Day 5: Gothenburg

It’s 11:30 pm here and I have wireless internet, but the desk clerk has left for the night and I didn’t get a password – so I’m putting thoughts down in ms word and will copy to the blog first thing tomorrow – something to read before leave for work, I hope.

Up very early again this morning to meet the choristers and the double-decker bus at the AF school for our journey to Gothenburg. We left Stockholm at 8:30 and were out of the city with a half an hour.

All of us remarked how much like Canada the landscape is – check out these shots from the bus window (thank you, Chelsea for taking them for me) we all kept saying how much it looked like the trip up north to cottage country. The only things missing were the Inukshuks to point our way home! Many of us had good naps this morning as well – I think we all needed them.
To all of our surprise the bus driver announced that we would be stopping at McDonald’s for lunch (it really is just like home in so many ways!). We have all been so well fed, none of us felt really guilty about having a few French fries and a burger for lunch. Amazingly, there were a few choristers (good for you, Charlotte!) who, knowing that it really isn’t nutritious opted for salads or McFlurries. Since I have climbed more staircases in the last few days than I have in the last few months – I opted for the French fries.

After an hour stop we were back on the bus for the last hour of our trip to Gothenburg. Driving into the city was also a lot like home – whereas Stockholm is a large metropolis (on the scale of Toronto) Gothenburg is similar in size to Hamilton and has an industrial component that we didn’t see in Stockholm. Once we neared the city center; however, the factories, and, yes, strip malls, were replaced by stunning architecture and tree lined streets leading down to the ocean. The city is designed for walking, and the whole area near the cathedral we played in tonight is closed for traffic and lined with cobblestones and beautiful cafes and boutiques – if time and money were no object we’d all be out shopping, I’m sure.

We arrived here at 2 pm and were in rehearsals from 3 to 3:30. Rehearsal began with a short talk from Zimfira – I thought, oh oh, what’s the matter, turns out though she wanted to thank the choristers for the moving performance from the day before. It is remarkable the love (I don’t think there is another word) that Zimfira has for this choir – and they love her right back.

This evening’s performance was with the Gothenburg cathedral girls & Youth choirs. The church, surprise, surprise was lovely – a different style from St. Jacob’s as you can see – but again, the acoustics were astounding.

Our pieces were switched up a bit tonight – started with Uber, then Salve and then for the first time this tour Nigra Sum (Sonja – I had the Kleenex out before they even started!) then the youth choir joined us for past lives (A real hit with each and every conductor that hears it), the soloists were up on balconies for the over / undertones and it was incredible the way the sound made its way down to us and around the church. Youth choir performed three songs, Tondo, Remember and then a song with the cathedral choir. Much respect to Meaghan for Tondo – it is a remarkable piece that clearly comes from the heart with a sprinkling of innovation and a cross cultural feel that reflects in such a beautiful way what is good about Canadian culture.

The host choir (at least 50 strong) performed a wonderful set after that and even had works by two Canadian composers (Bob Chillicot and Eleanor Daley). Then chamber came back on stage to sing Adiemus and Eternity (pass the Kleenex, please).

The mass pieces were awesome. They sang Hope for Resolution first – it was huge, bigger and fuller than I have heard it – When the anti-apartheid inspired, African rhythm began it rose to new heights. I think (and don’t quote me, because I am not a choral music expert in any way) that the European choirs are so focused on the technical that ‘going tribal’ is invigorating and gives them a chance to let loose – and they did – another example of music coming from the heart going to the heart. We ended with sommerpsalm and another standing ovation!!!

Immediately after the concert, the billet families arrived to pick up their choristers to take them home for a good night’s sleep. Everything is so organized, the families are wonderful and you can see that they are truly excited to have the kids staying with them – if you had any concerns – don’t worry – they are all having a wonderful time, being taken care of as if they were one of the family. We are all well fed, happy and feel very privileged to be here.

Tomorrow is another day of performances with yet another music school – we will be the guest performers at their end of year concert tomorrow night.

PS – 5 more sleeps till we get home – as much fun as we are having, I’m sure we’d all love some great big hugs.

Day 4: Part 2 - the best part

After performing in Filedefiakyrkan (btw – kyrkan means church) we were off to a new venue for our afternoon performance. We walked through the streets of Stockholm and the kids sang as we went. Heads turned, people stopped and wondered – it was fabulous. In case the kids haven’t had a chance to send any pictures home yet here are a few that I snapped on the way.

The last one is the Stockholm opera house and right next store was the beautiful St. Jacob’s kyrkan. Like everything else here the architecture is like nothing we have at home – of course in 1642 (when this church was built) here in Canada we were still making our way down the St. Lawrence!

Here’s the church:

And here’s our poster

And here’s the inside of this remarkable building – now picture in your minds the sounds of our angel’s voices soaring through this amazing space. I was in tears before they even warmed up! (Those of you who know me already know I’m a bit mushy to begin with – this was just too much for me!)

The church is famous for its music program – no wonder – the acoustics are spectacular. After an hour rehearsal, the kids got into their dress uniforms and came outside into the courtyard for a bit of relaxation. And some great photo ops!

I don't know how to adequately describe the performance - I seem to be running out of words - I only hope I can do HCC justice.

In what is fast becoming a tradition - they opened with Uber - as soon as Joel starts the drum the audience knows they're in for something different - now different isn't always good - but within the first few taps of the drumsticks and the first few notes you can see a physical reaction in the audience - and the sound - if you ever needed proof of God in the world - well when they sang Salve Regina - even Kim was in tears. I've never heard them sing it with such colour and dynamic

- Mara you and Zimfira are right - when it comes from the heart - it goes to the heart.

Next up was Xai - again incredible dimension and sound - the last note rang on for at least 10 seconds afer they were finished - and then the thunderous applause - more tears for me!

Past Lives, with its atonal notes and overtones sounded incredible. They sang Adiemus and then my favourite Eternity - oh my - it soared, the sopranos moved down the aisles and the song pulsed through the church like the oceans it represents - would hazzard to gess that there weren't mn dry eyes in the house. And then (yes, it got even better) the whole choir sang Hope for Resolution, when the african rhythm kicked in, again you could sense the awe in the audience.

Here they are - sorry the pictures are so far away - the concert was SOLD OUT and we were t the back of the church

The standing ovation was almost as impressive as your children. The director of music at the church was so impressed with Zimfira and what he called her "very special choir", and the conductor of one of the children's choirs in Paris was also very complimentary and quite excited about our repetoire. The smiles on HCC faces told the story - they knew they had just made magic happen - there really is no other way to describe it.

Thank you all for your kind comments - it is such a privilledge to be here and witness such grace and beauty - and that's not just when they're on stage - with the exception of a few bumps - they have acted as incredible ambassadors for HCC and Canada - our reputation will surely grow even more after this.

well, off to bed now - we have an early morning bus ride to Gottenburg and the second leg of our tour. i my not get a chance to post tomorrow - not sure what kind of internet connection i'll be able to get. i'll try my best, though.

We miss you all and are so grateful that we have the opportunty to experience such a wonderful festival!

Day 4: Two more performances

A quick apology to all - I’ve been trying to time my posts so there's news to catch up on when you get home from work - sorry - just realized it was Saturday.

also apologies for all my typos etc. hope you can read through them - if my director at work sees them - i'll certainly hear about it when i get back!!

Our day started early this morning - the kids had to be on stage for the 9:00 AM presentation concert. Each morning the festival begins with 15-20 minute sets of each of the visiting choirs, and all of the classes from the wonderful Adolf Fredrick's school. What a great way to ensure we got a chance to hear and see the other international choirs. This morning was our turn, along with the choirs from Hungary, Argentina, South Africa, and Estonia. We were the last choir on the bill this morning. We opened with Uber, then Adiemus, Past Lives and ended with Tjack! There was much applause and stamping of 1600 pairs of feet (better stamping feet than strained voices). If there was ever any concern about how HCC might measure up against the European choirs - well, let's just say - no worries.

The students and other choirs love what we do on stage - I understand Zimfira has been asked a number of times about Tjack - it is truly an amazing piece to both hear and see and the chorister's love of the song shines through in their smiles, energy - you can feel the sheer joy they get from performing it.

After the presentation concerts we walked back through the park to the school and had another healthy lunch - I don't think we've had any fast food or deep fried anything since we arrived. Considering all the walking, performing and healthy eating we may all come back home in better shape than we were when we left! It is no wonder the Swedes all look so fit and healthy. After lunch we gathered in the courtyard to get ready for our walk to S. Jacob's krykan for out afternoon concert with the grade 7 and grade 9 choirs from the AF school. I'll stop this post now and add some of my pictures - the afternoon performance, I think, deserves its own post.

Here are some random shots of the choir getting ready to trek downtown:

Day 3: Evening Concert

good morning Sweden time! just a quick aside to say that all the kids know you are following us on tour and i'm letting them know that you've all been sending love and best wishes - they will have more time to comment back to you over the next few days as the schedule lightens up a bit - i do know that most of them have had a chance to contact you at home already - if they haven't know we are having a fabulous time and all are safe and happy.

Back to the tour....

The chorister's ended their sightseeing at 3:00 PM at filidelfiakyrkan - and we were right back ino rehearsal. I think we are all a little jealous of the facilities here in Stockholm. the AF school is incredible and the hall we play in tonight is a church that is used for concerts as sorce of revenue. as a result it has a great stage and with built in risers (the dad's who help set us up for concerts in Christ's Church would be so impressed). As a result the choir worked hard on running through their stage directions - we wanted to be take advantage of the space and go over the order of songs.

After rehearing with the grade 8 choir from the AF school, we were fed a boxed dinner, and lined upand waited for our turn. Percussion starts, stick are up and Alyssa calls them into action - Uber is first on the list. Thunderous applause - people are looking side to side and you can see them thinking that this is something new.

they sang Zai, Watane (with youth) and then the youth choir ran their set (this is my first extended contact with the youth choir - it's been great getting to know them - not suprising, i know, but they are a talented and great group of young people - and are enriching the tour for all of us) Torn Screen Door and Tondo are very impressive.

then they all sat down for Tjack! The audience loves this piece - they stomp feet and continue clapping long enough for the choristers to get up and rearrnge on stage for Adiemus and then Eternity - (the tears started here for me - but i managed to stay and watch/listen). the overtones in Past Life Melodies were awesome - they reverberated around, over and through the hall. in the end the applause and foot stomping (choristers in the audience can't yell or they'll strain their voices) was deafening and kept going - had we been a rock band an encore was surely being called for - although i understand you "just don't do that in the choral world" :)

We did two mass pieces - MicMaq, for Canada and Sommerpsalm for Sweden.

in the lobby fter the show we were all moved by how excited the audience was. We heard things like "i've never seen anything like it", "that was incredible", "they were marvelous", one woman, who bought a CD from Tricia and I was still moved to tears over Eternity.

i know we are all proud of them - but this was just a reminder of how extraordinary our kids are - and how marvelous Zimfira, Shawn, Meagan and Joel are - they have a very special bond - i feel quite privileged to observe.

well, back at it early tomorrow morning: 9 AM and 3PM performances today!

Day 3: Busy, busy,busy

Hello again from stockholm!

we have had another fabulous day - the weather was great and the kids even had some time this afternoon for a little sightseeing and some shopping.

i'm going to do two posts today - yep, i'm keeping my thoughts about the evening performance until the next one. That leaves more space for pictures! if you haven't seen your chorister yet hang in there - on Sunday we have a long bus ride to Gotenburg and I have a lot of downloading to do ;)

this morning we all met at filedelfiakyrkan (a church converted into a concert hall) and listened to the choirs from China, Estonia, Riga Cathedral and Romania. They were all very good. The choir from China was really good technically - apparently, and I'll take Joel's word for it, they had perfect pitch. We were all impressed with their costumes as well. the kids all entered in different versions of what we think of as typical of chinese culture. they looked fabulous. it made us all think - if we were giong to dress our choristers in something 'canadian' what would it be? i challenged the choristers (unofficially, of course) to think of what a typical 'canadian' uniform would be - throw out the hockey jerseys and mountie uniforms - what would we be left with? something for all of us to think about perhaps.

after the morning presentations we walked back through the park to Adolf Fredricks and had a good hour long rehearsal with Zimfira and then went down for lunch. (don't worry about the food - from what I understand much of it is familiar and the rest we are trying and liking!). after lunch, the grade 6 and 9 classes arranged a walking tour for us. The choristers split up into smaller groups and after a short meeting - they were off.

Can you say "I'm outta here!"

We all met back at the church at 3:00PM - time for rehearsal, dinner and then performance!!

Promise to post on the performance as soon as i get a bit of sleep.

Day 2 - Opening Ceremonies & Workshops

It's 4:30 PM in Stockholm and we're just wrapping up our first full day. the billet families are picking up our kids now. they'll have a few hours down time, some supper and then return to listen to one of the evening performances. I know that many of us had questions about the billets and how everything would work out - from what I have seen and heard the kids are having a great time and are being treated as one of the family. All was well organized here at the school and the billet parents had to sign in with the school before taking the kids back to their homes.

This morning started early (8:30 AM here but it did feel a little like 2:00 AM) with the opening ceremonies. There were 1682 students and choristers in attendance and when they sang "Let the Future Sing" - well just image the power in all those voices! The choirs were all presented on stage, there were speeches (even the Swedish Minister of Culture was in attendance) then we sang the theme song again!

After that we had lunch - which to everyone's delight was Swedish meatballs - with lingonberry sauce (just like cranberries, actually) then moved across the hall to prepare for our workshop. The choristers were all looking a bit tired after lunch, and the acoustics in the room were not great - Zimfira, i think, was getting a little concerned - but as usual with our talented group - when it's crunch time they call on all those practices and rehearsals and move into high gear.

The workshop showcased works by Canadian composers and Zimfira discussed how multiculturalism makes it's way into the music we sing. The choir performed Uber, Le Train, Watane, Las Amarillas (sp?), and then the youth choir sang Torn Screen Door, Boy, Boy, Boy (again apologies for spelling) and Tondo. We finished with Tjack and a suprise encore of Dancing Queen, which had the whole room on there feet singing and dancing with us!

Zimfira also talked about the differences between choral music in Europe and choral music in Canada. clearly, things are different here. There is a tradition and history of choral music in Europe that we do not yet have at home - I'm hoping that we are on our way to helping create that history and tradition in Canada with this talented group. I can't tell you how proud it makes me to be here with them.

Tomorrow is another busy day - we have our evening concert at 7:00 - 9:00, with rehearsals from approx. 4:00 PM on. I'll try to get some of the choristers on who have not had a chance to contact home directly - if you haven't heard from your chorister yet - know they are all fine, having a great time and waiting for the jetlag to wear off.

more pictures tomorrow!!

post from: Chelsea Kolic

Hey everyone back in Canada ! We are having a great time here in Sweden. The billit families are very kind and understanding. Though jet lag is a bit of a problem, but we are all enjoying ourselves. dad, i miss you and all of my family/friends at home. Can you please tell the Girl Guides that I cannot go to camp when I get home because of school work and overexhaustion? Thanks1 See you in a few days =)

still here :) responses tomorrow when you get home

hi everyone!!

i have lost one of my shift keys so this will be the lower case blog until we return home and i take the laptop in for service. we have a busy day tomorrow, but there is some down time - i'll make sure they get in touch.

tommorow we present a workshop in the afternoon to the oter choirs.

expet more on the blog - it;ll be a great way to communcate home (i don't think it will take much twisting.

later days,
michelle

we're here!

It was a long flight and the walk through the Frankfurt airport was really long - but we are all here safe and sound. We are all tired but excited to finally arrive. It's now 5:00 PM Stockholm time, the kids have all gone to their billet families for the evening - a nice shower, hot meal and good rest.

We start first thing tomorrow morning with an inaugural concert and then we have a workshop to present in the afternoon.

The staff and chaperones are about to head to our hostel as well - I understand wireless is really good in Stockholm -I'm going to try to post more tonight

One more sleep!

It's almost 10:0PM - feels almost like Christmas Eve to me! And there's still so much to do.

To answer the question tonight about how to reply to a post: simply click on the title of the post you want to respond to. The window will expand and you'll see a dpace for you to enter your message back to us. When you are finished, click the Post Comment button.

As I add things like pictures, I'll also add instructions on how you can download them to share.

Once we get set up with some space in Stockholm, I'll open the blog to the choristers so they can share the tour in their own words. Look for your chorister's name in the title of the post.

Have a great sleep - see you on the bus

michelle