Sunday. November 4
Hard to believe this is our last day in France. It’s been such an incredible learning
experience. We’re not ready to leave, yet
we’re anxious to return to our families still dealing with the effects of
Hurricane Sandy.
We’re giving a concert this afternoon in the Chapelle de I’Institut d’Agneaux
with 400 seats and extraordinary acoustics.
We understand that this concert is the first sold-out concert of the
Polyfollia Festival in this particular venue.
The choristers are excited, proud, and ready to give the performance of
their lives.
A BIENTOT!
Saturday, November 3
Everyone was up early this morning for a 10 a.m. Polyfollia workshop
for choral conductor/teachers given by Francisco Núñez with musical
demonstrations by the chorus at the Institut Universitaire de Technologie in
Saint Lô. The classroom was packed with
teachers filling every seat and standing two deep against the walls. The subject of the workshop was Rhythm in
America and how music is being transformed in America and all over the world. Francisco
put those teachers through their paces by having them sight-read with help from
the choristers “Gloria” from Leonard Bernstein’s 1960 work “Mass” and Michael
Gordon’s “Exalted,” written in 2010.
After a little nap and lunch, it was back on the bus to the quaint
little village of Les Pieux on the coast of France, five miles from the English
Channel, for the chorus’s fourth of five Polyfollia concerts, this time in the
intimate, but beautiful 140-seat concert hall in the Ecole de musique. We had
some time before the tech rehearsal to walk through the cobble-stoned streets
of the town filled with lovely shops and bakeries with the most exquisite
pastries, tarts, and huge meringues on display.
Word of mouth once again resulted in a concert that was filled to
capacity and some of the attendees were music conductors who had attended the
morning’s workshop. The choristers put
on a show no one in this town will soon forget.
Following the concert, the choristers still in their costumes and
euphoric from the incredible concert they just gave, lined the exit hallway
chatting in their beginners French with the audience members, giving
autographs, and accepting thanks from all of the men, women and many children
who, it seemed, did not want the evening to end.
Friday, November 2
The day began in a very poignant way for all of us from New York, with a visit to the Caen-Normandie Cité de l’Histoire Pour La Paix Memorial, a museum with displays, artifacts, and films recounting the events leading to the horrendous destruction and deaths during the worldwide conflicts during World War II, and its aftermath, including the event that began the collapse of the Nazi occupation: the American participation in the June 6, 1944, invasion on the beaches of Normandy, where over 10 million soldiers died.
The day began in a very poignant way for all of us from New York, with a visit to the Caen-Normandie Cité de l’Histoire Pour La Paix Memorial, a museum with displays, artifacts, and films recounting the events leading to the horrendous destruction and deaths during the worldwide conflicts during World War II, and its aftermath, including the event that began the collapse of the Nazi occupation: the American participation in the June 6, 1944, invasion on the beaches of Normandy, where over 10 million soldiers died.
From Caen that afternoon, the bus carried the YPC choristers to Louvigny
and the Salle des fetes, where Friday’s concert took place. YPC’s 90-minute program
with spoken interludes in French by YPC choristers charmed the SRO Louvigny
audience. And when YPC ended this
program with “Oye,” there was pandemonium with the whole audience—moms, dads,
grandparents, and children—on their feet dancing, clapping, singing, and matching
the energy and enthusiasm of the choristers.
It was a bittersweet moment, as reminder once again of how we hoped
our loved ones could be with us here, rather than dealing with the recovery in
the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
With very little access to the Internet, we’ve not been able
to get much information from New York about Hurricane Sandy. While we here are all safe and enjoying new
experiences in a different part of the world, all of us are very worried and
concerned about our families back home. At
our concerts we have expressed our concern to the audiences, and they all with
us in our apprehension about what we will find when we return home on
Monday. We are working very hard on our
tour, but our friends and families are still foremost on our minds.
November 1 was a holiday in France, but not for the YPC
choristers. Wednesday night’s gala at
Beaufils Hall in Saint Lô, featured YPC and the Leios Kantika Korala children’s choir from
Spain and was a huge success. This gala
concert was for all the professionals at Polyfollia—the Polyfollia artistic
committee, the artists, managers, and those from festivals and concert series
worldwide seeking out the best of the best to bring to their own audiences.
There was an incredible buzz about YPC. Unfortunately, Beaufils Hall was not
big enough to accommodate everyone who wanted to attend. However, anyone who missed YPC’s performance
on Wednesday, will have another chance on Sunday for YPC’s final Polyfollia
concert at the Chapelle de I’Institut d’ Agneaux back in Saint Lô.
On the day following the gala, rehearsals preceded a long
bus trip through the beautiful French countryside, under the watchful eye of
our Polyfollia chaperone Dilette, as we headed for the charming little village
of Athis de l’Orne, one of 16 villages in the area. As we neared the town, a spectacular rainbow was
YPC’s first welcome. When the YPC
travelers arrived, they received a second welcome from their hosts, who
included the mayors of two of the 16 villages—Alain Lange, the mayor of Athis
de l’Orne, and Yanic Soubien, the mayor of Taillebois. Our hosts were so happy to have us
there. They provided us with a wonderful
dinner, including fresh soup made from ingredients from the region and luscious
homemade cakes and pastries.
 |
| Back row center Francisco, Mayor Soubien, Young Men chorister Ta'Sean, and Mayor Lange |
The concert for the whole community was held that evening in
the church of Saint Vigor, which was built of granite from the area with an interior
of limestone, and the acoustics were gorgeous.
YPC put on an extraordinary show, and the audience responded with
standing ovations and incessant clapping that wouldn’t stop, even after three
encores.
Photographs by Christopher Hall
