Cantare at the OAKE National Conference!

Hi! We are Maud and Lucy, two choristers who attended the OAKE National Conference in Hartford, Connecticut on March 22nd. For the past few weeks, we have been preparing non-stop for this exciting event. We brought back old repertoire from our trip to Stockholm, Sweden, last spring, and introduced a piece new to our program written by Zoltan Kodály. That morning, we piled onto the bus, ready for a day packed with fun and nervous energy. We arrived, warmed up, and proceeded to the stage.  Halfway through the concert, we were given a standing ovation after the song “Go Where I Send Thee." This was a huge honor!

Nothing feels better than music educators coming up to us after a concert and having them tell us that what we did inspired them. It is a feeling like no other, and we have been continuously honored to be included in events such as this one. YPC has never failed to introduce young people our age to new experiences which we otherwise wouldn't have discovered. Until we graduate, we look forward to all the new things yet to come!

Maud (15) and Lucy (15), Concert Chorus

I had such a fun time at the OAKE Conference in Connecticut with YPC. When we arrived at the conference we went into our holding rooms, ate a snack and then rehearsed for the performance. The performance went amazingly well and we even got two standing ovations! As we were getting off the stage people kept congratulating us. Afterwards we went to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner and Elizabeth was so kind to treat us to dessert for a job beautifully done. Overall it was a really fun experience and I’m really happy I had the privilege to be a part of it. It was really amazing to see that our hard work paid off!

Sofia, Cantare, 15

At the OAKE conference in Hartford, CT, we performed a beautiful concert. This was one of the best experiences I have had in YPC. And the concert was a success! One of my favorite things about performing with YPC is the way that our songs carry memories; I've performed these songs in upstate New York, at spring and winter concerts, and in Sweden. As the oldest singer present on Friday, I may not have a chance to perform these again. Standing onstage during the applause, I knew we had done well; I'm so proud of every chorister, and feel so privileged to have had a part.

Lindsey, Concert Chorus, 17

I had such a great experience at OAKE! It was the first time I was traveling with YPC to perform. Once the day came, I was so excited I could hardly stand still! I had so much fun riding the bus with my friends and my mom who chaperoned on the trip. We talked, laughed, and ate food. Once we got to the venue, I suddenly changed into “Young Artist” mode. In our rehearsal room we changed into our uniforms, and went through our pieces. All through lunch I thought about my choreography and notes because I wanted to make Elizabeth, our conductor, proud. We really had to be prepared. Finally, the time came to go on stage! I was so excited and nervous at the same time. During one of the pieces we sang, one voice part had to sing a difficult note without the pianist playing it for them and they hit it perfectly! The note came through so strongly it startled me! I looked at Elizabeth and saw tears in her eyes. I was so touched by the fact that this one note moved her to tears. During the pieces with choreography, I gave it my all and danced like no one was watching. After “Go Where I Send Thee,” the crowd gave us a standing ovation! I was thinking to myself, “Wait for it, we have a surprise!” In our last piece, “Come Fly with Me,” we made an airplane at the end and we got another standing ovation! I felt so proud of myself for accomplishing this! After the concert, we went to a restaurant for dinner. The food tasted great and so did the dessert. Finally, we took the bus back to New York and I went home thinking about the concert all night. I even dreamt about it! It was one of the best experiences of my life!

Thalia, Cantare, 13

Everybody Rejoice!

     The YPC’s Gala is approaching! We’ve been working very hard to make this a memorable event! There have been countless hours of rehearsals and choreography with the fabulous Jacquie Bird; the small price to pay to make this 25th Anniversary Gala outstanding. Every division has been perfecting their music and their dance moves and I am certain that the audience will want to dance along with us. I am also pretty certain that every chorister has strengthened their core, and has gotten healthier thanks to the physically demanding choreography! 

 

The rehearsals for Chorale’s classical set have been challenging however we are rising to the occasion! I am very excited to perform our Americana set, which we have taken with us to China and France, because of its repertoire and beautiful staging. It will be the American premiere of the Chorale's Americana Set and I am very excited.

As a graduating senior this year, realizing that this will be my last gala gets me very emotional. This is my seventh year with the chorus, and I do not feel ready to let it go yet, especially knowing that I won't get to perform in such grand productions like the gala anymore! I believe that all of the seniors will miss the gala season, although very hectic, because it tests our abilities to work so hard at school and at chorus. The gala is yet another event that we are so accustomed to and must say goodbye to. However, we know that we will cherish this performance!

 It is so exciting to be performing at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops, Stephen Petronio, Capathia Jenkins, Kate Davis, the Antonio Ciacca Trio and with our host Renée Fleming. We can’t wait to show the audience what we’ve got in terms of musicianship and showmanship. And of course, we’ll show you that we know how to celebrate the chorus’s silver anniversary! See you there!

Rose, Concert Chorus, 17

Adventures in Normandy

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. 

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.

Thursday, November 1

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

From Paris to Normandy

October 30

Busy day.  At the morning rehearsal a newspaper journalist from Ouest France came by, shot some pictures and video of the choristers singing, and did a few interviews.  The story is set to appear this week, and the video will be shown on the Ouest France Web site at www.ouest-france.fr/stlo  Take a look.

Lunch quickly followed, and in the afternoon we took a great bus trip to the famous Mont-Saint Michel, a village built on a rock standing in the middle of a bay topped by a Gothic abbey church.  The abbey houses an order of monks and nuns and is said to be a place of pilgrimage for the Western world.      

All had fun exploring and visiting the shops at Mont-Saint Michel and in the town itself.  It was a nice respite before we all returned to dinner and more rehearsal for the big gala tomorrow night.

October 29, 2012

The first YPC tour I went on was to Sweden six months ago.  It was the first time I traveled internationally, and it was a rewarding experience.  I have been so excited about France, a country I have always wanted to visit and have been looking forward to approaching this tour with the experience of Sweden under my belt. 

I can truly say that this tour has been amazing so far.  We have had no concerts yet, but it’s been wonderful to have free time to experience Paris.  We stayed at beautiful hotel, sang a song at the Eiffel Tower, and had the freedom to explore the city in groups.  The boulangeries (bakeries) are every bit as numerous and wonderful as they are rumored to be.  Today, we took a bus to a region of Normandy,  the town of Saint Lô.  The hard work of being on tour began tonight with rehearsals by section after dinner, and over the next six days we will give five concerts.  I know this will be very challenging and demanding week, but when I look back on this trip in the years to come, I know I will have given it my all.  I am so thankful to Francisco and Elizabeth and the rest of the office staff.  They will not accept mediocrity and it pushes me not to accept less from myself.  I can’t wait to see where this week takes us.

Lindsey, 15, Concert Chorus

 

October 29

The YPC choristers spent their last few hours in Paris on Monday morning continuing to sightsee and shop, while Francisco, Rose (our intrepid French translator), and Chris (who is taking all of these great pictures) taxied to the Radio France studio to be interviewed on the hour-long French radio show “Traverses du Temp” with host, producer, and YPC friend Marcel Quillèvère.

We will all get to hear the entire interview, which includes lots of YPC music on the program, on November 9 at 1 p.m. streamed from the Radio France Web site.  More details to come.

Right now we have just arrived in Normandy for the big reason we are here:  to show the music world who we are and what we can do!

October 28, 2012

A good night’s sleep produced a miraculous recovery from that first l-o-o-o-ng day in France and began 1½ days of not only intensive rehearsals, but also some intensive sightseeing. 

I hadn’t gotten to hear YPC’s whole program, but I DID get to hear a new YPC piece that the Polyfollia audiences are going to go crazy for—“Douce France”—with some incredible accompaniment that includes Elizabeth on trumpet and Eddie on ukelele.  So fabulous!  I’m even hearing it in my sleep.

The sights in Paris were also pretty fabulous.  First stop—where else?—the Eiffel Tower.  So familiar and so impressive in person!

The choristers were so inspired, there was only one thing to do—sing “Douce France.”

From there the choristers broke up into small groups and headed out on their separate ways.  They scoured the city, not wanting to miss seeing at least some of Paris’s storied landmarks:  walks along the Seine, L’Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame, the Champs-Elysées, and one funny moment when a few of the girls spotted a beautiful, ornate palace with hundreds of people waiting in long, roped-off lines outside.  As the girls got closer, this magnificent palace turned out to be an Abercrombie & Fitch.  Who knew?

The choristers mastered the Paris subway system and savored Parisian waffles, fresh crepes, and even French pizza.

Angela Duryea, YPC Staff

Photographs and video by Christopher Hall