Today was our last day in Denmark, and singers had the morning off to further explore Herning with their generous host families. As the chaperones were doing a bit of sightseeing and shopping ourselves, we ran into Maddie and Phoebe, who were grocery shopping for a traditional Danish lunch with their host.

We all met up at the Herning Church, Østre Kirkevej, at 2:30 for a joint dress rehearsal and sound check until around 4pm. Singers then had a bit of a break before the 5pm concert, and were eager to share stories about their days off with their Danish host families. Jack and Jan were lucky enough to go to Legoland! Milla and Zia enjoyed shopping on the local pedestrian streets, and several of our singers were thrilled to tell us about eating the traditional Danish meatballs, called Frikadeller. One of the host mothers bought 8 pounds of meat to make sure there was enough for everyone! You never know with two young and hungry boys…

The concert was a huge success – everyone was very proud. Ensemble started off the show with a set of three pieces, including Hanget Soi, Last Ditch the Fight of the Wish, and He’s Gone Away. The Midvest Pigekor, including several singers for whom it was their first concert with the advanced group, did a melodious set of five pieces, before Ensemble did a moving second set, ending with Eternity. Lastly, the two choirs did three massed pieces. The concert ended with a massed version of Eric Tuan’s nagasaki, which moved several audience members to tears – it was quite an emotional and touching moment for both choirs. We’ve all become quite closer over the past three days here in Herning.

Following the concert, the chaperones had a lovely dinner at the home of Dorte and Mads, the directors of the Midvest Pigekor. We enjoyed delicious local meats, cheeses, salads, berries, and incredible home made bread. After dinner, we headed to the Midsummer Festival bonfire, where we joined many of our singers to enjoy the festivities. Abby, Roxie, Helena, Ozmar, and several other singers had a fun photo shoot by the fire. Reed, Piper, and chaperone Katrina showed off their impressive cartwheel skills in the open fields. All of our singers, and the Midvest singers who were at the bonfire, got on stage to perform Midsummer Song, conducted by Dorte. It was a great way to end our stay here in charming Herning!

Tomorrow, we head to Hamburg to join the Hamburg Mädchenchor for our fourth concert. We will be in Germany for the remainder of our trip!

Click through the slideshow below for some highlights: