VCC ON TOUR

Toronto/Ottawa/Montreal 2011

2011-03-03T10:58:00.000-08:00

VANCOUVER-TORONTO

It was a very, very early morning and we were on our way. The choir was powering up on Starbucks in order to make it through the day.

Some of the members who did not make the Starbucks run and were quickly picked up for lagging behind

We checked into our hotel and I got some beautiful shots from the window of our room.

The weather was a little different than what we’ve been used to as of late.

I mean, this is what we left…. well… almost.

We had a quick rehearsal before going off to a well-deserved rest!

In the morning we had a great opportunity to give a workshop for the students of North Toronto Collegiate Institute. They were preparing for a competition the next day! I think they probably have a very good shot… with our tips and hints it put them over the top.

We sang our first concert with the Orpheus Choir directed by Bob Cooper (above). He directed the National Youth Choir of Canada one of the years I was in it back in the early 2000s… alright, it was the early 90s…

Lucy showing off her VCC attire

The two conductors are posing with royalty of the Canadian choral world. Mary Mason is the daughter of Healey Willan (a.k.a. the father of Canadian composers). Our tour program features a set of three of Willan’s pieces, which Jon dedicated to Mary this evening.

We were then off to bed for an early flight to Ottawa.

OTTAWA

We left Toronto early and rushed to the airport only to find that our flight to Ottawa had been cancelled and that we were booked on a later flight. I swear this choir has had the worst luck with flights. Well, I was dreaming of a bump up to first class, but no luck… It ended up taking as long to fly as it would have to drive, and we just made it to our rehearsal with the Ottawa Cantata Singers with little time to spare.

The next morning we gave a workshop for the singers of Ecole Secondaire De La Salle.

These kids are doing such amazing repertoire, it makes me so proud of them!

One of the pieces was in French, and all I will say is that they were very kind and did not make too much fun of our “West Coast” pronunciation.

Another of the pieces that they were working on was called Minnewanka, by Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer. It is about the cycle of water, and Jon is showing them the original score (which almost looks more like a piece of art rather than a piece of music) and how it flows from one section right into the next.

In the the evening we had a concert, but had a couple of free hours to go and see a few sights in Ottawa.

A pretty amazing city!!

FLORIDA ORANGES IN OTTAWA

Before I start with our trip to Montreal, I am going to post a story from Catherine Laub from the Soprano section.

Here is a picture of Catherine and Paul Nash (one of our Basses).

Florida Oranges in Ottawa

When I was a child, my aunt organized a trip with both our families to Florida one Christmas vacation. My mother still tells the story of driving south through the mountains in the middle of the night trying desperately to follow my uncle who was pushing 80 mph through blinding snow. Half way through the 24 hour car trip, even I, the oldest and best behaved of the five cousins, was starting to get car sick and cranky. I couldn’t imagine that any kind of paradise could make up for the fact that we were spending a whole day and a night cooped up in the car, not to mention that there would be no Christmas tree that year and very few presents as our families’ Christmas present budgets were being blown on this trip. When we finally arrived at the mildew-scented condo and the end of the 26 hour trip (too much soda, many tiny bladders), the day was uncharacteristically overcast, and I was inclined to think that my aunt, who does have a tendency to embellish, had grossly over-sold the whole concept of Florida.

Then, a neighbor arrived with a bag of fresh oranges.

Yes, this sentence deserves its own paragraph. Such a simple pleasure, but I never knew until then what it was like to enjoy the very essence of a thing. I peeled this fragrant fruit and could see the citrus oils burst from the skin in a fine mist. I popped a segment into my mouth and tasted a month of sweet sunshine. I was entirely present in that moment, and I turned and said to my aunt, “The whole trip was worth it for this one orange!” That was even before the remaining 6 days of glorious weather, the trip to Disney World, exploring the shell beach, swimming endlessly out to the sand bar, discovering that not only was I the best swimmer ever, but that I was also clever enough to pick up live sand dollars from said sand bar with my toes!

Although I was the oldest of my siblings and practiced at that point at existing in the no-man’s land between the adults in my family and all the considerably younger cousins, I was still enough of a child to give myself over without reserve to the taste of that orange, to the delight of something so perfect in itself.

Tonight, I had the same experience that my aunt must have when I uttered my much quoted comment about a piece of fruit. She was so grateful that I appreciated the experience she was trying to share with us. Much as she must have felt planning such a trip and hoping it would please everyone, we as musicians often feel when birthing a concert. As a child, I would have had no idea of the hours of planning, the money, the driving, the putting up with children and husband complaining. We spend so much time attempting to perfect our craft, and we don’t always know (particularly in the current arts funding climate) if anyone really understands what we’re trying to do. Tonight the long flights, short sleeps, and all the rest vanished because someone truly got it.

After our Chamber Choir Concert in Ottawa with the Cantata Singers, I partook of some of the lovely food and wine at the post concert reception and chatted with a few of the friendly singers from the other choir. Then I circled around some of the standing clumps of singers and prepared myself for some strategic socializing. Spotting a single, and thus more approachable, member of the choir, one of the audience members moved in. Curious about the First Nations emblems on the womens’ scarves, he first asked me a few questions about our concert attire. Sensing that I was happy to answer his questions, he moved on to his real reason for wanting to make contact.

This was Neil’s first choral concert.

A colleague of his sings with the Cantata Singers and had introduced him to Classical Music about four months back. Recordings of Handel’sMessiah, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Rossini’s Barber of Seville had convinced him that there was something to this whole Classical Music thing, so he agreed to attend the concert. According to the agreement he made with his wife, he could attend on a week night if he put his kids to sleep first, so, unsurprisingly, he was running late and missed almost all of the first half. He told me that he came in just at the end of the Brahms, and that it was like angels singing.

That in itself is always a lovely compliment, but over the course of the ensuing hour long conversation, I reconnected with my real purpose in being a musician. With the purest enthusiasm, Neil described to me how he not only heard but felt the music. Greg Smith’s setting of the 23rd Psalm had forever changed his understanding of that passage of the bible. During the dream sequence in Whitacre’s Leonardo Dreams, he had closed his eyes and felt himself to be in the middle of the very same dream. He wondered if everyone else there could be feeling what he had felt. He asked me how it was that there could be so much beyond the words.

I told him that this is the very essence of music. What he was describing is why we as musicians compose, conduct, sing, and play. Music goes beyond words. It’s the universal language that brings us back to our timeless selves. Music connects us through sound vibration, through pure energy and intention.

The more he asked, the more I was excited to tell him. I gave him a two minute crash course in (Western) music history, an overview of the higher education system for musicians, my desert island top 5 recordings, and overall enough information to choke a moose, all in less time than it took to type the last two paragraphs, and all in response to his very specific and wide ranging questions. I allowed myself to be a channel for the information he was so eagerly soaking in, just as all our preparation allows us to get out of our own way in performance and let the music through.

This is my job.

I can hardly believe it. This is my job! My job is to work with world class musicians on beautiful, challenging, music and to perform it for receptive audiences. My job is to perform, to educate, to inspire, to communicate, to connect. I know that my intentions and actions have wider consequences than what I immediately perceive. This one person will bring his wife and children to concerts and open up this whole world to them the way it was opened up for him. Who know how far this one (half) concert will eventually spread? I am so grateful for this glimpse of some of the positive ripples my chosen art form generates.

In the clearest and most unaffected language, Neil described being in total communion with the universal experience we’re all longing to access. It was such an honor to not only to facilitate his first exposure to live choral music but to share with him afterward. My sense of purpose in life was given a huge shot in the arm tonight as I experienced through him what a gift it is to be on this journey. Tonight, I was there to hand someone else the orange.

MONTREAL

Nothing says Montreal quite like maple syrup. Or…

…a huge smoked meat sandwich. So, indulge we did!

The drive from Ottawa to Montreal takes only 2 hours and covers some very pretty landscape. One almost dreams of trading their half-million-dollar townhouse in the suburbs of Vancouver for a beautiful farm along this route where I could be out tapping the maple trees at this time of year…

Did I mention I have no winter boots and nearly had a panic attack when I saw what the salt did to the bottom of my pant legs?

We shared our concert with four other choirs, and the evening was all organized by the Montreal Choral Institute and Michael Zaugg. (Thank you SOOO MUCH!!!) Each group sang a short set by themselves, and all had a beautiful conviction and a love for performing. We then sang 5 pieces together in a mass choir of combined forces. I love doing that -- it’s like a big choral love-in, and you get to meet and connect with all the people around you.

I was freaking out a little as one of the pieces was in French, and… let’s just say I rely heavily on our French coaches. Jean-François, the tenor sitting beside me, actually complimented me and told me my French was perfect! I should really just be passing along that compliment to our coaches but I will save it for the next time they correct my vowels.

The beautiful church of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce where we rehearsed and performed during our time in Montreal.

Even more beautiful on the inside.

Rehearsing one of the mass choir pieces.

There was also a festival happening in Montreal called Nuit blanche. It was an all-night festival of art and performing arts that happened throughout the city. Thousands of people were out celebrating and we just happened to be at the right place at the right time to take part. Here are a few pictures from the night.

I joined in and left my mark.

Even the snow could not keep the people from partying.

Montreal

2011-03-02T17:28:00.001-08:00

Nothing says Montreal quite like maple syrup. Or…

…a huge smoked meat sandwich. So, indulge we did!

The drive from Ottawa to Montreal takes only 2 hours and covers some very pretty landscape. One almost dreams of trading their half-million-dollar townhouse in the suburbs of Vancouver for a beautiful farm along this route where I could be out tapping the maple trees at this time of year…

Did I mention I have no winter boots and nearly had a panic attack when I saw what the salt did to the bottom of my pant legs?

We shared our concert with four other choirs, and the evening was all organized by the Montreal Choral Institute and Michael Zaugg. (Thank you SOOO MUCH!!!) Each group sang a short set by themselves, and all had a beautiful conviction and a love for performing. We then sang 5 pieces together in a mass choir of combined forces. I love doing that -- it’s like a big choral love-in, and you get to meet and connect with all the people around you.

I was freaking out a little as one of the pieces was in French, and… let’s just say I rely heavily on our French coaches. Jean-François, the tenor sitting beside me, actually complimented me and told me my French was perfect! I should really just be passing along that compliment to our coaches but I will save it for the next time they correct my vowels.

The beautiful church of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce where we rehearsed and performed during our time in Montreal.

Even more beautiful on the inside.

Rehearsing one of the mass choir pieces.

There was also a festival happening in Montreal called Nuit blanche. It was an all-night festival of art and performing arts that happened throughout the city. Thousands of people were out celebrating and we just happened to be at the right place at the right time to take part. Here are a few pictures from the night.

I joined in and left my mark.

Even the snow could not keep the people from partying.

Florida Oranges in Ottawa

2011-02-28T14:04:00.001-08:00

Before I start with our trip to Montreal, I am going to post a story from Catherine Laub from the Soprano section.

Here is a picture of Catherine and Paul Nash (one of our Basses).
Florida Oranges in Ottawa
When I was a child, my aunt organized a trip with both our families to Florida one Christmas vacation. My mother still tells the story of driving south through the mountains in the middle of the night trying desperately to follow my uncle who was pushing 80 mph through blinding snow. Half way through the 24 hour car trip, even I, the oldest and best behaved of the five cousins, was starting to get car sick and cranky. I couldn’t imagine that any kind of paradise could make up for the fact that we were spending a whole day and a night cooped up in the car, not to mention that there would be no Christmas tree that year and very few presents as our families’ Christmas present budgets were being blown on this trip. When we finally arrived at the mildew-scented condo and the end of the 26 hour trip (too much soda, many tiny bladders), the day was uncharacteristically overcast, and I was inclined to think that my aunt, who does have a tendency to embellish, had grossly over-sold the whole concept of Florida.
Then, a neighbor arrived with a bag of fresh oranges.
Yes, this sentence deserves its own paragraph. Such a simple pleasure, but I never knew until then what it was like to enjoy the very essence of a thing. I peeled this fragrant fruit and could see the citrus oils burst from the skin in a fine mist. I popped a segment into my mouth and tasted a month of sweet sunshine. I was entirely present in that moment, and I turned and said to my aunt, “The whole trip was worth it for this one orange!” That was even before the remaining 6 days of glorious weather, the trip to Disney World, exploring the shell beach, swimming endlessly out to the sand bar, discovering that not only was I the best swimmer ever, but that I was also clever enough to pick up live sand dollars from said sand bar with my toes!
Although I was the oldest of my siblings and practiced at that point at existing in the no-man’s land between the adults in my family and all the considerably younger cousins, I was still enough of a child to give myself over without reserve to the taste of that orange, to the delight of something so perfect in itself.
Tonight, I had the same experience that my aunt must have when I uttered my much quoted comment about a piece of fruit. She was so grateful that I appreciated the experience she was trying to share with us. Much as she must have felt planning such a trip and hoping it would please everyone, we as musicians often feel when birthing a concert. As a child, I would have had no idea of the hours of planning, the money, the driving, the putting up with children and husband complaining. We spend so much time attempting to perfect our craft, and we don’t always know (particularly in the current arts funding climate) if anyone really understands what we’re trying to do. Tonight the long flights, short sleeps, and all the rest vanished because someone truly got it.
After our Chamber Choir Concert in Ottawa with the Cantata Singers, I partook of some of the lovely food and wine at the post concert reception and chatted with a few of the friendly singers from the other choir. Then I circled around some of the standing clumps of singers and prepared myself for some strategic socializing. Spotting a single, and thus more approachable, member of the choir, one of the audience members moved in. Curious about the First Nations emblems on the womens’ scarves, he first asked me a few questions about our concert attire. Sensing that I was happy to answer his questions, he moved on to his real reason for wanting to make contact.
This was Neil’s first choral concert.
A colleague of his sings with the Cantata Singers and had introduced him to Classical Music about four months back. Recordings of Handel’sMessiah, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Rossini’s Barber of Seville had convinced him that there was something to this whole Classical Music thing, so he agreed to attend the concert. According to the agreement he made with his wife, he could attend on a week night if he put his kids to sleep first, so, unsurprisingly, he was running late and missed almost all of the first half. He told me that he came in just at the end of the Brahms, and that it was like angels singing.
That in itself is always a lovely compliment, but over the course of the ensuing hour long conversation, I reconnected with my real purpose in being a musician. With the purest enthusiasm, Neil described to me how he not only heard but felt the music. Greg Smith’s setting of the 23rd Psalm had forever changed his understanding of that passage of the bible. During the dream sequence in Whitacre’s Leonardo Dreams, he had closed his eyes and felt himself to be in the middle of the very same dream. He wondered if everyone else there could be feeling what he had felt. He asked me how it was that there could be so much beyond the words.
I told him that this is the very essence of music. What he was describing is why we as musicians compose, conduct, sing, and play. Music goes beyond words. It’s the universal language that brings us back to our timeless selves. Music connects us through sound vibration, through pure energy and intention.
The more he asked, the more I was excited to tell him. I gave him a two minute crash course in (Western) music history, an overview of the higher education system for musicians, my desert island top 5 recordings, and overall enough information to choke a moose, all in less time than it took to type the last two paragraphs, and all in response to his very specific and wide ranging questions. I allowed myself to be a channel for the information he was so eagerly soaking in, just as all our preparation allows us to get out of our own way in performance and let the music through.
This is my job.
I can hardly believe it. This is my job! My job is to work with world class musicians on beautiful, challenging, music and to perform it for receptive audiences. My job is to perform, to educate, to inspire, to communicate, to connect. I know that my intentions and actions have wider consequences than what I immediately perceive. This one person will bring his wife and children to concerts and open up this whole world to them the way it was opened up for him. Who know how far this one (half) concert will eventually spread? I am so grateful for this glimpse of some of the positive ripples my chosen art form generates.
In the clearest and most unaffected language, Neil described being in total communion with the universal experience we’re all longing to access. It was such an honor to not only to facilitate his first exposure to live choral music but to share with him afterward. My sense of purpose in life was given a huge shot in the arm tonight as I experienced through him what a gift it is to be on this journey. Tonight, I was there to hand someone else the orange.

Ottawa

2011-02-26T07:12:00.001-08:00

We left Toronto early and rushed to the airport only to find that our flight to Ottawa had been cancelled and that we were booked on a later flight. I swear this choir has had the worst luck with flights. Well, I was dreaming of a bump up to first class, but no luck… It ended up taking as long to fly as it would have to drive, and we just made it to our rehearsal with the Ottawa Cantata Singers with little time to spare.

The next morning we gave a workshop for the singers of Ecole Secondaire De La Salle.

These kids are doing such amazing repertoire, it makes me so proud of them!

One of the pieces was in French, and all I will say is that they were very kind and did not make too much fun of our “West Coast” pronunciation.

Another of the pieces that they were working on was called Minnewanka, by Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer. It is about the cycle of water, and Jon is showing them the original score (which almost looks more like a piece of art rather than a piece of music) and how it flows from one section right into the next.

In the the evening we had a concert, but had a couple of free hours to go and see a few sights in Ottawa.

A pretty amazing city!!

Toronto Day 2

2011-02-24T14:33:00.001-08:00

In the morning we had a great opportunity to give a workshop for the students of North Toronto Collegiate Institute. They were preparing for a competition the next day! I think they probably have a very good shot… with our tips and hints it put them over the top.

We sang our first concert with the Orpheus Choir directed by Bob Cooper (above). He directed the National Youth Choir of Canada one of the years I was in it back in the early 2000s… alright, it was the early 90s…

Lucy showing off her VCC attire

The two conductors are posing with royalty of the Canadian choral world. Mary Mason is the daughter of Healey Willan (a.k.a. the father of Canadian composers). Our tour program features a set of three of Willan’s pieces, which Jon dedicated to Mary this evening.

We were then off to bed for an early flight to Ottawa.

Vancouver-Toronto

2011-02-23T07:43:00.001-08:00

It was a very, very early morning and we were on our way. The choir was powering up on Starbucks in order to make it through the day.

Some of the members who did not make the Starbucks run and were quickly picked up for lagging behind

We checked into our hotel and I got some beautiful shots from the window of our room.

The weather was a little different than what we’ve been used to as of late.

I mean, this is what we left…. well… almost.

We had a quick rehearsal before going off to a well-deserved rest!

The Magnificent Madrigal

2011-02-16T19:38:00.001-08:00

We have been working very hard all week at the 31st National Conductors’ Symposium. It is a great program in which 5 conductors get to come and spend a week working with Jon and the choir in a master class setting. Workshops, seminars and conductor training have always been an important part of the Vancouver Chamber Choir’s role as a professional choir.

One of the conductors: Brian Schmidt from Denton TX

During the workshop the selected conductors are observed in morning and evening rehearsals with the Choir. These are complemented with various sessions throughout the week.

Karen and Sharon before the concert.

Join us as we travel to Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Manitoba next week.

2010-03-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

We are almost away

Well, it seems the world is leaving Vancouver en masse and we are following the trend. So many people left our city that a new temporary terminal was made for the departing Olympians at Vancouver International Airport. It handled something crazy like 40000 people yesterday.

We are departing from the Safeway parking lot. Corner of Oak and 25th, 7:30 am... sharp! Maybe not the most auspicious departure, but there is a quote that goes something like "Mighty things from small beginnings grow". I believe that. I have had the privilege of being on some pretty amazing tours and have been to some exotic places. I love touring in Canada because you see that we live in the most amazing country. Nothing is more fun than rubbing our Vancouver weather in the faces of all the prairie folk, or seeing the humour behind the eyes of those hardy prairie people (myself being a prairie expat) as they watch the "wimpy" Vancouverites navigate over the drifty terrain.

I am sure gonna miss the blossoms!!

When I write 7:30 sharp, I mean 7:30 sharp! On one of my first tours with the choir, I slept in and was late for the bus. I ran from my hotel room, a pit in my stomach, my bed-head hair still sticking straight up in the air, to a busload of choristers chanting "DIVA, DIVA" and stern looks from the powers that be. I have never been late again.

I swear Violet missed her calling to be a superstar real estate agent. She is capable of putting a positive spin on almost any situation. She calmly reminded us how lucky we were to be meeting so early, because we will get to the Starbucks before all of the moms dropping off their children at the school beside our designated pick-up spot.

There are some new faces that are on this tour with us:

Marsha Goold

Karen Mang

Kathleen Allan

On the television show "Biggest Loser" they have a "Last Chance Workout" where the contestants have a vigorous workout before they see who lost the most weight in the week. This morning was our "Last Chance Rehearsal" where we ran the whole program top to bottom. I think the people at our concerts are in for a great show!

Our maestros are hard at work getting us ready

I hope we all can survive!!

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2010

Day 1-Vernon

We were away without a hitch. After doing it for more than 35 years, the Vancouver Chamber Choir has turned touring on a bus into an art form. Like church pews on Sunday mornings, we each have claimed spots that we sit in. Some have been sitting in the same spot for years and years. We have front of the bus people, back of the bus people, and the few inbetweeners and floaters.

Steve and I loading up (notice us posing while poor Vi is hefting boxes in the background…oops, sorry!)

We got on and then counted off. Each singer in the group has a number associated with them. (I happen to be lucky number 13.) It is VCC tradition that if a female singer wants to announce to the choir she was pregnant she would list off her number then her number plus a half. John Trotter our assistant conductor is only staying on tour with us a couple of days, because his ”half” is actually “seven-eighths” and fatherhood is imminent.

It may be the last time we see him this awake for a long time…

The trip to Vernon has some pretty amazing scenery:

We made great time and were in Vernon before you know it. We got to the hotel, put our stuff away, got our music ready and went to a sound check at the theater.

Backstage they have hundreds of posters of different groups who have performed in the Vernon Centre for the Performing Arts.

In the green room, just chillin’ after our sound check.

We then went for dinner, got changed and sang the show.

The lobby after the concert where we got a chance to talk to the audience.

After the show, since it was someone’s birthday, we went for a celebratory drink (like we need an excuse).

Happy Birthday!! :)

FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010

Day 2- Vernon

We had the morning off, and we were left to our own devices. I took advantage of some rest and relaxation. I woke up at 9:30 and managed to pull myself to the free breakfast provided to us until 10:00 am. We saw some sights and went to a sound check at the theatre for noon.

We tired poor Cameron out and all he wanted to do was rest…

The theatre in Vernon is the first place where I have encountered a versatile amplified acoustic. All one had to do was push a button and BOOM, you had a 5-second reverb that made it feel as though you were in a great cathedral in Europe. We opted out of the chamber acoustic, and settled on the symphonic setting… of course! Someone told me that the young designer of this sound system is from Vernon, and that he has gone on to sell it to some of the great theatres around the world.

We had a quick rehearsal, then sang a show to a rather full house. Who has a full house at a concert at 1:30 pm on a Thursday afternoon? I guess Vernon does.

After the concert we had a photo-op with the sponsor, Windsor Plywood!!

This is Rosina (middle). She is Bill’s 6-year-old niece. We serenaded her with “Happy Birthday” during the concert and she is so cute!! She took instantly to Jenny (left) and Kathleen (right).

We were finished by 4:00pm and decided to go for a nice supper.

Hello, Margaritaville!!

SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 2010

Day 3- Osoyoos/Oliver

Some of the more rowdy members of the group regaled us with tales from the previous evening.
Apparently they gave better than they got and got away mostly unscathed.

It was a very slow fight. My mom took tai chi and was disappointed when she found out this move was actually called “Play Guitar”, not the much more exotic “Pray Gitah” she thought it was.

The trip from Vernon to Osoyoos is so scenic, and the landscape is dotted with orchards and vineyards. We actually begged Vi to stop at a winery, but to no avail. We had places to go and not much time to get to them.

Did you know that Osoyoos is actually a desert? You can see the cactus in the planter, no?
We took over our hotel which had beautiful balconies and views of the lake.

The water was like glass.
We had enough time to eat supper/relax before going off to the Frank Venables Auditorium in Oliver to sing our show.
Cam won an award!! The Ogopogo Invitational. He was so overjoyed, he got quite emotional.

See, he is losing it.

After that picture-taking ordeal we laughed and laughed!
After the concert we found a little pub and had a quick ginger ale before bed

SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 2010

Day 4 - Creston

We left early, and traveled east on Hwy #3, headed toward the Kootenays.

We drove up the side of a mountain, and from the top there was a beautiful view of the lake and town of Osoyoos.
Once we hit the summit we encountered something that we were not that familiar with, coming from Vancouver.

Snow! We decided to remain strong and venture on. ;)
The town of Grand Forks is famous for 2 things: sunshine and borscht. I am not joking. That’s what it says on the sign on the way into town.

I can’t say where the claim of famous sunshine comes from (although it was very sunny when we were there), but the borscht claim comes from a large Doukhobor population (Russian heritage). It was the perfect place to stop and have a great lunch which consisted of Pirohi, Borscht, and Veroniki (sorry for the spelling). Don’t ask what they were. They were just good!

I ate lunch with Grant.
The bus trip to Creston actually took the better part of the day. Creston also is on Mountain Time. We took a “scenic” route… Whatever. The short story is that we were really late getting into Creston and had just enough time to get to the auditorium for our sound check.

Much different country here. Very mountainous.

Prince Charles Secondary, where the concert was held.

Creston, like Grand Forks, is also famous for 2 things:

It is the home of Kokanee beer.

And the Sasquatch!!
See the fear in his eyes!!!

(After a pretty intense rehearsal/sound check, Will provided us with some much needed comic relief.)
We sang a great show and got to bed early for an early departure to Nelson.
Wait… what am I missing? Oh, yeah.

Peter, our awesome driver, brought us a present for the long trip back to the hotel (2 blocks away) (a peace offering for the “scenic” detour earlier in the day).

MONDAY, MARCH 8, 2010

Day 5 - Nelson

You know you are not in the metropolis anymore. The store across the street from the Downtowner Motor Hotel where we stayed in Creston is an actual gold panning store (the only one I have ever seen before). If only we had more time…
Lorraine got all giddy at the chance to acquire more jewelry. It might just be me, but if there was gold in the streams around town would you want to advertise the fact, or sell the supplies so that other people could find it?

The Kootenay’s sure are majestic!

We left Creston and headed out to Nelson. Our concert was held at the Capitol Theater at 2:00 pm. A great old converted movie theater.

The inside of the theatre.

A lovely day in Nelson.

I’ve stood atop what was once the tallest building in the world, but I have to say the view from our hotel in Nelson is one I will remember.

Since our concert was in the afternoon, it meant we had the evening off. The Academy Awards were on television, so we decided to get junk food and have an Oscar party. Junk food in Nelson consisted of organic Thai-flavored rice crackers in environmentally conscious packaging. Gluten-free… of course! So Nelson!!

We then went to bed early for the next day which Vi termed a “potential day from hell”.

5:15 am is way too early to get up. Right girls?

Right!

TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2010

Day 6 - Edmonton

We left Nelson at 6:00am, and had a very strict schedule to get to Cranbrook to catch a flight to Edmonton via Calgary.

Violet found out that the mountain highway we were on was being shut down at 8:00am for avalanche blasting, so we had to rush in order to not get caught. To make matters worse, we ran into a bad snowstorm 15 minutes outside of Nelson. Apparently she had no fingernails left by the time we made it to Cranbrook (with only about 20 min. left before our plane was scheduled to take off).

Snowstorm pictures from the bus.

Here we are all lined up at the check-in counter at Cranbrook airport.

We made the flight by the skin of our teeth.

We packed into the back and were on our way.

We flew over the Rockies and landed in the Prairies.

We went to our hotel and had a rest before a 3-hour rehearsal with Edmonton’s Richard Eaton Singers, with whom we are sharing a concert.

Downtown Edmonton

Bill, Cam and I went to lunch.

Our combined forces, which is going to make for a real great concert!!

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2010

Day 7- Edmonton

Our day started with a workshop for young composers. We sang through their pieces and then offered some constructive criticism..

These are the vipers you have to watch out for… :) (Marla in the middle just offered me chili-flavoured chocolate and I almost feel guilty for calling her a viper.)

Jon is working with one of the young composers. I like these sessions. There were some really creative and talented young composers in this bunch.
In the evening we joined forces with the Richard Eaton Singers and had a concert at First Presbyterian Church.

The concert went really well. It was especially nice to sing in a church acoustic. (We had gotten used to singing in theatres up until this point.)

Jon was in fine form.
We sang the world premiere of a piece by Ruth Watson Henderson.

Here is a picture of conductor Len Ratzlaff, with Ruth.

The girls with poet E.D. Blodgett. He was once poet laureate of Edmonton, and wrote the text for the piece which was commissioned for this concert.
There was a great reception after the concert.

We even made some friends.

Cheers, everyone!!

Time to get ready for bed!

THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2010

Day 8 - Edmonton, long layover in Calgary, and finally Regina

The day started with a conducting workshop at the University of Alberta. There were 6 conducting students who each got a 20-minute masterclass with Jon and the choir.
In the rehearsal room someone very creative transformed this no smoking sign. How appropriate!

One of the student conductors.

They all did very well.
We then rushed to the airport to catch a flight to Regina with a stopover in Calgary. Unfortunately, due to fog earlier in the day, our plane was an hour late leaving Edmonton.

Here we are in line at the Edmonton airport. This is before we found out that our short trip to Regina was going to take much, much longer than expected.
We made it to Calgary and found out that we had missed our connecting flight. They had rescheduled most of us on a later flight that would get us to Regina at 1:30am. The rest were coming at 7:00am the next morning. We split up, and those who were staying the night in Calgary went to their hotel (supplied by Air Canada), while the rest of us had an all-day campout at the airport waiting for our late-night flight to depart. There went our hopes of the Caribbean dinner adventure we were supposed to have which Melissa (our host in Regina) was going to put on for us.

Vi, at the customer service desk in Calgary. Before her visit to the Maple Leaf Lounge…

Here she is handing out our new boarding passes and meal vouchers.
We camped out at the restaurant where a really nice waitress took pity on us (after we bribed her with chocolate) and took really good care of us!

The hours went by like seconds… well, almost.
We got to Regina and my head hit the pillow at 3:00 am. Wow! What a day!!! It took longer to get from Edmonton to Regina than it did for us to get from Vancouver to Tokyo in November.

FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2010

Day 9 - Regina

After getting to bed at 3:00 am the night before I slept like the dead, and woke up at 11:00 am feeling remarkably well rested (aside from a little kinked neck). I missed the heavenly bed from Edmonton.
It was the most comfy bed I have ever slept in. In fact, it was so comfortable I even took a picture of it.

Oh, how I miss you!! Luckily I found a catologue in our room which can help me recreate the whole experience at home, linens and all.

Only $3620.00… I don’t think Vi would mind if I charged it to the room…right? (I am worth 300 thread count, no?) For that price I am sure someone will come and make it every day just like at the hotel.

We had a 2-hour workshop with a high school choir from Luther College, as well the choir from University of Regina, in which we sat mixed up with the students and worked on some of the basics: listening to each other, balance, word stress, etc. They were the exact same things we work on in Chamber Choir on a daily basis. I like doing these kinds of workshops where Jon asks us to demonstrate singing something the “wrong” way and then the “right” way. My favourite demonstration was singing an Italian Renaissance piece in a country-western style -- wrong on many levels!

Here is Melissa Morgan (our presenter, and longtime friend of the choir).

She is the music teacher at Luther College and her kids had all the music we worked on memorized!! So well prepared!!

Christ Lutheran Church has a great acoustic and we had just a few details to work through before the concert.

We went back to the hotel and got ready for the show.

Here we go!
After the concert we were officially on “time off” with a free day the next day. Some of us went out for some nachos and wings to celebrate.

Then, off to bed.
We were invited to Melissa’s mother’s house for a Caribbean banquet the next day at 4:00 pm and I intended to remain in bed until the last possible second…

SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 2010

Day 10 - Regina (day off); Day 11 - Calgary

Let’s get the party started!!
It was our day off and I can tell you that I spent a good deal of it in bed. What a whirlwind tour so far. We were very lucky to be the guests of honour at Melissa’s house for dinner. She is the music teacher at Luther College and is our presenter here in Regina. She is such a special person and the whole choir truly loves her very much.

Marla collecting the coats at Melissa’s place.

Melissa’s mom worked day and night to put together this whole Caribbean feast. The smile never left her face once.

She is one of the kindest and most beautiful people I have met. I can see where Melissa’s generous character comes from.

Here we are all hanging out in her rec room.
Gordon brought an orchid as a small token of our appreciation.

Here is the menu:

We found a place to sit and had an enjoyable evening and a great day off.

Dolores was actually a little overwhelmed by the great magical Caribbean spices! (hee hee)

During dinner, John Nelson, a choir director from Regina and fellow guest, came into the dining room. Cameron looked up at him and said, “Camrose, Alberta, Summer 1968... the Workshop Chorale!”
They had sung together 42 years ago. It was Cam’s first professional singing gig and he made $18.00 a day.

The years have been kind to both of them, considering what they have been through.
A great night was had by all, and no one wanted to leave at the end.

A special thanks to the multi-talented Morgans!!!

5 AM came very, very early. We had been flipping back and forth between timezones like ping pong balls. Even though Saskatchewan's time doesn’t change, I was thoroughly confused.

The beautiful prairie sunrise greeted us on our way to the airport where we would be flying to Calgary.

At the Calgary airport we met up with Kathleen, who had had to fly back to Vancouver on our day off to sing a concert with her university choir in order to fulfill her academic obligations. Ironic, no?

A smile like that deserves an A+!!
We then had a rehearsal with the Spiritus Choir in Calgary. We are singing a piece together in tomorrow’s concert.

Then we were set loose for the rest of the day and left to our own devices. We only have one more night of gathering teeny, tiny soaps for our collections.

The tour mantra!!

“grrrr”
“I’ll be home tomorrow, honey!”

MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2010

Day 12 Calgary-Home

This post took a little while to send out.

We made it home!!

We had a great time and I personally would like to thank everyone who made this tour possible.

Here is a link to a great article from the Vancouver Sun. They interviewed Steven, one of our singers about life in the choir and on the road.

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/westcoast-life/Vancouver+Chamber+Choir+road+then+home+again/2694805/story.html.

Day 12 Calgary-Home

2010-03-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

Day 10 - Regina (day off); Day 11 - Calgary

2010-03-13T19:47:00.001-08:00

Day 9 - Regina

2010-03-12T13:17:00.001-08:00

It was the most comfy bed I have ever slept in. In fact, it was so comfortable I even took a picture of it.

Oh, how I miss you!! Luckily I found a catologue in our room which can help me recreate the whole experience at home, linens and all.

Only $3620.00… I don’t think Vi would mind if I charged it to the room…right? (I am worth 300 thread count, no?) For that price I am sure someone will come and make it every day just like at the hotel.

We had a 2-hour workshop with a high school choir from Luther College, as well the choir from University of Regina, in which we sat mixed up with the students and worked on some of the basics: listening to each other, balance, word stress, etc. They were the exact same things we work on in Chamber Choir on a daily basis. I like doing these kinds of workshops where Jon asks us to demonstrate singing something the “wrong” way and then the “right” way. My favourite demonstration was singing an Italian Renaissance piece in a country-western style -- wrong on many levels!

Here is Melissa Morgan (our presenter, and longtime friend of the choir).

She is the music teacher at Luther College and her kids had all the music we worked on memorized!! So well prepared!!

Christ Lutheran Church has a great acoustic and we had just a few details to work through before the concert.

We went back to the hotel and got ready for the show.

Here we go!

After the concert we were officially on “time off” with a free day the next day. Some of us went out for some nachos and wings to celebrate.

Then, off to bed.

We were invited to Melissa’s mother’s house for a Caribbean banquet the next day at 4:00 pm and I intended to remain in bed until the last possible second…

Day 8 - Edmonton, long layover in Calgary, and finally Regina

2010-03-11T14:58:00.001-08:00

The day started with a conducting workshop at the University of Alberta. There were 6 conducting students who each got a 20-minute masterclass with Jon and the choir.

In the rehearsal room someone very creative transformed this no smoking sign. How appropriate!

One of the student conductors.

They all did very well.

We then rushed to the airport to catch a flight to Regina with a stopover in Calgary. Unfortunately, due to fog earlier in the day, our plane was an hour late leaving Edmonton.

Here we are in line at the Edmonton airport. This is before we found out that our short trip to Regina was going to take much, much longer than expected.

We made it to Calgary and found out that we had missed our connecting flight. They had rescheduled most of us on a later flight that would get us to Regina at 1:30am. The rest were coming at 7:00am the next morning. We split up, and those who were staying the night in Calgary went to their hotel (supplied by Air Canada), while the rest of us had an all-day campout at the airport waiting for our late-night flight to depart. There went our hopes of the Caribbean dinner adventure we were supposed to have which Melissa (our host in Regina) was going to put on for us.

Vi, at the customer service desk in Calgary. Before her visit to the Maple Leaf Lounge…

Here she is handing out our new boarding passes and meal vouchers.

We camped out at the restaurant where a really nice waitress took pity on us (after we bribed her with chocolate) and took really good care of us!

The hours went by like seconds… well, almost.

We got to Regina and my head hit the pillow at 3:00 am. Wow! What a day!!! It took longer to get from Edmonton to Regina than it did for us to get from Vancouver to Tokyo in November.

Day 7- Edmonton

2010-03-10T16:03:00.001-08:00

Our day started with a workshop for young composers. We sang through their pieces and then offered some constructive criticism..

These are the vipers you have to watch out for… :) (Marla in the middle just offered me chili-flavoured chocolate and I almost feel guilty for calling her a viper.)

Jon is working with one of the young composers. I like these sessions. There were some really creative and talented young composers in this bunch.

In the evening we joined forces with the Richard Eaton Singers and had a concert at First Presbyterian Church.

The concert went really well. It was especially nice to sing in a church acoustic. (We had gotten used to singing in theatres up until this point.)

Jon was in fine form.

We sang the world premiere of a piece by Ruth Watson Henderson.

Here is a picture of conductor Len Ratzlaff, with Ruth.

The girls with poet E.D. Blodgett. He was once poet laureate of Edmonton, and wrote the text for the piece which was commissioned for this concert.

There was a great reception after the concert.

We even made some friends.

Cheers, everyone!!

Time to get ready for bed!

P.S. We miss you Alicia!!! John, still no baby?

Day 6 - Edmonton

2010-03-09T12:07:00.001-08:00

We left Nelson at 6:00am, and had a very strict schedule to get to Cranbrook to catch a flight to Edmonton via Calgary.

Day 5 - Nelson

2010-03-08T09:14:00.001-08:00

Lorraine got all giddy at the chance to acquire more jewelry. It might just be me, but if there was gold in the streams around town would you want to advertise the fact, or sell the supplies so that other people could find it?

The Kootenay’s sure are majestic!

We left Creston and headed out to Nelson. Our concert was held at the Capitol Theater at 2:00 pm. A great old converted movie theater.

The inside of the theatre.

A lovely day in Nelson.

I’ve stood atop what was once the tallest building in the world, but I have to say the view from our hotel in Nelson is one I will remember.

Since our concert was in the afternoon, it meant we had the evening off. The Academy Awards were on television, so we decided to get junk food and have an Oscar party. Junk food in Nelson consisted of organic Thai-flavored rice crackers in environmentally conscious packaging. Gluten-free… of course! So Nelson!!

We then went to bed early for the next day which Vi termed a “potential day from hell”.

5:15 am is way too early to get up. Right girls?

Right!

Day 4 - Creston

2010-03-07T10:05:00.001-08:00

Day 3- Osoyoos/Oliver

2010-03-06T11:10:00.001-08:00

Some of the more rowdy members of the group regaled us with tales from the previous evening.

Apparently they gave better than they got and got away mostly unscathed.

It was a very slow fight. My mom took tai chi and was disappointed when she found out this move was actually called “Play Guitar”, not the much more exotic “Pray Gitah” she thought it was.

The trip from Vernon to Osoyoos is so scenic, and the landscape is dotted with orchards and vineyards. We actually begged Vi to stop at a winery, but to no avail. We had places to go and not much time to get to them.

Did you know that Osoyoos is actually a desert? You can see the cactus in the planter, no?

We took over our hotel which had beautiful balconies and views of the lake.

The water was like glass.

We had enough time to eat supper/relax before going off to the Frank Venables Auditorium in Oliver to sing our show.

Cam won an award!! The Ogopogo Invitational. He was so overjoyed, he got quite emotional.

See, he is losing it.

After that picture-taking ordeal we laughed and laughed!

After the concert we found a little pub and had a quick ginger ale before bed

Day 2- Vernon

2010-03-05T10:24:00.001-08:00

We tired poor Cameron out and all he wanted to do was rest…

The theatre in Vernon is the first place where I have encountered a versatile amplified acoustic. All one had to do was push a button and BOOM, you had a 5-second reverb that made it feel as though you were in a great cathedral in Europe. We opted out of the chamber acoustic, and settled on the symphonic setting… of course! Someone told me that the young designer of this sound system is from Vernon, and that he has gone on to sell it to some of the great theatres around the world.

We had a quick rehearsal, then sang a show to a rather full house. Who has a full house at a concert at 1:30 pm on a Thursday afternoon? I guess Vernon does.

After the concert we had a photo-op with the sponsor, Windsor Plywood!!

This is Rosina (middle). She is Bill’s 6-year-old niece. We serenaded her with “Happy Birthday” during the concert and she is so cute!! She took instantly to Jenny (left) and Kathleen (right).

We were finished by 4:00pm and decided to go for a nice supper.

Hello, Margaritaville!!

Day 1-Vernon

2010-03-04T11:56:00.001-08:00

Steve and I loading up (notice us posing while poor Vi is hefting boxes in the background…oops, sorry!)

It may be the last time we see him this awake for a long time…

The trip to Vernon has some pretty amazing scenery:

We made great time and were in Vernon before you know it. We got to the hotel, put our stuff away, got our music ready and went to a sound check at the theater.

Backstage they have hundreds of posters of different groups who have performed in the Vernon Centre for the Performing Arts.

We are almost away

2010-03-02T20:11:00.000-08:00

I am sure gonna miss the blossoms!!

Marsha Goold

Karen Mang

Kathleen Allan

Our maestros are hard at work getting us ready

I hope we all can survive!!

BC/Prairies March 3-14

2010-02-13T11:48:00.000-08:00

We are getting ready to head out on the road again.

Follow us each day, March 3-14th and get a first hand view as we head off to: Vernon, Oliver, Creston, Nelson, Edmonton, Regina, and Calgary.

Canada is such a beautiful country, and we are going to some spectacular places.

Asia tour 2009

2009-11-12T14:51:00.000-08:00

Some great pictures from the tour:

Perspectives

2009-11-11T10:56:00.000-08:00

In a way, it's a little surreal to be home. Lucky to have returned just before a holiday, giving us the chance to spend precious time with family before jumping headlong into the backlog of whatever work was put on hold for three weeks.

This odd feeing of of being so comfortable being away at work for such an extended period has occurred for me on occasion, but never so much as on this past tour.

As I listened to similar comments from my colleagues, I was struck by how many collective tour experiences we all share, and just how many important facets there are to the making of a successful tour. So many of us (if not all!) have agreed that this was probably the best tour they can remember, and everyone numbers their priorities in his or her own particular order of importance. For me, it was the diversity of the events in which we were able to participate, and the level of appreciation for our collective musicianship and versatility that was so immensely gratifying. Sharing in the culture of each place we visit always adds a special perspective, and this tour was certainly no exception, but hugely enhanced on this occasion due to the personal involvement of family and friends of Tama Copithorne and Cecilia Chueh. The incredible array of unique events, so many of which were arranged especially for us, and some not usually available to the casual visitor, added an especially rich aspect to this tour.

Not to leave the exemplary level of musicianship we achieved together unmentioned, I feel that the description of what it takes to make a tour like this work on so many levels was so eloquently articulated by our own Violet Goosen, a day or two ago on this blog. As I digested her comments, it made me feel so proud that she felt this way about our performances, comportment, and the level at which we represented ourselves as a choir, as musicians and as citizens.

I would like to add that we can never say enough about the incredible 'behind the scenes' work, much of which seemed to go on 24/7, not only in the months leading up to, but also during the tour. We can only imagine the incredible amount of detail and organization, and the stresses of dealing with the constant changes that arose as the days proceeded. Always, and as ever, handled seemingly without a hitch, hiccup or ruffle of feathers, Vi and our intrepid team of 'handlers' soldiered on, smoothing the way and ensured that things went according to somebody's plan! That these compliments come from someone whose years of musicianship and dedication has contributed so enormously to the shape and soul of the choir, is high praise indeed.

So, to Violet, Tama, Cecilia, and their extended friends and families, profound thanks and gratitude for all your efforts and expertise. Thanks to Jon for his leadership and that special ability to always find a direction for those workshops, and to John William Trotter, (John-boy, Trotzky, Asistanto) Bravo! It's the first time we've ever seen someone play 'Lotto Conductor" and we were dazzled by your skill, versatility and good humour. Special thanks to Charles and Lucille Flavelle, whose companionship and enthusiastic support always adds so much.

I know that, in the days to come as we make the transition back to the hectic scramble of making a living as musicians, I will remember the depth of appreciation of our art from those we visited, and particularly, the moving words of Charles, as he described the effect our performances had on their friends and his deep affection for the choir. It brings an enormous sense of fulfillment to have chosen this as a career. The memories of what we achieved and the people we were able to touch with our music are gifts I will treasure always, and I know I will be able to call on them whenever I need a reminder of just how profound and powerful the choral art can be.

Marla - #8

Day 17, 18, 19 Yokohama

2009-11-09T03:55:00.000-08:00

We have finally made it to the last stop on our tour. Each place that we have visited has had such a distinct "flavour", and all the different cultures and experiences from each place we will bring back home with us. The really neat thing is that we, in turn, were able to give them a gift in return.

The view from our hotel room!!
I went on this ferris wheel. I am very proud of myself and thankful that Steve did not rock it too much.

Our hotel!!

The beautiful hall we performed in!!

We led a conductors' workshop. Lots of fun!

View from the ferris wheel.

We also led a workshop with some local choirs... We helped them perfect the sound of music.

My last post will be tomorrow!
T

2009-11-08T02:50:00.000-08:00

In case you, our family, friends and faithful followers of this blog, have come to the conclusion that the singers have been on vacation, I am going to dispel that illusion very quickly! This tour has not been a holiday - the Choir has been the finest ambassador any city, province, country could ever hope to send abroad. Their "free" days were free only from singing. Most of those days were spent graciously accepting the "gift" of visiting shrines, temples, castles, museums when they might rather have been sleeping, resting or having some "down time" alone. Then there were the challenges of travel - on at least 3 occasions, our larger luggage had to be sent by truck (no room on the trains!) and so the Choir carried their music, their concert costumes and other incidentals as we climbed the stairs of rail stations and hustled into the train cars whose doors open for only 2.5 minutes to allow passengers to disembark and others to embark but we all made it! Our mantra of "patience, tolerance and flexibility" was put to the test many times.
But then, there were the performances...sitting in the lobby at the first performance in Tainan, Taiwan, I heard the audience respond to the Choir with cheers and thunderous applause. I felt like a very proud "Mom" whose kids have done well! And they did this over and over again. There wasn't one performance that didn't measure up! The audiences in Japan have been just as appreciative - the lineups for Jon's autograph after the concerts, the number of photos people have taken of themselves with the singers - we have about 8 CD's of photos taken by the people in Izumo alone. Yes, they've had some good times but they've also done Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada proud - Thank you, Vancouver Chamber Choir!

Day 15 & 16 Kyoto

2009-11-07T03:18:00.001-08:00

We made the paper again! This time in colour!

We took the train from Izumo to Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan. It took us around 5 hours, and we had just enough time to check into our hotel before we went off to perform a concert.

So Japanese.

We were joined by a local womens' choir for the final piece on the programme. Their director also has a mens' choir which came to Vancouver and sang with Chor Leoni at MusicFest Vancouver about 5 years ago.

With 1000 tickets sold, the concert was pretty well sold out. People were lined up around the block.

This concert was presented by Pana Musica. It is a sheet music store here in Kyoto that specializes in choral music. This was the first time that they have presented a concert. The evening went off so well that we were told it will definitely not be the last.

Some of the awesome staff from Pana Musica.

Marla, the singers' representative to the board, made a very nice speech/presentation to Mr. Hattori, the director of Pana Musica, at a great reception after the concert.

We got aquainted with Mary Blossom... a Japanese merlot.

She was quite unforgiving.

Kyoto is so neat with hundreds of little temples that dot the city.

A little dog temple.

His bite is worse than his bark!

We had the next day off, so some people went sightseeing. We were staying right in the shopping district.

So, when in Rome...

T.

Sopranos (and a few altos) gone wild in Izumo!

2009-11-06T05:16:00.000-08:00

Hello blog followers,

Ever wonder what the VCC ladies do after dark?

Well, let us tell you!

In Izumo, after a full day of sightseeing, Tama – our fearless and tireless Japanese liaison - took several of us gals to the local hot spring.

We entered the building, removed our shoes, turned a corner and were overwhelmed by local fig products at the hot spring store (the ones we sampled were very yummy!).

We were then led into the women’s change room and instructed to remove all articles of clothing, jewelry and makeup. After that, we passed through the steamy glass doors into the bathing room.

We were bumbarded by the sight of many backsides in individual, open showering stalls, where women sat facing the wall on bum contoured stools and completely scrubbed away all traces of the outside world. When we sat down, Emily commented that a picture of this would make great cover art for our next cd – notice how no one actually brought a camera!

Once thoroughly cleansed, we eased ourselves into the steaming indoor mineral pool. The water was soft, fresh and pleasantly odourless (unlike Harrison). There were two lovely jets to massage your cares away, but there was more...

Outside, the lanterns cast a warm glow in the chilly night as we followed a stone pathway under a wooden canopy. At the end we found a small natural rocky pool surrounded by a Japanese garden. Since we were still in our birthday suits, we were glad there was a bamboo divider between the men’s and women’s pools!

Through conversations with Tama, the local bathers discovered that we were singers and asked for a song. We ended up singing Aka Tonbo (Red Dragonfly) and Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) with them. The altos hummed along since in our arrangements they don’t get any words. There were two young girls outside with us who had never seen foreigners before. They were fascinated with our white (now pink) skin and asked us our favourite colours. Their favourite was pink.

Once the bathing beauties were fully cooked, we reluctantly left our pool and showered again – this time, to face the outside world. We felt calmed and soothed, and our skin was silky smooth. We were driven back to the spa resort by our lovely volunteer host, Aya, in our blissful state.

During the concert in Kyoto the following night, we discovered that our bonding experience had created our best blend ever!

Recounted by a few sopranos.

Video - O Canada

2009-11-05T23:12:00.000-08:00

You might say this was our opening act for our concert in Shūnan: a group of local schoolchildren singing "O Canada".
ADORABLE.

s.

Video - Izumo, post-concert reception

2009-11-05T21:31:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the efforts of the Izumo-Canada Friendship Society, we were treated like royalty for the duration of our stay. Our concert was merely the beginning of a long evening of performances, photo sessions and parties. The post-concert reception included singing, a short performance by traditional Koto players, and this dance routine by local schoolchildren.

s.

Video - Sea of Japan

2009-11-05T21:25:00.000-08:00

By the time we arrived in Izumo it was already dark, and although we could hear the sound of waves crashing around us, we couldn't quite appreciate the stunning beauty of our surroundings until the next morning. This gorgeous view of the Sea of Japan was what we saw from our balcony the next morning. Incredible, no?

s.

Video - Taiko drumming

2009-11-05T21:20:00.000-08:00

As we arrived at our hotel in Izumo we were greeted by the deafening roar of six Taiko drummers in the hotel lobby. These six drummers are actually part of a larger group -- 21 drummers in total, all female, and none of them older than 21! Quite spectacular. And a mere preview of the local hospitality that would await us...

s.

Day 14 Izumo

2009-11-04T17:01:00.000-08:00

We managed to make the news!

Today we had a full day away from singing. That doesn't mean we were left to our own devices, though. The Izumo-Canada Friendship Society had a full day of sightseeing planned for us. We were up early and on the bus to our first stop. We visited a museum of sculptures made entirely out of sushi dishes. (So Japanese; it's cute, you like it, but you don't entirely get it.)

This is a bug made out of bicycle parts??
We were there for around 15 min. before being ushered back onto the bus to go to our next stop.
The town of Matsue is so beautiful. We took a trip on the Horikawa pleasure boats, traveling past some of the ancient samurai houses and some pretty amazing scenery.

The canopy needed to be lowered for when you went under some low bridges, at which point you had to practically lay down.

We went to a great Japanese restaurant for lunch!

So good!!
It had a lovely Japanese zen garden in the back.

This has inspired me to create one in my backyard. (You do all realize a mucky mess will be the more likely outcome.)

After lunch we went to the castle in Matsue. Second-largest of the 12 remaining medieval castles in Japan, it was built over a period of 5 years, and was completed in 1611.

We were of course greeted by Samurai warriors -- people from the village dressed in traditional costume especially to greet us. Wow.

We sang for them.

The views from the top.

You had to take off your shoes while inside. This is as closed as I could get the locker for mine.

Really cool displays inside as well.

Helmets and armour

I really enjoyed it.
On our itinerary we were next scheduled to go to a kilt museum... apparently the only one in Japan. We were all a bit leery. I have not run into many Scots here, or for that fact seen too many Japanese men in tartans (outside of Shinjuku, if you know what I mean). It turned out to be the only QUILT museum in Japan. By quilt I mean the most beautiful/priceless works of art made out of ancient kimonos, housed in a 250-year-old Japanese home that made my mouth drop.

Mt. Fuji

This is the owner/designer of these beautiful quilts. Her quilts have been exhibited all over the world.

We presented her with a traditional Inuit wall hanging.

This day was so amazing. It was made even more special by the people from the Izumo-Canada Friendship Society, who followed us around everywhere. At any given time we had an entourage of 25 or so smiling faces. Where words could not communicate, their love and friendship definitely came through. I hope our appreciation did as well!
Thank you!

T

Day 13 Izumo

2009-11-04T14:41:00.000-08:00

Izumo is known in Japan as the birthplace of myths and legends. It is home to the oldest and most important Shinto shrine in the whole country. Apparently all of the gods throughout the nation gather at the Taisha shrine in Izumo each October. ( I was 3 days late, but better late...)
I have sung in many, many church services, but in this case it was our songs that were actually given as an offering. A very special morning.

We had to wash our hands and lips in order to enter the shrine.

Robert (middle) works for the city of Izumo as an interpreter. He managed to catch the eye of many a choir member...

We were seated and had a sacred tea ceremony. We had sweets first (very sweet) and then a bitter tea (very bitter).

The sweet... a.k.a. sugar cube

Bitter tea... only palatable after the sugar cube.
We then were given vestments to wear, we washed our hands again (no H1N1 here) and were given a thimbleful of holy sake.

Mmm... sake

We processed in 3 lines to the holy shrine where we gave our offering.
Every 60 years the shrine is renovated -- they showed us some of the techniques used.

A demonstration of the roof construction. It is about a foot thick and made of layer upon layer of a special tree bark held together with bamboo nails.

The high priest was sure that the God of Izumo liked our gift.

It was a national holiday in Japan, so our concert was at 2 in the afternoon. I am sure the 50 or so people who had to stand at the back of the hall (every seat was full) had sore feet by the time it was over as there was a childrens' choir, ladies' choir, mens' choir, plus we sang a whole program, encore and all. We then sang 3 pieces with the large massed choir made up of the citizens. The audience loved it and just clapped and clapped.
After, there was a toast and a photo session. The toast included Koto players and a dance routine from the children. Kind of like a post-concert concert.

We learned how to play the koto.

Speeches were given by our oldest and youngest members.

We were then ushered off to the post-concert concert reception dinner hosted by the Izumo-Canada Friendship Society. They wanted to make us all feel like home so they served us all ceasars, the Canadian drink.

Of course the altos were soon out of control.

And the sopranos were not too far behind.

Well... some of them.
There was a speech from the mayor of Izumo who was not at the concert, but got a text from someone telling him it was very good. (Like a true politician he did not miss the reception.)

The Mayor.
That started it. What followed was speech after speech and presentation after presentation. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

I think Caitlin said it best when I asked her what she would remember the most about this trip, and she answered, "The people and the hospitality that they have shown us."
I think I agree.

T

Video - Liberty Square

2009-11-04T04:38:00.000-08:00

This is without question my favourite video. It's taken from the centre of Liberty Square (formerly Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Square) in Taipei. No matter which way you turn, you can't help but be overcome by the colossal beauty of these buildings. In order: the main archway of Liberty Square (WEST), the National Theatre (SOUTH), the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (EAST) and the National Concert Hall (NORTH). We had the privilege and honour of performing in this amazing concert hall, an experience I will cherish forever.

s.

Video - Taipei 101

2009-11-04T04:31:00.000-08:00

This video was taken from the outdoor observation deck on the 91st floor of Taipei 101, currently the tallest building in the world... until construction on the Burj Dubai is completed this December. (Dubai, Schmubai. We still love you, Taipei.)
Although there are 101 floors, the 91st floor is the uppermost floor open to the public, giving stunning views of the city below.

s.

Video - Taiwan High Speed Rail

2009-11-04T04:25:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

This is Steve, Tommy's roommate on tour and the blog's copy editor (ha!). Tommy is having wireless issues (again) tonight, so I thought I would post some videos to keep you all happy!

This first one was taken while on board Taiwan's High Speed Rail. It's one of the fastest trains in the world, running at speeds of over 300 km/h. Our trip from Tainan to Taipei -- 315 km -- took a mere 90 minutes. (Via Rail, I hope you're watching.)

More on the way!

s.

Day 12 Izumo

2009-11-02T01:18:00.004-08:00

We said goodbye to rainy Hiroshima. It was a 3.5-hour-long trip on the bus through some pretty amazing scenery to get to Izumo. I didn't realize Japan was so mountainous. We went through one postcard picture village after the next.

We arrived at the hotel at Izumo right before supper to be greeted in the hotel lobby by six young girl taiko drummers. Welcome to Izumo!!

They played us 3 songs; you could feel the music reverberate right through your body and we were mesmerized by their drumming. There was a girl in the back row who couldn't have been more than 7 years old. Just watching her concentration and her dedication put a smile on my face.

Izumo reminds me of Tofino in British Columbia. We are at a hotel where the waves are crashing only 20 feet from our room. So beautiful!!!

On the beach close to our hotel.

We put our feet in the Japan Sea. Very warm, but a large wave came and soaked us above our knees.

The hall where our concert will be.

We were taken out to a French restaurant for dinner.

We had a workshop with a choir made up of about 90 or so citizens from Izumo. We will be performing with them tomorrow night -- a song we have dubbed "The Happy Bunny Song".

Still not entirely sure what this song is about.

They are so nice!!

Since Steve and I were given the largest room at the hotel (karma has its benefits), we decided to have a room party. A fun night for all.

Kanpai!!
T.

Day 10 & 11 Shunan-Hiroshima

2009-11-01T22:52:00.000-08:00

Our concert with the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus went exceptionally well. They sang the first half of the concert, and premiered a new work by Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer. We sang all Canadian works in the second half. Our ensembles have such different sounds; I honestly think it would be hard to compare the two. A friend of mine from Vancouver was visiting her brother in Tokyo, and she came to the show. She said she was very proud of us.

Anyway, we got up early the next morning and went on a fast train to Osaka where we transfered to another train -- apparently not as fast -- to Tokuyama station. (Even the "not as fast" train was going well over 200 km per hour!)

It is farther in the south and you could feel the difference in temperature and see more tropical vegetation. On the way, we caught a glimpse of Mt. Fuji.

We arrived to find ourselves in a hotel full of sumo wrestlers... of course!

He is the grand champion.

This is the only person I have ever seen who tried to stare down Vi...

We sang at a peace concert. The concert opened with about 10 children from the community who got up and sang "O Canada"! It was possibly the cutest thing I have seen.
We sang a set, then there was a short film about human torpedos!
The area that we were staying in was famous during the war for its young men who sailed out in these kamikaze torpedos. They were martyrs in that they sacrificed themselves for their country.

Jenny had some pictures and stories that her choir and students had made, which she presented to the children. It was so lovely that the children actually made some pictures for her to bring back to her kids in Vancouver. It is true that music has no borders.

All I am saying is... this bus would be illegal in Canada. 26 people in a vehicle built for 12...

A great group of ladies!!

In the morning we got up and headed for the train station again. We had a long trip to get to Izumo, but we were going to stop along the way for a couple of hours at the museum in Hiroshima. I was not prepared for, nor expecting, the impact that visiting Hiroshima museum had on each of us.

This building at ground zero is left in ruins as a reminder of the horror of the nuclear bomb, dropped Aug. 6, 1945. It killed hundreds of thousands of people and has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Childrens' peace memorial.

Please read Jenny's following post about her experience and reaction to this profound place.

Cranes, war, music and I

2009-11-01T15:44:00.000-08:00

I'll try to keep this short. It probably won't be. At least you know the effort is made.

There aren't many opportunities as a Canadian to really get hit by the enormity of war. I've only experienced it on the three occasions, and the first and the last brought me full circle.

The first time was a Remembrance Day assembly at my Calgary elementary school in Grade 4. In a dimly lit gymnasium, the entire school was read the story of Sadako and a Thousand Cranes. As I sat there, blinking at the dark walls, I began to comprehend that war didn't just have to do with military men with guns, that it made an innocent young girl a few years older than me lose her life slowly and painfully. Afterwards, we folded our own cranes to be sent to the Children's Peace Memorial in Hiroshima. We and another elementary school held a peace march with signs and media. We sang Where Have All the Flowers Gone and Give Peace a Chance. It made an impact.

The second time was on tour with the Mount Royal Youth Choir in 1998, when we visited Vimy Ridge. Two things struck me - the towering monument to the Universal Soldier, of course, but also the hilly, ridged ground, created by mortar shells and underground tunnels which had caved in. We sang a spiritual at the monument and it resonated off the sides of the ridge.

And the third time was yesterday.

We stepped off the train at Hiroshima and I felt this...dread...at the pit of my stomach. I wasn't expecting this. I thought I'd feel a little solemn, thoughtful, perhaps. Instead I felt as though I really didn't want to be in the same place as past obliteration. It was odd. This was further amplified by the fact that it was a) cloudy and rainy, and b) that my water bottle had exploded in my garment and turned 9 of the 25 of my student's music projects for children in Japan into a watercolour mush. (I'm so sorry, kids...I did get the chance to hand most of them out the night before.)

On the streetcar to Hiroshima's Ground Zero I stared blankly out at what now seemed to be a bustling city and felt a brooding sense of anger at how one group of humanity could make a decision to turn hundreds of thousands of others into dust and kill the rest with cancer. I didn't like the fact that people seemed upbeat in these circumstances, although in another way I was happy to see it. I didn't understand why this was hitting me like it was. We got to the Peace Park -- I read a sign pointing out where the bomb had hit and was this close to getting teary.

I was feeling like an idiot. I'm not much of a crier. I'm normally relatively stoic. I look around at people crying in movies with a quizzical grin. It was bothering me that I was bothered. It felt silly.

We walked across a bridge and I had almost found my equilibrium again when someone from the choir motioned me over to an exhibit and said, "well, there are more than a thousand cranes here, but this should do". These weren't Sadako's cranes, no. They were, however, the creations of thousands of schoolchildren from all over the world for the Children's Peace Monument, keeping the spirit of Sadako alive. I lost all composure, let out a sob, turned around, walked away and needed two minutes to get myself together again.

Again, I felt like an idiot. Like some sort of drama queen who fails to truly comprehend the real emotional impact. I had no relatives from this area. I was a privileged Canadian. I felt as though I was cheapening the survivor's actual experience by sitting there blubbering.

Since I'd sat there crying, I'd lost most of my time to actually view the exhibit and most of the choir had already moved on. I tried hurriedly to take as many pictures of as many cranes as I could, trying to retain, realizing when I was almost done that the crane I'd made in Grade 4 was probably in there somewhere.

We moved on to the museum where Sadako's actual cranes would be. They were supposed to be near the end of the exhibit - I didn't feel I had much time. I made my way through the museum, seeing pictures of mushroom clouds and the Enola Gay pilots calling the bombing a "success" and people's skin sloughing off and felt a dull dread in the pit of my stomach that I would made an idiot of myself once again. Then, next to an exhibit explaining the effects of radiation poisoning and cancer on the children, there they were.

They were so tiny.

They weren't made out of origami paper, but little wrappers. I imagined a green-and-white one to be some sort of peppermint, probably a hospital treat. Each of their little heads and wings were carefully cocked to one side or the other. I looked down at my museum brochure and realized I'd been unconsciously making tiny little folds in the side of it.

I counted them and got different numbers each time - 43, then 40, then 41. The daughter of one of our Shunan concert organizers sidled up next to me and counted 41. I told her mom who this was the only story about the war that had really hit me as a child. She nodded and seemed to understand.

I stood there for about 30 minutes with my forehead against the glass, peering at these tiny little creatures. It struck me that the exhibit attracted every child who walked by - the preschoolers who liked the pretty colours and dainty shapes, the school-aged children with their yellow hats who had obviously heard the story before and stood there in reverence.

Standing there, I started to understand the content faces of the Hiroshima natives on the train, started to understand why this was saved for the end of the exhibit. Each little bird was imbued with a very simple emotion. Hope. I understood then that the story wasn't about a little girl who had her life taken away through such catastrophic circumstances, but that she had given something to herself and to others which was so much more powerful than all of that. It lifted my spirits.

This blog did get long-winded. My apologies. It has not escaped my attention that music has had some role to play in each of these experiences. I'm grateful for that.

- Jenny McLaren

Day 9 Tokyo

2009-11-01T05:32:00.000-08:00

Japan is the neatest place and has some of the coolest neighbourhoods. This morning I went to Harajuku.

It is so neat with all sorts of designer shops full of "must buys". I fought my way through the throngs of Japanese schoolgirls who were buying rhinestones for their cellphones to pick up some cute bibs for my new nephew. I realized afterwards that I spent $50.00, not $5.00 like I thought I did. My Yen, like my common sense, seem to be depleting quickly.

Everything in this store is pink!

I got some dog treats for the pets in my life.

In the afternoon we had a dress rehearsal at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan theatre. The Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus is such a great group! I had some Canada pencils to give away.

We presented a gift to their director, Chifuru. After, I got some pictures with longtime friends.

Our sister choir!!
In the basement of the theatre we left out mark.

Didn't write this... just liked it.

T

Sorry my posts have become a bit sporadic... Who would have thought wireless signals were hard to come by in Japan?

Day 8 Tokyo

2009-10-29T16:55:00.001-07:00

After meeting the Imperials, Steve, Will, and I went out for dinner in an area called Shinjuku. It has one of the busiest train stations in the world with over 1 million people traveling through it each day.

The packed train.

We found a great little Indian place.
Shinjuku is the futuristic city that Blade Runner was filmed in. Neon signs everywhere!

Bedtime!
Today we went for a rehearsal with the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus, with whom we will be sharing a concert tomorrow.

Chifuru Matsubara, the conductor of TPC, came to Vancouver 2 years ago as a guest conductor for one of our concerts. It was great to see him again.

We sang 2 joint pieces together, so we sat in mixed formation. It was a little intimidating singing in Japanese with native speakers sitting right beside you, but with our excellent language coaching we were well prepared and held our own.

A great thing about traveling with a group like this is that people split off and do their own thing. People took a boat trip of the city, some went shopping in Shibuya, and some went out in Ginza.

Ladies were off for a night on the town.
Big concert tomorrow!
T

Day 7 Tokyo

2009-10-28T18:38:00.000-07:00

We made it to Japan, that means we sadly had to say goodbye to Cecelia and Taiwan. We had such a great time and will all miss it there.
Tokyo is spotless, orderly and gigantic.(except for the hotel rooms, orderly and spotless yes... gigantic... no)

I guess you sacrifice size for location.

This morning I woke up and set off with Cameron in search of breakfast. A great thing about Tokyo is that in front of each restaurant they have plastic displays of the food that they serve. We found a great little spot and camped out there for a time.

Mmmm, plastic soup!
Charles and Lucille Flavelle joined up with our group and will be traveling with us for the remainder of the tour.

Charles with John T.
They own a little chocolate company back home called Purdy's.
We also picked up Tama Copithorne. She was the major force and organizer behind this part of the tour.

Tama (middle) has us all trained in the proper etiquette and proticol, which was put to the test as the choir got dressed and went to the Canadian Embassy and sang a mini-concert/tea party for the royal Emperor and Empress of Japan!
Vi had her speech ready.

All those years of playing Princess tea parties are coming to fruition!!
Their Majesties are the only Imperial Household left in the world. Where others are mere royalty, there is only one Emperor.
We were first taken on a tour of the Embassy. The outdoor rock garden was designed to represent the different regions in Canada.

The north.

The Pacific.

The Prairies!

Just kidding! We love and miss the bread basket of Canada!
We were then taken to the Ambassador's official residence in preparation for the concert. They thought of absolutely everything.

The concert included just 10 VIP guests.

Their Majesties' chairs! The man in the suit is the Canadian Ambasador.

We practised getting into one line so the we could each be introduced by our names to Their Highnesses.

There were no pictures allowed because the other embassies could lose face, and it may show favoritism towards Canada. Also, just transporting the Royals required 4 different police forces including helicopters. Talk about a complicated production!
It was out of this world. The Emperor and Empress spoke to each of us, and they were the cutest and most elegant people I have ever met. This night was one I will remember for the rest of my life!! After the concert there was a reception and Their Majesties were ushered around so that they could have a brief conversation with each of us. The Emperor told us the last time he visited Canada prior to this summer's visit was when he went to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, when he visited on the way back to Japan.

Fancy hors d'oeuvres

What a pleasure! And honour! It isn't every day you get to meet Royalty.

The Olympic clock here. Makes me almost miss home.
T

Day 6 Taipei-Tokyo

2009-10-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

Last night we did something that we have never done in my 10 years in the choir. Backstage, before going on, we gathered in a circle and all joined hands and just centered and shared each other's energy. I am not the most "new-agey" kind of person, but something clicked and we honestly sang the show of our lives. After the first piece on the program people screamed and it just got better from there. Three encores ended the show. We all felt that a very special event had just happened.

Fabi basking in the glow of the "green wall" in the atrium of the concert hall.
After the concert we were taken out by the Taipei Philharmonic Chorus to a Hot Pot restaurant. The last time I went for Hot Pot back home, no one knew what they were doing and it turned out to be a frothy mess. This time under the careful tutelage of our hosts, eating the chicken feet and pig's ears seemed more like delicacies as opposedo to punishment.

Jason, Gordon, and Fortune

So good!! It is the same idea as a fondue. You cook meat and things in various flavoured broths. The secret is to only cook a little at a time and to make sure things cook for long enough. Hello salmonella! Yum Yum

The altos were the most rambunctious... of course!

The sopranos were, as always, demure.

Friendships were firmly forged, and saying goodbye at the end of the evening was honestly quite sad. It was a late night, but a real good one.
There was so much boiling soup it made my brand new glasses fog up. I took them off and forgot them on the table when we left. I owe Grace, my beautiful dreamer (that is her solo) for seeing and saving them.

Yes, they are real.... :)
This morning we woke up early and were taken to the National Palace Museum.
In 1945, due to political instability on the mainland, the Chinese National Party evacuated the treasures from the Forbidden City to the island of Taiwan. There is so much in the collection that the museum cycles each exhibition every 3 months. It takes 104 years to exhibit everything. It is huge, easily on the same scale as the British Museum, and we had 1 hour. Run!!! I went to the gift shop for souvenirs.

One of many buildings.

Then we were off to the airport! Hello, Tokyo!

Day 5 Taipei

2009-10-26T09:03:00.001-07:00

We made it to Taipei!
At the main train station there are people everywhere you look.
When traveling with the VCC, we the singers are not in control. We don't have to know trivial things like where we are staying or going, so none of us does. All we do is follow the leader. I jokingly remarked to Jon that it would be easy to get swallowed up by the sea of people and I could just see it, me, lost in Taipei with not even the faintest idea of the hotel's name. He imediately called a halt and made everyone "count off" to make sure we were all there. We were.
The choir was last in Taipei for an international choral festival in 2002. We had a fantastic guide back then named Jason. Seven years later he met us at our hotel and took us all to the Shilin night market (the biggest in Taiwan). He looks exactly the same, and has not aged a day.

I refused to wear the mask. It clashed with my shirt. (Until we found designer ones in the market.)

I won't even try to explain the night market. I think it is something you have to experience. There are smells I am positive do not exist in nature, more people in one space than I thought possible, mix in anything and everything is for sale.
We all managed to find a few souvenirs...
T-shirts which make absolutely no sense seemed to be quite popular.

A favorite. Please email me (thomellis@yahoo.com) what you think this means. The best interpretation will get a prize!
BE AS CRATIVE AS POSSIBLE!!!

Bedtime!!!!!

The next morning we were left to our own devices. Steve and I decided to go to Taipei 101; officially it is still the world's tallest building until the completion of the Burj Dubai in December.

The amazing view.

The elevator ride took all of 30 seconds to go up 90 stories (apparently the fastest in the world). It felt like taking off in an airplane with no turbulance, ear pops and all.

We made our way back to the hotel and went to the rehearsal in preparation of tonight's big concert. The hall that we are singing in is something else.

The National Concert hall of Taipei seats around 2000, was built in 1987, and cost 7 billion dollars!! (Taiwanese dollars)

Will told me this is the biggest organ in all of Asia.

We were all feeling a little apprehensive and nervous before tonight's big concert!

Wish us luck... I mean break a leg.
Tom
-- Posted from my iPhone

Things An Alto Notices as a First-Time Traveller to Taiwan

2009-10-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

1. Scooters are everywhere. If you are skittish and try not to get hit by them, you probably will be hit by them. If you dart in and out of them carelessly, you're doing it right.

2. Taiwan beats New York for neon signage. Good thing I'm not swayed by advertising or my per diem would be gone.

3. Garbage trucks play ice-cream-truck-like songs. I almost ran after one. I wish Canadian garbage was this melodic...

4. Some major crosswalks have no pedestrian lights. I stood at one for 5 minutes, trying to figure out the traffic flow, before deciding that since I'd already broken a wrist on one tour, it was better not to get run over on this one.

5. I have seen no less than 5 little "dogs-in-bags" a la Paris Hilton. And the dogs don't respond well to "oh, what a cute widdle puppy dog" because they don't speak English. I had better luck saying "Ni Hao Ma" (sp?).

6. English translations may not always be grammatically correct, but they have a universally joyous tone to them. It is rare to find a translation without the words "happy", "joy", "lucky", "delicious", "beautiful", "love", etc...

7. When walking Taiwanese streets, if you stick to what you think is the sidewalk, you may very well be walking right through the middle of someone's family business. Is it better to walk in the parking lane? I wasn't sure...

8. Alleyways are not just alleyways. They are winding portals to tiny businesses and crowded community markets. (Speaking of which, there seems to be a very family-oriented, community-minded approach to business. For many, your life and your work are the same thing.)

9. People keep looking at my feet when I walk. Either I have bad shoes, or they've noticed I'm pigeon-toed.

10. As a relatively introverted person, I find it much more comfortable and polite to slightly bow to someone as they're walking by, rather than blurting out a self-conscious "hello" as I normally would in Canada. The whole chance meeting seems to have a greater sense of respect. Can we adopt this in Canada?

11. You can eat seaweed for breakfast, red beans are the norm for desserts, dragonfruit and mango yogurt are heavenly, and I am still waiting to appreciate the complexities of congee! (More on food later on in this tour.)

12. People appreciate the opportunity to try out their (very fluent) English in conversation. I walked past a group of 15-year-old boys who yelled out "nice to meet you" and were overjoyed when I replied, "Nice to meet YOU!". They laughed. I laughed. It was fun.

13. Audiences have a well-developed sense of choral applause. At our first concert, as we entered, the clapping was like bullet fire - until Jon turned around to conduct, at which time it ceased immediately and left us all somewhat stunned! (And delighted!)

14. Audiences are unbelievably appreciative. And culture matters. You know when the Director of Culture (? or something along those lines) for one major city takes you on a private tour, and the Deputy Mayor of another major city attends your concert and gives you the equivalent of the keys to the city. (Hint hint, B.C. gov't?)

15. Use your "inside voice" on the bullet train or you will be told by your fellow choristers the next morning that there were signs everywhere asking you to speak softly...and evidently, you ignored them...

16. The night markets are one gigantic sensory overload experience that makes an unmaterialistic chorister rather jittery!!

17. And lastly, sitting in the hotel lobby at 8:00 am, do not be surprised when 3 or 4 people, and then half a tour bus of people, sit next to you, one at a time, so they can get a picture with you. (It was like an assembly line. I couldn't stop giggling.)

By Jenny McLaren, a wide-eyed and delighted alto

Day 4 Tainan-Taipei

2009-10-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

Last night we sang our first concert. What an audience! At the end of our Taiwanese set people were wiping away tears. At the end of the concert, people screamed for encores!!! Violet sold over 80 CDs. Afterwards most of the choir, feeling quite elated, went to a fun lounge called Lips for drinks.

Nothing like a few drinks to chase away the jet lag.
I slept for a full 8 hours. Hooray!!

In the morning we all woke up and I had to sadly say goodbye to our hotel. I never quite worked up the courage to push the buttons that controlled the space-age toilet (except the flush that is).

The city of Tainan organized a tour of two historical temples. We were met at the first by the deputy mayor and a city councillor who were both at the concert the night before. They presented us with a "medallion" (Cecelia said it was equivalent to getting the key to the city).

The first temple was a Confucius temple which has one of the oldest and largest banyan trees in all of Taiwan. It almost died a few months ago and specialists were flown in to save it. Judging by the new buds, it seems to have worked.

We also went to Koxinga's shrine.

We all were given incense and instructions to kneel, make a wish, and place the sticks in sand in front of the altar. After, I immediately went and bought a lottery ticket.

Some of the more senior members of the choir were reminiscing of "simpler times" back in Saskatchewan.

Our guide Anton was so polite, earnest, passionate and friendly! We were remarkably good actors, seeing as though none of us could understand a word of his English.

We sang a song for him and made a friend for life.

We then were taken to the Chi Mei museum. Chi Mei is one of the largest manufacturers of plastics in the world. 10% of thier profits goes toward arts and culture, like procuring things for thier museum (and bringing us to Tainan city). Sorry, no pictures were allowed. I can only describe it as priceless art, priceless antiquities, and a taxidermy zoo.
You had to get your temperature taken before they would let you in to make sure you were not sick.

Our leader is hot... but not too hot to enter the museum!

We then took the fastest train I have ever been on to Taipei.

Tainan-Taipei: 300 km in 1 hour 30 min.

Day 3 Tainan-time to work

2009-10-23T20:04:00.000-07:00

For two lucky nights we get the pleasure of staying in one of the nicest hotels I have ever been in. When you leave your room, you walk out onto a balcony that overlooks a huge atrium, at the bottom of which is a fitness facility. I have not actually had the pleasure of trying it out, but it sure looks state of the art.
At 5am I was lying in bed wide awake trying desparately to sleep and keep quiet, when I looked over and saw Steve (my roommate on tour) with a glow coming from under his covers as he was reading his emails on his phone.
It turns out that each of us had been up since 4am and were both just lying there trying not to wake the other. Since we were awake we went for a walk.

Steve on the busy streets of Tainan which were not so busy at 6am.

The atrium...18 floors up (I couldn't look down)

The beautiful lobby

Last night we were treated to a 12 course meal by the Division of Culture from the city of Tainan. We all could have literally rolled back to our hotel.
Cecelia Chueh (middle) is our "cultural liason". She directs the Egret Women's choir in Vancouver and sits on our board. She is the leading force behind the Taiwan leg of this tour. A special thanks for all her work and connections is needed!!

After dinner, Bill found out what he actually ate. (Larry didn't seem to mind.)

In the morning we had a workshop at the Tainan Theological College and seminary, with a choir of music teachers.

The sign says it all.

Music teacher choir.

The music teacher choir and the VCC women workshop Elgar (that meant a 30 min. break for the men... haha).

We presented some gifts as tokens of appreciation.

We then had the afternoon off to rest and prepare for our first concert. (much needed nap)
The women met early to get some pictures of their new costumes.

Lorraine tried to organize us.

Look at those pipes!

Will riding in our lavish gypsy caravan that took us to the concert.

Tom

Day 2 Kaohsiung-Tainan

2009-10-23T01:44:00.001-07:00

After 21 hours of travel we have finally made it. The plane trip was exhausting but we all seemed to fare quite well.

Well, most of us.

Grant recuperating after the long flight.

Our hotel

The lobby

Kaohsiung is the second biggest city in Taiwan (1.5 million people). This morning we have already made 3 costume changes before 10 am. Each time wearing a little less clothing as the temperature increased.

David, our choir president, came to the airport and gave each of us a Canada scarf for this tour!!! We love you and appreciate everything you do (although in this weather speedos may have been more appropriate)...(for some)

The city of Kaohsiung gave us a great bus tour of the city in the morning and we got to see some amazing places. Our tour guides Oscar and Angela were so nice and hospitable. Highlights included: the main stadium for the 2009 World games, the temple and pagoda of the tiger and dragon, and the former consulate of the British embassy, which have some of the best views of Kaohsiung.

Our tour guide Angela (middle) with Sopranos: Emily (left) and Caitlin (right)

Lorraine and Caitlin with our other guide Oscar.

My alto girls Jenny, Marla, and Dolores. Where is Fabi?

There she is! Who would have known she would find love the first day?

The Tiger and Dragon Pagoda

Larry and Marla

I climbed to the top! Huff huff

The old British consulate.

Amazing views of the city.

Grace and the university in the background

Lorraine purchased a massage "torture" device. Have fun, Cliff, when she gets home.

The city then treated us to one amazing lunch at a seafood restaurant. We took a ferry across the harbour to get there.

Caitlin, Grace, John Trotter and Jon Washburn on the ferry.

How romantic.

So good!!!

As if this day couldn't get any better, the city then took us to a DIY craft store where we made driftwood sculptures. I didn't realize it was going to be a competition or else I would have tapped into my deep artistic well.

Mark is hard at work

Lorraine seems inspired.

Everyone showing their creations

And Alicia is the winner. Her pig won the big prize!!!

We are now on the bus to Tainan, the old capital of Taiwan. Thank you so much to the City of Kaohsiung for making our first day so enjoyable!

The choir under a Banyan tree.
Stay tuned for more!

Day 1 travel

2009-10-21T11:54:00.001-07:00

We are on our way.
We arrived at the airport to find we are travelling with hundreds of Japanese school children all dressed in uniform... This makes for one packed 747!

Violet is as ever, in charge and in control!!!! (except she is unfortunately at the end of the queue)

It is little ironic that our trip to Taiwan is scheduled to take less time than it took for us to get to Prince Edward Island this spring. That shows how big Canada is.

I get the pleasure of sitting next to Cameron the "unofficial choir historian" His stories only get better with time. I am sure the flight will "fly" by as I hear how the basses taped the words of the Finnish national anthem on the backs of the altos in the Estonian chamber choir for a "memorized" performance on a live national TV brodcast.
I am sure he will have us rolling down the aisles in no time.

Our destination! (in approx 19 hours)
Tom Ellis

5 Days and counting

2009-10-16T08:12:00.000-07:00

We are getting ready. We only have 2 rehearsals left before our big tour and the choir almost seems giddy. Hours and hours of work and preparation have gone into the planning of our tour to Taiwan and Japan, and we are only 5 days away!

A rainy day in Vancouver...

Last week we were lucky enough to commission and premier two lovely and totally different works which made for a great concert. John Tavener wrote a haunting and complicated piece based on French poet Jean Bies called Miroir des poemes. The second half of the concert we sang a piece by local composer Peter Berring based on Norse mythology called Hervor Maiden King. He sent us a beautiful bouquet of flowers to show his appreciation.

The concert was at the Chan Centre at UBC and a friend of mine who was working as an usher told me that someone came dressed in chain mail armour... what fun!

There are a few last minute alterations to be made. The women are going to debut some beautiful new costumes on this tour. (thanks Marla & Delores)

I love these guys!!
Tom Ellis