Days 9 and 10: Singing for Peace, Pizza, and a Party (in the Engine Room!)
Days 9 & 10! We enjoyed the chance to sleep in this morning and enjoy a leisurely breakfast before one of the most cherished tour traditions: the closing circle. This is a chance for all of us to reflect on our experience, share out to the group, and appreciate each other to close out the tour. We gathered next to the hotel pool in a circle, passing around Ensemble's new falcon mascot to guide the speaking (acquired during last year's Denmark/Germany tour) It was an emotional experience with many tears shed from this year's graduating class. To wrap things up, the chaperones shared the traditional tour gifts given to singers to mark their number of years in choir (with special sloth socks for 5th-year veteran Cayden!).
Then it was onto the bus for the gala closing concert of the festival, held in a beautiful convention center in San José. We enjoyed a pizza lunch under cloudy skies before heading in for our final sound checks. In a singular honor the festival organizers asked Ensemble to open the program with Nagasaki, as a monument to the horrors of war and the importance of singing for peace. We then heard uplifting performances from several Costa Rican community, university, and children's choirs.
Ensemble and Ancora each had two sets sprinkled throughout the program. Ancora shared Faith is the bird (Sophia got the talkative audience's attention with her powerful opening solo) and a spine-tinglingly beautiful rendition of In the desert. Ensemble came on stage to sing Aires de Quisqueya with Ancora, with a guest drummer from one of the Costa Rican choirs. The audience loved it and, as has become traditional on tour, started clapping along with the closing drumming song "Palo palo". Ensemble continued with Morgensang, conducted expressively by Lauren Brenner, and then Gritos. Later in the program Ancora brought down the house with In Anchor Bay and gave a moving unconducted rendition of the Parting Glass.
The concert concluded with a set from our friends from Trinidad and Tobago, the Signal Hill Alumni Choir. The final piece was "Party in the Engine Room," a rousing favorite that we've now heard several times. Our singers shimmied on stage to join them at the end for an impromptu dance party to the delight of the audience.
After the concert we boarded the bus to return to a restaurant in San José for a final Costa Rican meal. The festival surprised us all with live music, a brass band serenading us as we waited for the buffet and a marimba player taking us on a musical world tour while we ate. Then it was back to the hotel for an hour of packing and a short nap before heading to the airport. Throughout the evening we bade farewell to Naomi, Allison and Ryan, Sierra, Bob, and Sue, who are all staying to enjoy Costa Rica further.
Our 5 AM (!) flight to San Salvador was uneventful, and we had the pleasure of watching the sun rise through the clouds over the mountains during takeoff. The singers were troopers throughout, sleeping during that flight and our second one home to SFO, greeting the landing with a round of applause. We greeted the welcoming families in the arrival hall with a final round of Sing All Ye Joyful before heading home for some well-deserved rest!
Signing off the tour blog for 2023 - your grateful, tired, and happy chaperones. As always it's a privilege to travel with these wonderful singers and share our music across the globe.
Click the link to view pictures! https://www.dropbox.com/sh/v7sb1g8g6k2ocao/AADwUBy-en19VYuTGjTaT8LPa?dl=0