tolosa, spain

Tuesday morning started with a trip to the “Winner’s Concert” hosted by the competition. Having won top 3 trophies in both categories, we were invited to perform a piece from each set for the audience of judges, contest officials, the general public, and a combination of other choir nerds. It felt good to put an exclamation point on our contribution to the competition.

On our way home! Our “load the bus” time was a grotesque 3:15 am following our late-night concert the night before. We bussed to the Bilbao airport, then flew to Amsterdam, then to Salt Lake.

What happened on Saturday was a kind of magic and miracle that can’t really be described. Breakfast that morning felt a little bit tense following the late dinner and concert the night before. There was a lot of talk among the Singers about what could have improved technically from our first performance, which pitches we were afraid might go flat or sharp, and whether our voices would return to full capacity by our competition call time that evening.

We woke up on Friday morning a bit groggy and jet lagged, but happy to finally be in Spain! The weather was nice and warm (much warmer than Utah) and the air humid, which provided perfect conditions for a short walk to the beach before breakfast.

Happy Halloween! The 31st started with our only free hours for tourism on the whole trip, which took us to the popular tourist town on the northern coast of Spain, San Sebastian. The city is right on the beach, with bustling European streets and an economic district just a 2-minute walk from the ocean. The city is overlooked by a tall hill capped with a statue of Christ, similar to its larger counterpart in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

One particularly bright spot on this international experience was our competition guide and friend, Nora. Nora was a local who was assigned by the Tolosa competition to help us find our way around, communicate between Dr. Crane and the competition officials, and make sure we all had a good time. She spoke perfect Spanish, Basque, and English!

*Note* Our correspondent on this tour is Alexander Keogh. The Internet where the choir is stayed was non-functional, so this blog was not published until the choir arrived home. Our travel day was full of uncomfortable sleeping and layover adventures. It was some choir members’ first time outside of the country, making it a memorable day for all.