tour.notes 2015~2016 Performing Arts News from Around the World INSIDE THIS ISSUE 2 Sweden, Estonia, Finland and Russia Colorado Children’s Chorale 3 Australia Mercer Island High School Bands 4 South Africa Ragazzi Boys Chorus 5 Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary Davidson United Methodist Church Chancel and Handbell Choirs 5 China 1955–2015: Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra From Then 6 Israel and Turkey Boston Gay Men’s Chorus to Now 7 Cuba Photo captions on the back cover Young Men’s Ensemble of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus 8 The United Kingdom and Ireland Mission Peak Chamber Singers 8 Canada Texas A&M University Women’s Chorus 9 Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria St. Louis Children’s Choirs 9 In Concert: Kosovo American University Chamber Singers 10 Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia and Greece Berkeley First Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir 10 Offices / Overseas Staff 11 North America Staff 12 Tours Around the World Colorado Children’s Chorale Adds More Tour Memories by Deborah DeSantis, Artistic Director Colorado Children’s Chorale FINLAND SWEDEN RUSSIA The Colorado Children’s Chorale has been ESTONIA touring exclusively with ACFEA since 2002, and our 2015 Baltics tour now lives in our memories with even more extraordinary experiences both on and off the stage. Our 36 young performers, 18 boys and 18 girls, through the Stockholm archipelago. song, clapping along quietly with the most reveling in the fact that they were NOT We woke up in Tallinn and toured the delighted, shy smile on her face. Following sitting in their respective middle school city with a wonderful local guide who the show, many came to tell me they were classrooms, embraced every moment of shared the history of Estonia, land of the “moved to cry” more than a few times and this fact-filled, fun-filled, performance-rich Singing Revolution. Having been a part would “never forget”, unable to let go of my adventure. of the demonstrations and celebrations hand as they spoke. And this is why we tour. as Estonia fought for its independence We kicked off the tour in the beautiful The impetus for this tour was a residency just over two decades ago, she truly auditorium at Kungsholmens Gymnasium in Turku, Finland, where we were hosted by brought history to life. At the Song in Stockholm, Sweden, for a packed house the Turku Conservatory of Music, including Festival Grounds we climbed to the top of high school students. The following day workshops, homestays for our singers, of the ‘bowl’ and offered our own singing we met many new friends at the Adolf and a joint performance in their beautiful revolution. At Rakvere Castle, we jousted, Fredrik’s Music School, where we were performance hall. We were so graciously climbed walls, shot arrows, made gun hosted by students the same age as ours. hosted, both on stage and off. Homestays powder, sang in the dungeon and enjoyed provide such an extraordinary We visited the Vasa Ship Museum and the a medieval feast. Skansen Open-Air Museum. From the Sami experience to learn Camp, complete with grazing reindeer, In the center of the wonderfully preserved about a culture on a to the working village, there was plenty Old Town, we saw the 15th-century Town very personal level. to see. And thankfully, there was time Hall, where we then performed the We embraced every for shopping, as we had Swedish kronor next evening. We sang and danced moment, from weighing heavy in our pockets! with abandon to an audience of delicious Finnish delicacies including sweet, very reserved ladies and On our overnight cruise to Estonia, gentleman. One woman put US Ambassador to Finland Bruce Oreck takes we watched the sunset as we drifted a selfie with the Colorado Children’s Chorale her hands up during every in the Rock Church in Helsinki, Finland 2 Mercer Island High School Bands Welcomed in Australia AUSTRALIA by Jennifer McLellan, Tour Manager favorite part? When Mercer Island High School Bands the large audience We loved our trip to Australia! at the huge cricket stadium joined in with our rendition of “Waltzing Matilda”. Our recent adventure ‘down under’ Australians are truly the most warm and checked all the boxes one could ever welcoming people. wish for in a student music group traveling experience. We performed in We spent the last third of our trip in the competitive environments as well as in town of Newcastle, which is about 100 Colorado Children’s Chorale at twilight in fun entertainment venues. We worked miles north of Sydney. We had some front of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, with world-class directors, had exchanges personal history with that city: one of our Russia with two Australian bands and immersed band directors, as a high school marching ourselves in Australian culture. band student, had visited Newcastle in bacon-wrapped reindeer, pulla and salmiakki, a similar cultural exchange. The city was to the evening sauna. And always, the We arrived in Sydney and after some so taken with the idea of an American music. We learned to play the kantele, along quick sightseeing were able to clinic marching band that they created their with several Finnish folk songs. Our joint and perform with John Lynch of the own marching band, The Marching Koalas. performance was a joyous event. Sydney Conservatorium (the ‘Juilliard The Marching Koalas have, in the last 25 of the Southern Hemisphere’). It was so We reluctantly left our Turku families and years, visited and performed at venues and remarkable to be in a performance space moved on to Helsinki, and were delighted contests around the globe. They hosted our with such brilliant acoustics and musical when many of them showed up that band for three days. We were invited into history. Then, over the course of the next evening for our concert in the Rock Church! homestays, ate crocodile, learned how to several days, we spent time with the boys What a perfect venue for a choral concert, bush dance and performed for each other from St. Patrick’s College, Strathfield, both acoustically and visually stunning. We and together. It was a remarkable time for practicing and performing, which was shared the stage with yet another excellent every single person on this trip. We cannot profound for all the students – American choir, the Chameleon Youth Choir, and our thank The Marching Koalas enough for and Australian alike. warm, receptive audience included the welcoming all of us. Our competitive venue was at the US Ambassador to Finland, Bruce Oreck. This trip was a monumental feat consisting Australian National Band Championships We had the honor of visiting, and singing of moving 109 students, 10 chaperones, in Sydney. Our two concert bands for, President Sauli Niinistö and his wife concert and marching equipment 8,000 competed in their categories against at Mäntyniemi, their private home. It was miles. Our time in Australia was beyond Australian bands from all over the country. beautiful and they were such gracious busy, with 11 performances and/or We were so proud of our students and hosts, chatting with us for quite some time. practices in eight days along with all the their performances and so thankful for the Most importantly, we managed not to spill cultural (loved the outback wildlife reserve) reception given to us by the Australians. the delicious, very red lingonberry juice on and sightseeing tours. But, the reflections the baby blue carpet and white furniture! We spent time marching and performing about the trip from all our students and And then, St. Petersburg. We arrived by at the Sydney Royal Easter Show where, adults were that it was a once-in-a-lifetime train, then drove straight to the Pushkin it seemed, the entire population of trip and was deeply meaningful on a Cultural Centre for rehearsal in the Sydney came out to experience a loud, personal, professional, intellectual and charming, albeit challenging, hall. Small percussive, American marching band. Our social level. proscenium stage filled with a grand piano, large, heavy platforms, and a four-foot drop to the house with no stairs. Two local men patiently pushed and pulled that piano, inch by inch, until we found the sweet spot where the accompanist could see, with room for 36 singing and dancing kids. And, magically, two large red-carpeted step units appeared! We staged the show both on and off the stage, much to everyone’s delight, opening with the Russian national anthem. The audience fiercely clapped along at every opportunity. Stunning architecture, colorfully gleaming in the sunlight; borscht and potato pancakes; a tour of Gatchina Palace; a glorious final performance in St. Peter’s Lutheran Cathedral; a celebratory farewell Mercer Island High School Bands with The Marching Koalas at Foreshore Park in dinner; and I am out of words. Except to Newcastle, Australia say, once again, “Bravo, ACFEA!” 3 acfea.com The Joy of Singing in South Africa SOUTH AFRICA by Joyce Keil, Director, Ragazzi Boys Chorus We had a BBQ on the reserve that night with enthusiastic; some of a huge bonfire and wonderful food. We sang Ragazzi’s tour of South Africa was amazing and them literally ran up African songs with the staff. On our way back life-changing for all of us. The wide variety of and embraced the to our lodgings we had a night safari. experiences gave us a vivid understanding of boys as we got off the bus. This is a beautiful the country and its people. experience and the fulfillment of my deepest desire for this tour to South Africa.” We landed in Durban and met our courier Pieter Myburgh.