Tour - 2009 British Isles
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A Pilgrim's Journey Home
April 10 & 11 BYU Singers combined with Women's Chorus, Men's Chorus and Concert Choir--and also the Philharmonic Orchestra--to perform a filmed concert that will be broadcast on TV at a date yet to be announced. There needs to be just a little editing done first!This will also be issued as a CD, and at some point as a DVD. As this is the first filming since April 1999, it was a big event for all involved. Thursday night all the groups filmed without an audience for 5 hours so that the artistic director, Scott Eckern, could stage the choirs and the set a little differently. Below are photos of stagings you would never have seen in person had you attended Friday or Saturday night.
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Bon Voyage Concert
Saturday, April 25 was the choir's Bon Voyage Concert. We are in the last days of meetings, rehearsals, and learning about the culture and history of the countries we are to visit VERY soon! In between all of that, we are fitting in last minute shopping and (I hope!) packing. And many members of the choir also fit in graduation, packing up apartments and moving, and final wedding preparations for a few more. It all makes for quite a hectic week, as many of you remember.
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Arrival in Cork (brief note)
We are here in Cork, safe and sound. It's been a very full day of flights, airports and buses, but we are in our hotel and will begin rehearsals and performances tomorrow.We are already falling in love with Ireland and its beauty, not to mention the warmth of all the people we have met. Now it is late and I've just spend more than my allotted time installing and figuring out a 3G modem so that I can post blogs as often as I like from anywhere I have time and opportunity. So please consider this a prelude to our blog, and I will post more about activities and photos tomorrow. It will all be more coherent after a night's sleep that is flat instead of upright in an airplane seat that reclines 5 degrees. Until then, BYU Singers sends their love and greetings to all of you back home!
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Cork, Ireland (April 28-30)
We left Provo Tuesday, April 28 on a beautiful spring morning. Despite all of the spouses and other loved ones having to be left behind, there was a true eagerness to begin this trip; so many months of work and rehearsal have been directed to these three weeks. We are ready to begin the adventure.
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May 1 in Cork, Ireland
Another spectacular day in Cork--we are getting spoiled. Although not all have been brave enough to try the black (blood) sausages, everyone is certainly enjoying the rest of the buffet. What a great way to start the day! Another good way is to rehearse, and the choir managed to fit into a very small room and have an excellent 90-minute rehearsal as they continued to prepare for tonight’s first concert of tour and tomorrow night’s competition concert. Dr. Staheli never ceases to work for perfection.
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May 2: Cork International Choral Festival Competition
Today was totally and completely aimed at tonight’s competition. The choir has been allowed some easier mornings since we arrived here, with rehearsals not starting until 10 or 11 a.m. each day, and then going hard and fast at activities until bedtime. That is easing us into the new time zone, and also allows for the tasty breakfast buffet. (That is a very important part of the day for many of the group.)
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May 3: Cork Final Festival Performance
Though Fast Sunday at home, on tour we must eat breakfast to get through the demands of the day. Had the scheduling permitted, we would have attended a meeting with a Cork ward. Their hours didn’t work with ours, so this morning began with a short but good sacrament meeting in our hotel. We wish we could have joined the LDS members in Cork, but we still found great unity in meeting just with ourselves, joining together in “Redeemer of Israel” and “I Stand All Amazed” a cappella with no conductor. We had time for a very few testimonies, then met our bus for a ride to the Church of the Real Presence away from the city center where our hotel is.
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May 4: Limerick, Ireland
Hello from Limerick, Ireland. Though a little reluctant to leave Cork, we are enjoying seeing more of the country. We had to do a little puzzle-solving to get all of our luggage and gear into the coach (bus), but we managed. And we were off for Blarney, home of the Blarney Stone.
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May 5: Limerick, Ireland
We boarded the bus at 9 a.m. and have pretty much been on the run ever since. As our Travelodge didn’t have a breakfast, we drove to a hotel in Clare that was on the way for another rousing Irish breakfast. That food almost makes it worth getting up early in the morning.Then on to the Cliffs of Moher, about an hour away. Another soft day, so the clouds were low and the mist high. All shades of green on the hills around us, and large patches of the bright yellow furze bushes (previously referred to in the blog as “gorse”—it apparently has different names in different countries.)
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May 6: Checking out the air in Londonderry (Derry)
We waved goodbye to Limerick this morning and headed to our favorite pub in Ennis for another Irish breakfast. They do put on a spread…we’re just hoping not acquire a personal spread ourselves by tour’s end. There is no shortage of food on this tour.
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May 7: Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland
Nathan, our inestimable tour manager, and P.J., our very skillful coach driver-tour guide, taxied to the chapel, where the hosts deposited their new family at the chapel; then the coach came back to the hotel to pick up those who stayed there. Keith Wright, the stake technology expert, also knows a great deal about Derry and spent the day with us on the coach as we toured Derry and learned much more about the Irish Troubles. His vast knowledge and good humor, along with a great delivery, really made the day. It was quite interesting to see the murals that have been painted on buildings around town, both by the Unionists and the Nationalists. Here are just a few.
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May 8: Belfast, Northern Ireland
After a farewell to our first host families of this tour, we loaded the bus first with most of the choir, then the tour leaders and students from the hotel, and last the “Coleraine 7” as our coach driver dubbed them. They were our way to Belfast, so we saved them an hour’s drive back to Derry. Today was a day just to drink in the beauty of Ireland. We had at least 8 seasons today, with perhaps a dozen rains that left just as quickly as they came.
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May 9: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Our day began with a very enjoyable coach tour through Belfast, led by Molly Bird. She is quintessentially Irish, but lives in Orem, Utah and visits and brings tours frequently back to her home country. As we were on the coach quite a bit or in rehearsal, there are not a lot of people photos today. I invite you to enjoy Belfast as much as I did, whether through raindrops or in sun. We’ve had each equally today.
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May 10: Dublin, Ireland
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you mothers out there!We had a little time this morning to walk around before meeting the choir at the bus. Here is the city on a beautiful, sunny day.I am writing this on the coach as we make our way from Belfast to Dublin. If it seems a little disjointed, blame it on the incredible scenery that I keep looking at in between sentences.
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May 11: Dublin, Ireland
I think this is the most consistently gorgeous day we’ve had this entire tour. There was hardly a cloud in the sky, and mostly a vivid blue sky with a bit of a wind that kept it that way. The timing could not have been better, as this was our main day to get to know Dublin on foot. We began at Kilmainham Jail, used 1796-1924. We heard stories of the struggles for independence in Ireland, as well as during the potato famine and other hard years--heartbreaking.
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May 12: Dublin, Ireland
Sigh. Our last full day in Ireland finally arrived, despite our best efforts to postpone it. What an incredible two weeks we have had. (I’m hearing this in an Irish voice as I write—can you hear it, too??) I’ve gotten the message from home that though you enjoy the places, you also want faces. So get ready for this blog!
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May 13: Wrexham, Wales
We packed up the bus, bid adieu to our host families of the last three nights and our sponsors who have taken care of us so beautifully, and headed to the the center of Dublin for a final 90 minutes of museums, walking, shopping for souvenirs and lunch, and whatever else the members of our group found to do. I went to the Irish National Museum far too briefly, and was entranced with the fine collection they have. Most impressive to me were the Caravaggio and Vermeer that were wonderful.
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May 14: Wrexham, Wales
It is hard to believe we are into our last week of tour. It is now flying by, but we're making the most of every minute. After gathering from two different wards where the choir members were fed breakfast, we headed to the Nightingale House Hospice, where terminally ill cancer patients are given free care. Tonight's concert was a benefit concert for the hospice. The choir sang a mix of hymns and a few of their own pieces; 'Balm of Gilead' and 'Homeward Bound' seemed most appropriate. Only half a dozen patients were able to leave their rooms to see the choir, but we were told that the songs resounded down the hallways and all could enjoy them. All who sang were touched.
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15 May: Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
We have had another day of magic here in Wales. After saying goodbye to our wonderful hosts who have taken such care of us for the last two nights in Wrexham, we set out on a spectacularly scenic drive to Merthyr Tydfil. (Most photos were taken from the coach.) Along the way It is impossible to do real written justice to the greens of the hills and trees, the sudden appearance of little streams, or the low-lying clouds and mists on the distant mountains, with small villages snuggled into the valleys and perched on the hillsides.
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Clips from the Merthyr Tydfil concert
Someone from Merthyr Tydfil must have read the blog about our concert last Friday, and has very kindly posted the two songs on YouTube that I featured. If you go to YouTube and search 'BYU Singers' you will find 'Homeward Bound' and “We’ll Keep a Welcome in the Hillsides”--both videoed at that night's concert.
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Articles on BYU Singers and Dr. Staheli from BYU's Daily Universe
Sorry to interrupt the wonderful coverage of the tour, but I thought everyone would be interested to see these articles that appeared in Thursday's The Daily Universe, BYU's campus newspaper.
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May 16: Liverpool, England
We began with a delicious group breakfast hosted by the siblings Pulman. What a joy to be in Merthyr Tydfil. None of us were eager to leave, but we managed to pull out shortly after 9 to drive to St Fagan’s, where the Museum of Welsh Life is located. Someone had the bright idea of transporting whole houses and rows of houses from various locations throughout Wales, as well as throughout the centuries.
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May 17: Liverpool, England
Today was a wonderful Sabbath. We were all split between 3 wards, but good reports have come from everyone with whom I've spoken. Singers presented a special musical number during the Sacrament Meeting of each ward, and probably in just about every other meeting of the day as well if past experience is any indicator.
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May 18: Preston, England
What a remarkable day we had today. We began, of course, by meeting at the Liverpool Stake Centre to load the bus and bid our hosts a fond goodbye. We are so grateful to the host families and sponsors of the concerts; they work for months to make their part of our tour a success, and we truly could not be touring without them.Stan and Vickie Taylor joined us this morning, having flown over just to guide us through this part of tour (and have a little vacation after we leave.)
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May 19: Chorley/Preston, England
Any day that begins with a few hours in the temple is a great day, and that is how we began ours. What a beautiful temple; every part of it is painstakingly crafted. The golden stained glass windows particularly caught my eye. Situated on a temple square with an MTC, stake center, distribution center, apartments for temple missionaries, and lodging for visiting temple patrons, it is a very peaceful area.
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May 20: Oldham, England (the last day of tour)
Our final day on tour began as the tour began; very beautiful with some heavy moisture in the air. Some might call it rain. We bid a fond farewell to Preston’s temple square, grateful for all our sponsors have done for us in Chorley/Preston. After two nights there, it had started to feel like home. And then on to the Lake District in Northwest England; one of England’s few mountainous areas and gorgeous. This area inspired William Wordsworth and others of the Lake Poets, as well as Beatrix Potter.
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