Leaving Each Other Is Hard To Do

This morning members woke up with bittersweet hearts, knowing that that was our last home stay, eager to sleep in our own beds, but sad that tour is slowly coming to an end. In Chorale Circle this morning, we talked about the wonderful concert we had last night and our hopes for our last day together. From there we boarded the bus, on our way to our tenth performance at Friendship Village in Columbus.

Throughout the concert, we enjoyed seeing audience members singing along with quite a few songs. We closed by scattering into the audience and singing Song of Farewell. After introducing ourselves to the residents of Friendship Village and making small talk, we all grabbed a boxed lunch and headed outside. Sitting under a tree surrounded by flower petals, we enjoyed turkey sandwiches and A LOT of puns.

The bus ride back to Coshocton was an eventful one. We witnessed many things that we thought we’d never see, including Matt Downing kicking his leg up to the luggage rack. The hour long bus ride passed by quickly, though, and soon we were at Roscoe United Methodist Church. For the last time, we collected our luggage and began preparing for rehearsal.

One super brief rehearsal later, we were ready for a nap. The next hour was full of napping, massage circles, and piano tuning. When Len Thomas arrived, we had a rehearsal with him to run a favorite song of ours, All the Things You Are. Too soon, we were sitting down for our last meal together, with mini pulled pork sandwiches and some AMAZING brownies.

From there we put our uniforms on and prepared ourselves for the best, but always the most emotional Chorale Circle. We went around the circle and everyone said something about what the Chorale means to them. Most people reflected on how The Cardinal Chorale is family to them. Many tears were shed, but many hugs were given too, which is always a good thing.

From there we lined up for our final concert. It was the best yet. The performance was full of emotion and love for one another and the audience. Afterward we had one more Chorale Circle to reflect on the concert, and then there were about a million hugs as we made our way to pack up our things. Leaving each other is hard to do, especially since we’re such a tightly knit family, but we all have Hope reminding us that we’ll see each other in just over a short month for the 23rd Edition of the Cardinal Chorale’s Summer Workshop.

Thank you to all who made this tour and great memories possible!

Concert Hosts

Host Families

Meal Preparers

Enthusiastic audiences

Friends

Family

Longtime Supporters

Warther Museum

Ohio Choral Directors Association

Mr. John Lindig

Mr. Jack Keiger

Mr. Len Thomas

Our Father in Heaven

Thank you for reading the blog for the Cardinal Chorale’s 2017 Summer Tour.

Entries by Jordan Conner and Lauren Johnson.

Photos by Maggie Myers and Joshua Senn.