We are officially at the halfway point of workshop. But that didn’t dampen the spirit of the Chorale! Our breakfast this morning was just as rambunctious and enthusiastic as ever. We had another wonderful breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and sausage.
Each section worked really hard during our rehearsals today. They took the time to iron out kinks in the songs and focus on creating a well rounded and unified sound. The new tenor and bass favorite from their sectional was “Loch Lomond.” The Chorale is very excited to hear these pieces come together.
After a long and rewarding sectional rehearsal we made our way back to Patton Hall for a meal that would fuel our bodies for the long rehearsals ahead. Today’s lunch was a Chorale comfort meal of chicken nuggets and french fries. The real icing on the cake was the Chorale’s new favorite dessert, strawberry shortcake!
We got to go to day two of our seminar after lunch. The great thing about these three day seminars is that we get to dive deeper into these topics unlike our one day electives. For example, today in the orchestration elective, Caroline taught her group a little bit of music theory and even how to play a chord on the piano.
Dinner came again really fast and was filled with laughter and smiles which gave us great energy for our next full rehearsal. This rehearsal was much more challenging than the others due to it being the halfway point. We are all starting to feel some fatigue and are experiencing a lot of emotions from this very long but always rewarding week.
We had a deep and heartwarming conversation with the staff about how no matter how tired we are and how emotional we become we are all still a family. The singers and staff saw something different and by the end of that talk we all felt seen and heard.. We jumped back in with “I Hear Music,” a Fred Waring piece that shocked the room with how powerful our voices were.
We ended our evening with another concert in this week’s series, “Songs Of Hope and freedom.” We watched a virtual concert performed by Reggie Harris, and singers said it felt as if he was actually in the room. There was a general consensus that it was very powerful and moving concert.
Once the concert was over, we ended our time together hand and hand singing a very powerful and moving version of ‘This Is My Father’s World” that brought many of us to tears. The halfway point is always bittersweet, and we are looking forward to four more days together.