June 25 - DAY ONE
Trouveres hop on the plane to fly from Oakland to Albuquerque
photos are coming out actual size (like 32 inches across) so until I can figure out a simple way to fix that other than batch Photoshop processing, I'm going to post them to the PBA facebook page:
June 26 - DAY TWO
We have some breakfast pastries in the square in Santa Fe. Then we walked to the train station where there was also a farmer's market. The train ride was to go to Lamy with a Billy the Kid re-enactment once we got there. About 10 minutes into the ride, one of the wheels on one of the cars comes off the tracks and so we sat there for about 40 minutes with free beverages admiring the scenery. Once they decided the train wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, we used the iPhone GPS to MMS Mr. Lee so he could come and fetch us.
We decided to go to Lamy anyway, where we had a BBQ lunch and saw the train museum there. Headed to the rodeo tonight, but we just heard thunder...
June 27 - DAY THREE
We had a successful concert at the noon mass at St. Francis Basilica in the heart of Downtown Santa Fe. A tour mascot was found!
Meanwhile, the Cantori had a successful (if a little bumpy!) flight from Oakland, and both choirs united in Santa Fe before heading to Hummingbird Camp.
Located in a valley in the mountains in the west between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, we had a beautiful scenic drive into the camp.
We had a pizza dinner, and short rehearsal, followed by a bonfire, where we heard a mythical yard told by Ed Torres, the director of the Albuquerque Boys Choir
June 28 - DAY FOUR
We sang a very early concert at 8am! Then we joined to whole camp and learned some tunes. We sang "A Little Magic" for the composer, Michael Mauldin (who arranged our visit), who seemed quite pleased!
We then Ed and Michael took us on a hike to the falls, only, because of warnings of a mountain lion, we took a safer route which ended with us getting our feet wet in the river.
We said goodbye to hummingbird camp in the midst of another thunder storm, and set out for our long slog to AZ. The ride was marked by neat views - the mesas and rock formations were framed by some amazing cloud structures (some dark and arresting). And we watched the DVD of "The Princess Bride."
We had a leisurely meal with ice cream in Winslow, AZ, and now we are close to Flagstaff, where the particles in the air left over from the fire made an amazingly red sunset.
June 29 - DAY FIVE
We travelled to Phoenix. Today it was only 108 degrees! We went sunscreen crazy, and staying in air conditioning as much as possible. We ate at an authentic Mexican restaurant - Carolina's, we had a nice concert at Paradise Valley Retirement Center. Cantori gave a nice first showing of their operetta, and we sang "Cactus Time in Arizona" for the first time (something that we didn't dare sing in New Mexico.
Then in order to relax and stay air conditioned, we saw Toy Story 3!
After this we went to Trinity Episcopal Church and sang in their gorgeous jewel-box of a sanctuary. Considering the heat, we had a marvelous audience, which was comprised of our hosts and the church congregation. Standing Ovation! The boys sang with intensity and precision. The boys went off with their host families, organized by Pat Midkiff, who did a great job of finding families and communicating with them the boys needs. Some members of the Phoenix Boys Choir took out the staff, and we had fun sharing boy choir stories, anecdotes and strategies.
June 30 - DAY SIX
The boys emerged with high spirits, all of them loving their hosting experiences.
We went to the Musical Instrument Museum, a brand new, huge complex. It's a huge repository of audio and video song snippets from EVERY country, with instrument displays. We wore headphones which automatically faded in the audio when you walked near a video monitor. Amazing technology! Karan lit up telling Mr. Adams about some Indian drums he recognized. We had to pry the boys away from the display of a Jonas Brothers guitar (the faculty were excited to see John Lennon's piano!)
There was a room for playing instruments - everything from a theramin to a Nickelodian a gamelon setup. Ike went particularly wild with the gong, and Brady and Matt Little had a jam session on the guitars. And Ben Hochster seemed delighted playing with the rain sticks. And all the boys took a turn on the theramin. (I was reminded of the scene from Toy Story when the kids ran into the playroom and went crazy with the toys!)
Then we went to a mall to eat our sack lunches, and we did a tiny bit of shopping. At three o'clock as we were walking from the mall to the bus, the thermometer reached 111 degrees!
The altitude tested us with two bloody noses as well as some irritatability and thirst, but we were happy to endure this in exchange for being 40 degrees cooler!
Back in Flagstaff, we sang and slept at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, where we had a warm audience. (They were, of course, impressed that we had sung for Bishop Gene Robinson the previous weekend.) Our concert was the best one ever, and we got another standing ovation. For the operetta, we were able to use an actual door which brought the drama to a whole new level, and Cantori delivered their lines with confidence and vigor. Mr. Fox was heartened by the singers' leap, having achieved a real sense of ensemble and team spirit in their musicality. The boys were on a high and the church audience were eager to greet them.
We then had some BBQ and rolled out our sleeping bags for some well-deserved rest.
We had a banner day of fun and hard work!
July 1 - DAY SEVEN
We said goodbye to Mr. Fox and Ms. Roy, who headed back to Oakland to get ready for the China tour that leaves Monday.
We are now leaded for the Grand Canyon! We are lucky because Mr. Lee, our amazing bus driver, has been to the canyon over 20 times.
Laura Goforth, a fantastically eloquent and engaging educator,held our groups attention for some detailed lectures on the formation of the canyon and how we can help preserve the ecosystem. (Thanks to Amy Mosley, who helped us get a ranger tour!) She took us on a short hike that afforded some stunning views, and no one fell in! We had lunch at a cafeteria and shopped for gifts, and then we started the journey back home.
We had a quick dinner at IN-N-OUT in Kingman. On the bus, we're watching Star Wars episodes 1, 2 and 3, and tomorrow we're watching 4, 5 and 6 to make the time fly. Right now we're crossing the Mojave desert to our overnight destination: Barstow, CA.
The kids are excited to see their parents tomorrow!
July 2 - DAY EIGHT
We are on the way home! Our Star Wars marathon continues and the boys are excited to be coming home. Huge thanks to our amazing tour staff - Mr. Fox, Ms. Roy, Mrs. McIlvane, Mr. Gustafson, and Mr. Gottleib. We're so lucky to have Mr. Lee, our tour bus driver, who hasmade our journey possible. (He set out three days before TV!). Our itinerary was ambitious and our ability to pack in so many amazing experiences is because of his expertise. The boys' travel skills have grown as much as their singing, as we checked in and out of our hotel with record efficiency and maturity.
I've posted some pictures and sound files from our last concert on this blog. And you can check Facebook as well for updates.
"Cactus Time" Blog!
PICTURES CAN BE FOUND AT:
http://www.pacificboychoiracademy.org/facebook
(link is fixed)June 25 - DAY ONE
Trouveres hop on the plane to fly from Oakland to Albuquerque
photos are coming out actual size (like 32 inches across) so until I can figure out a simple way to fix that other than batch Photoshop processing, I'm going to post them to the PBA facebook page:
June 26 - DAY TWO
We have some breakfast pastries in the square in Santa Fe. Then we walked to the train station where there was also a farmer's market. The train ride was to go to Lamy with a Billy the Kid re-enactment once we got there. About 10 minutes into the ride, one of the wheels on one of the cars comes off the tracks and so we sat there for about 40 minutes with free beverages admiring the scenery. Once they decided the train wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, we used the iPhone GPS to MMS Mr. Lee so he could come and fetch us.
We decided to go to Lamy anyway, where we had a BBQ lunch and saw the train museum there. Headed to the rodeo tonight, but we just heard thunder...
June 27 - DAY THREE
We had a successful concert at the noon mass at St. Francis Basilica in the heart of Downtown Santa Fe. A tour mascot was found!
Meanwhile, the Cantori had a successful (if a little bumpy!) flight from Oakland, and both choirs united in Santa Fe before heading to Hummingbird Camp.
Located in a valley in the mountains in the west between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, we had a beautiful scenic drive into the camp.
We had a pizza dinner, and short rehearsal, followed by a bonfire, where we heard a mythical yard told by Ed Torres, the director of the Albuquerque Boys Choir
June 28 - DAY FOUR
We sang a very early concert at 8am! Then we joined to whole camp and learned some tunes. We sang "A Little Magic" for the composer, Michael Mauldin (who arranged our visit), who seemed quite pleased!
We then Ed and Michael took us on a hike to the falls, only, because of warnings of a mountain lion, we took a safer route which ended with us getting our feet wet in the river.
We said goodbye to hummingbird camp in the midst of another thunder storm, and set out for our long slog to AZ. The ride was marked by neat views - the mesas and rock formations were framed by some amazing cloud structures (some dark and arresting). And we watched the DVD of "The Princess Bride."
We had a leisurely meal with ice cream in Winslow, AZ, and now we are close to Flagstaff, where the particles in the air left over from the fire made an amazingly red sunset.
June 29 - DAY FIVE
We travelled to Phoenix. Today it was only 108 degrees! We went sunscreen crazy, and staying in air conditioning as much as possible. We ate at an authentic Mexican restaurant - Carolina's, we had a nice concert at Paradise Valley Retirement Center. Cantori gave a nice first showing of their operetta, and we sang "Cactus Time in Arizona" for the first time (something that we didn't dare sing in New Mexico.
Then in order to relax and stay air conditioned, we saw Toy Story 3!
After this we went to Trinity Episcopal Church and sang in their gorgeous jewel-box of a sanctuary. Considering the heat, we had a marvelous audience, which was comprised of our hosts and the church congregation. Standing Ovation! The boys sang with intensity and precision. The boys went off with their host families, organized by Pat Midkiff, who did a great job of finding families and communicating with them the boys needs. Some members of the Phoenix Boys Choir took out the staff, and we had fun sharing boy choir stories, anecdotes and strategies.
June 30 - DAY SIX
The boys emerged with high spirits, all of them loving their hosting experiences.
We went to the Musical Instrument Museum, a brand new, huge complex. It's a huge repository of audio and video song snippets from EVERY country, with instrument displays. We wore headphones which automatically faded in the audio when you walked near a video monitor. Amazing technology! Karan lit up telling Mr. Adams about some Indian drums he recognized. We had to pry the boys away from the display of a Jonas Brothers guitar (the faculty were excited to see John Lennon's piano!)
There was a room for playing instruments - everything from a theramin to a Nickelodian a gamelon setup. Ike went particularly wild with the gong, and Brady and Matt Little had a jam session on the guitars. And Ben Hochster seemed delighted playing with the rain sticks. And all the boys took a turn on the theramin. (I was reminded of the scene from Toy Story when the kids ran into the playroom and went crazy with the toys!)
Then we went to a mall to eat our sack lunches, and we did a tiny bit of shopping. At three o'clock as we were walking from the mall to the bus, the thermometer reached 111 degrees!
The altitude tested us with two bloody noses as well as some irritatability and thirst, but we were happy to endure this in exchange for being 40 degrees cooler!
Back in Flagstaff, we sang and slept at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, where we had a warm audience. (They were, of course, impressed that we had sung for Bishop Gene Robinson the previous weekend.) Our concert was the best one ever, and we got another standing ovation. For the operetta, we were able to use an actual door which brought the drama to a whole new level, and Cantori delivered their lines with confidence and vigor. Mr. Fox was heartened by the singers' leap, having achieved a real sense of ensemble and team spirit in their musicality. The boys were on a high and the church audience were eager to greet them.
We then had some BBQ and rolled out our sleeping bags for some well-deserved rest.
We had a banner day of fun and hard work!
July 1 - DAY SEVEN
We said goodbye to Mr. Fox and Ms. Roy, who headed back to Oakland to get ready for the China tour that leaves Monday.
We are now leaded for the Grand Canyon! We are lucky because Mr. Lee, our amazing bus driver, has been to the canyon over 20 times.
Laura Goforth, a fantastically eloquent and engaging educator,held our groups attention for some detailed lectures on the formation of the canyon and how we can help preserve the ecosystem. (Thanks to Amy Mosley, who helped us get a ranger tour!) She took us on a short hike that afforded some stunning views, and no one fell in! We had lunch at a cafeteria and shopped for gifts, and then we started the journey back home.
We had a quick dinner at IN-N-OUT in Kingman. On the bus, we're watching Star Wars episodes 1, 2 and 3, and tomorrow we're watching 4, 5 and 6 to make the time fly. Right now we're crossing the Mojave desert to our overnight destination: Barstow, CA.
The kids are excited to see their parents tomorrow!
July 2 - DAY EIGHT
We are on the way home! Our Star Wars marathon continues and the boys are excited to be coming home. Huge thanks to our amazing tour staff - Mr. Fox, Ms. Roy, Mrs. McIlvane, Mr. Gustafson, and Mr. Gottleib. We're so lucky to have Mr. Lee, our tour bus driver, who hasmade our journey possible. (He set out three days before TV!). Our itinerary was ambitious and our ability to pack in so many amazing experiences is because of his expertise. The boys' travel skills have grown as much as their singing, as we checked in and out of our hotel with record efficiency and maturity.
I've posted some pictures and sound files from our last concert on this blog. And you can check Facebook as well for updates.