Spring break has started, so I finally have a bit of time to sit and blog. There have been several major events in the last few weeks, so I’ll rewind to March 14.
Marit Swanson and I chaperoned the 6 students from BFA who were chosen to sing in the honor choir. We flew out of Zurich on that Wednesday after school. My head felt like it was going to explode because of congestion. After an unpleasant flight, we arrived safely in Vienna and crashed at our hotel.
Thursday morning, rehearsals started at the International Christian School of Vienna.
Choir rehearsal at ICSV
The students were challenged and motivated to continue growing musically. They learned as much from rehearsals as Marit and I did from watching!
As chaperone, I had a bit of free time during rehearsals. Marit and I went to a coffee shop and did some work and reading.
Marit with a warm drink and a book
Along with rehearsals, there was a day for sight-seeing in downtown Vienna.
On the sight-seeing day, we took two of our girls downtown early for a bit of shopping at the Naschmarkt.
Since Suzanne (music dept head and choir director) couldn't come on the trip, we took a kitten named Suzy. Suzy met a big cat!
St. Stephan's Cathedral in downtown Vienna
St. Stephan's Cathedral
Musikverein, home of the Vienna Philharmonic
One of the students became sick with a stomach bug, so Marit and I missed a few rehearsals to take care of him. He was unable to perform in the first concert, which took place at a church just outside Vienna
Getting ready to watch the first performance with sick student and Marit
The happy group after the concert
Giddy and goofy
On the tram back to downtown Vienna, the whole choir continued in a state of giddiness. It was rather amusing.
The second performance was at the Mexican Cathedral, a beautiful castle-like structure in downtown Vienna.
Beautiful cathedral
Posing before the final concert
Close-up shot.
With the proud chaperones!
Inside the cathedral
Dr. Pearl Shangkuan leading the choir
It was an enjoyable trip, despite the sickness. The kids sang very well, learned a lot, and established friendships with students from other schools. Hopefully there will be strings next year in addition to choir!
