at the bus we were off to Millenium Park.   This is a fantastic park in the middle of

A Pirate Ship on Lake Michigan under full sail?

downtown Chicago featuring various performance and art venues.  The groups had the opportunity to visit the park at their leisure.  Some groups chose to relax, catch some rays and play various games while others viewed the gardens and soaked their feet in the cool water of The Crown Fountain.   The Cloud Gate seemed to be the favorite spot for many of the groups.  This 12-foot high stainless steel arch reflects the skyline, clouds and visitors below.  The concave center is particularly interesting as you see reflections all around.

The favorite- The Cloud Gate! AKA: "The Bean"

Enjoying the Cloud Gate and it's images

It was then time to conquer the Chicago traffic again and head back to the church. Our host families had dinner plans for all the kids!  Tomorrow we lead the service at St. James Cathedral in downtown Chicago before heading out to Toledo, OH.

More fun in the park

Relaxing in Millenium Park

Great fun in Millenium Park

No pictures today, as we are ready for a longer night of sleep, but the day was another good one.

All went well leaving Indianapolis and we approached Chicago ahead of schedule.  However, we could see Chicago in the distance and there was obviously a bad storm going through.  Knowing we still were probably 30 min. away, we hoped that the storm would pass quickly, but we knew we had ponchos on the bus for the kids’ use should the storm persist.  What we did not know was that a bad storm in Chicago stops traffic!  Our last 25 miles took us close to an hour and a half.  That made us late to our guided tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright home and studio, but they graciously worked us in to their schedule anyway.  The guides did a great job and all enjoyed the tour.  While some knew nothing of Mr. Wright or at best that he was an architect, all came away with an understanding of the five things that influenced his work and how different his designs were from the Victorian architecture of the day.

After the tours we hurried to Grace Episcopal Church to unload the buses and rehearse.  This was our first experience of having to unload the buses quickly so the buses could leave, as they were not allowed to park at the church.  Everyone worked together quickly and the risers, concert gear, suitcases and garment bags were all in their places in a matter of moments.

Tonight’s concert must have set records for the number of family members at a tour concert.  As we greeted our audience, at least ten of our singers had large groups of extended family visiting the concert—it made for an even better audience!

We greeted our host families and headed out for the night.  These generous folks are keeping us for two nights. We’re looking forward to not having to pack suitcases in the morning!  We also sing a brief concert at a local retirement center and then we head to downtown Chicago for our boat tour and sightseeing.  It will be great to see the sights!

While there is no time for pictures, I’ll share the soloists so far this week.  The touring choirs sing three pieces that have solos at the beginning. Often the soloist is chosen immediately before the downbeat. Sometimes they are sung by one person and sometimes as a duet.  The following have done a great job to date:

Max Singleton, Grace Russell, Ethan Alexander, Josh Collins, Lindsay Ferkol, Nathan Fisher, Emily Mason, Celia Vitale, Don Albert, Sarah Moore, Eric Kennedy, Victor Williams, Donovan Patterson and Miranda Mahanes.