Grinnell Singers

2006-04-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

back home

2006-04-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

At long last, we're back home! It was a spectacular trip--exhilerating, exhausting, occasionally exasperating, always fascinating, I was especially pleased and proud of the way the students presented themselves. I apologize for not offering regular blogs in the course of the trip; there was practically no opportunity to do so. I'll be sending a couple of long posts in the coming days with my impressions. --My email account at the college is unaccessable to me at the moment, and I won't be able to fix it until monday when the ITS office is open. --So for the moment I'm virtually disconnected, which is troublesome as I start the "re-entry" process.
Anyway, a heartfelt thank you to all of the Singers and best wishes to family and friends who happen to read this.
John Rommereim

"We're going to be in 'Trains' magazine"

2006-03-29T14:38:00.000-08:00

OK, so we didn't exactly use this blog as much as we should have during the tour, but our internet access and free time were extremely limited, and we did what we could. But I suggest that we keep using this blog for tour memories and anecdotes, because there are definitely some things that I'd really like to remember. I mean, come on, when are you ever going to be scammed by Eastern Europeans into bribing them for tickets on a train that you already reserved months in advance? And, when the going gets tough, will you ever think to cheer up your cold, tired, frustrated friends with an impromptu performance of "The Lonely Goat" from train windows? And how much would you pay to see Tim Newton and John Rommereim attempt belly dancing one more time?

I think I've made my point.

So, If you have stories or jokes from tour that you want to share, or if you have any ideas about what Singers will do with our fabulous wine rack that we may not actually get, please keep posting.

TURKEY!!!

2006-03-25T09:38:00.000-08:00

(pardon my bad typıng, turkısh keyboards are dıffıcult)
thıs trıp ıs amazıng....we just got to turkey today and spent all day at the bazaar, and all spent way too much, but some of us were more successful than others at bargaınıng. the country ıs beautıful...we,re goıng on a tour of the cıty later tonıght...ı can,t waıt!

ı thınk ım the unoffıcıal tour photographer, as ı,ve been takıng so many photos...John Bowers unloaded my 3 camera memory cards today because ı was runnıng out of space (he brought hıs laptop) and told me that ı had 1485 or so photos! ı,m tryıng to work ıt out so all of us wıth cameras can put up our photos onlıne, eıther on flıckr or some other sıte and lınk them to thıs blog so frıends and famıly can see our pıcs...

my favorıte place on the trıp was romanıa because ıt was amazıng to meet wıth my famıly there and speak romanıan wıth the people there and learn more about the culture...ıt felt so surreal beıng surrounded by people who spoke the language and all looked so much alıke...ı,m hopıng to be able to go back very soon!

the choır concerts have been great...ı unfortunately have not been able to sıng for 2 of the 4 so far as ıve been losıng my voıce constantly...now everyone else ıs begınnıng to lose theır voıces too, but luckıly we only have one concert left, tomorrow...

thıs trıp has really been an amazıng experıence...ı dont thınk ı want to go back, each country gets more and more beautıful and the people and languages and cultures are so fascınatıng! however, ı,m also really excıted to get back and share the experıence wıth my frıends and famıly (as well as the souveneırs!)

2006-03-22T03:44:00.000-08:00

So we're in Romania. So far so good. Last night's Mozart concert was really well attended, with standing room only. Nobody has gotten kidnapped or mugged or sold into slavery as of yet. Everyone seems to be enjoying Bucharest. We've been on tour after tour of the city, the parliament, the castle at Sinaia, and the Village Museum. Everyone has been a little bit cranky from jet lag, fatigue, minor schedule complications, etc, but we're all having fun. For those of us under 21, being served alcohol in restaurants has been kind of a thrill that makes us slightly less cranky and slightly more giggly.

Today is Laura Chesnut's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LAURA!

Tomorrow we go to Bulgaria, and then to Istabul. Binna, binna! (sp?)

We're all pretty bad at speaking Romanian, except for Kate, but she kind of sounds like a man (she's a little hoarse...).

Buna de minatza! (That is almost certainly spelled wrong, but it means good morning, I think).

Sara

Captain's blog

2006-03-19T00:16:00.000-08:00

They call me Dr. J
Lorin says,
Everything is funny when you're tired.
Elizabeth S. sat next to Cindy and Donna from Kansas on the plane to Frankfurt.
In the middle of the night, when it was completely dark, John B. came over and kissed Elizabeth's hand, and Cindy and Donna were scandalized. Lorin started rocking out to channel six, and a German lady tried to calm her and counsel her. We're sitting in the lounge at the airport in Frankfurt. Lauren says "A Good Woman" (watched on the plane) was about the worst movie she's ever seen. John B. Elizabeth and Deborah were just singing "One is the loneliest number" in harmony. There was much head-bobbing involved. Ben is making great progress on his green chennille scarf. The spastic animated work-out dude provided much entertainment. Deborah wants me to use the word lacadaisical in this post. There you have it.

2006-03-17T23:55:00.000-08:00

Man, who does "Jerry" think he is, charging $13 to dry clean a tux? For that price, it had better glow in the dark at least!

greeting from director

2006-03-13T14:27:00.000-08:00

I hope this blog will be useful and entertaining. This is an ambitious and exciting project that we are undertaking, both musically, and in terms of the logistics and the organization that it involves. I'm especially excited about having the opportunity to perform the Mozart Mass in C Minor with a distinguished professional ensemble, the Giurgiu Philharmonic Orchestra, and with excellent soloists in two of Romania's finest concert halls. I think the choir is going to find this to be a particularly thrilling aspect of the trip. The Levin completion of the Mozart Mass in C Minor is, with the Levin additions, Mozart's most massive choral work. It begins to rival works like Beethoven's enormous Missa Solemnis in scope. It's a newly published score, so it is somewhat of a terra incognita in the choral repertoire. It was premiered in January 2005, by Helmuth Rilling, at Carnegie Hall. The choirs who have performed it so far have found it to be challenging, especially the portions that are composed by Levin (based on Mozart's sketches). It has been a daunting task indeed preparing this monumental work while we also prepare an entirely separate concert to be presented in the days following the Mozart performances, in Bulgaria and Turkey. The Singers have been working very hard, and I feel privileged to share this opportunity with them. I also am grateful to Perform America for their excellent work in arranging the trip, and to the Music Department at the college and President Osgood for providing the financial support that made the trip possible. --And most of all I am grateful for the Grinnell Singers, their enthusiasm, their readiness to take on, it seems, any challenge with gusto, and their toleration for the foibles of their director.