Today began as do all tours—piles of luggage and tour paraphernalia on the sidewalk by the BYU Museum of Art early in the morning, and then the initial puzzle solving of loading the luggage and equipment under the bus in the right order. All in all, it went very smoothly and we were off and rolling very close to on time. Snow chased us off and on all the way to Rifle, Colorado, where they are looking for spring just as hard we have been looking in Utah. No one seems to be locating it this year.We stopped to pick up some Subway sandwiches that we ate on the bus so that we could keep our travel momentum to the afternoon’s destination. Our workshop and concert were in a very nice community college—Colorado Mountain College. A small 8th grade Ladies Choir (Middle School) and the Coal Ridge High School Choir performed for us and we for them. It’s a good feeling to see choral music being made and appreciated as we travel. The HS and middle school students made some very astute comments, and all the choirs enjoyed mingling while we waited for dinner. It’s just nice to be off the bus, though none of our days are particularly arduous this tour.
No travel photos today, as the few times we were off the bus we were moving quickly through rain and snow and wind to get out of the wet weather. We are hoping the forecast of improvement comes true.
We had some time for mingling with the students before a delicious pancake dinner, and many made the most of the free wireless in the college. This is one very connected choir, let me tell you. What a difference a few years has made in our ability to stay close to those we left at home.
The concert opened with a few numbers by the two choirs with whom we had our workshop earlier in the afternoon. They sang very well, and then moved into the almost completely full audience to listen to the Singers. The HS Choir and Singers joined in singing Mozart’s “Ave Verum,” to end the evening--Katie Schmidt, choir teacher here and one of the sponsors for this concert, conducted. This performance was a great opening concert, and was very enthusiastically received by the audience. This may be a small town, but their appreciation for the arts is large. What a wonderful beginning to our tour!
Home with hosts to visit, rest, and prepare to meet our next day.