Day 6 - Breakfast, Concert in London
The tour has officially begun! Tonight is our first concert after a few days of rehearsal, and many months leading up to this trip. There was a mixture of enthusiasm as we met this morning at the octagon at St Cats. Some were quite tired, while others were bouncing, ready to go. Emily S, Elizabeth, and Zia were thrilled this morning as they came in. They are staying with the conductor of St Catharines Girls Choir and apparently, they sang "Lift Thine Eyes" this morning in the car on the way over. They were so excited that Edward, the conductor, was able to fill in with the alto part! Mia A. is also getting the full Cambridge experience, riding her bike to and from her homestays house to rehearsal. She parks and locks that thing up like a pro!
We walked our morning walk to the cafeteria for breakfast. They haven't gotten tired of the English breakfast yet! Still loading up their plates with baked beans, eggs, and sausages. Lots of pastries and cereal to add to the mix as well.
After breakfast, we walked back to St Cats and began our rehearsal. With a focus on the competition pieces, Bob and Sue were able to work some things out, choreography and musically, and then we were back at St Cats for lunch. As we were leaving lunch, we walked right into the start of the University's graduation ceremony. Campus was filled with graduates in gowns and lots of proud families. Exciting to be in the mix.
After lunch, a bit more rehearsal time and then back to our rooms for a bit to get ready to head back to London. Singers rested, got dressed for the concert and were back down to load the bus.
Our 1.5+ long bus ride back to London was very quiet. Clearly we all needed some time to rest a bit! We arrived at St Pancras Church where we will be performing tonight with St Catharine's College Girls' Choir, along with Perse Upper School: Concert voices. A little history on St Pancras... The first church of this parish was built around 314 AD on a site of a Roman encampment overlooking the River Fleet. It was dedicated to Pancras, a boy soldier martyred in 304 on the Aurelian Way in Rome for refusing to betray his Christian faith. Its successor still stands in the old churchyard behind St Pancras International Station. Today St Pancras Church serves a vibrant and diverse community that hosts weekly lunchtime recitals, and much more. To say the least, the kids sounded fantastic in the acoustics of this church.
The program began with two mass pieces, "Jesu Autem Transiens" and "Ave Maria." All three choirs took their turns singing their sets, and then they finished the show with "The Ikon of St Hilda" and Eric's "Nagasaki." It was almost as if Nagasaki left the audience speechless. Well received by all!
In the audience, we had a few special guests! Elizabeth Keller and Colin Trevorrow, both Piedmont Choir Alums who currently live in areas close to London came to say hi! They were both very impressed with the concert they saw, and enjoyed time catching up briefly with Bob, Sue, and Suzie. Once the concert was finished, we were back on the bus for the journey back to Cambridge. Quite a few fell asleep, and once we arrived, MOST everyone was ready to crash. Looking forward to our adventure tomorrow to Ely, and our final concert with our Cambridge and Perse friends.
Click through the slideshow below to view some highlights from today:
