Day 5 - Fiesta!

We enjoyed the opportunity to sleep in this morning until 9 am - quite a luxury after the past few days of 6 am wake up calls! After a leisurely breakfast by the pool, we headed to the modern, spacious, and resonant St Francis Chapel for rehearsal with the massed choirs. Each conductor had chosen a choral piece on the theme of peace for all of the choirs to learn together. Joel led an impressively bilingual rehearsal on Ecco’s chosen piece, the poignant I Believe by the American composer Mark Miller. Our singers enjoyed the opportunity to mix and mingle with their compatriots from the US, Trinidad and Tobago, and Costa Rica, and to lift their voices together in song. To experience the tutelage and conducting styles of musical leaders around the world was a wonderful opportunity.

After rehearsal, we headed to the nearby mall, already filled with people and made more bustling by the 300 choristers hungry for lunch. Once the group was refreshed and refueled, we made our way to la Iglesia Viña del Este — the performance venue a few kilometers away. After a quick sound check, the singers settled into their balcony seats and awaited the concert. We were first serenaded by a number of Costa Rican children’s, high school, and university choirs. Everyone especially loved the high school choir, which hailed from the largest music school in Costa Rica and offered a vibrant ranchera, complete with clarinet, trumpet, violin, and cajon. Next it was time for the international choirs! Ecco gave a vibrant final performance of Tiptipa Kemmakem, the now-famous rhythmic crowd favorite, and the ever-popular closer Let the River Run. The final performance by the choir from Trinidad and Tobago wowed the audience, and their fresh gospel spin on Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus brought the house down. Finally, all 300 choristers joined together on stage for an inspirational finale, led by each of the six conductors in turn. The drummer from the Nashville Children’s Choir added some ad hoc cymbal rolls and helpful grooves that added a fresh dimension to the music. 

After the concert, we had the opportunity to chat with Maestra Digna Guerra from Cuba and a number of visiting conductors from Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Honduras, and El Salvador. They were extremely complimentary of Ecco’s singing, and several expressed interest in attending our next Golden Gate Festival. Hopefully we’ll be welcoming some choirs from Latin America to the Bay Area in 2021!

The festival put on a lovely closing dinner for all the groups, and the week came full circle when a familiar drum roll sounded from the doorway — it was the brass and percussion band from our welcome lunch up on the mountain! The choristers (and adults!) enjoyed an energetic dance party, featuring snaking conga lines, salsa, giant masks, and general exuberance.  

We returned to the hotel with high spirits, and delved straight into packing for our early wakeup tomorrow. We’ll be heading to the northwest tomorrow morning to experience Arenal, a rainforest volcano with hot springs.