Our day started early with a breakfast buffet in the hotel
lobby at 7:30 am. Several students were
excited that they had been able to see the sunrise from their rooms—it has been
another clear and beautiful day, and the sun coming up over the mountains once
again reminded us of God’s faithfulness and goodness to us.
After breakfast, Mr. Kempton shared a few thoughts and
prayed for our day, and then it was off to the buses to make our way to Roanoke
College in Salem, VA, for our morning workshops. We pulled into Roanoke College’s picturesque
campus around 9 am, and the Bellas and Mads assembled in the college chapel for
the first workshop session. The chapel
was a large square room with beautiful stained glass panels and globe light
fixtures, and we could see slivers of blue sky and green grass through the open
doors. While the Men’s Ensemble and
Women’s Choir warmed up outside, and enjoyed some down time in the sunshine,
the Bellas and Mads gathered around the piano to warm up.
Dr. Jeffrey Sandborg, director of Roanoke College’s choirs,
was our workshop leader for the morning.
His energy and enthusiasm kept students engaged and smiling as he helped
each group improve their vowel shaping, expressiveness, and vocal quality. He was impressed with our groups right from
their warmup! Some of the highlights and
quotes from each workshop session are listed below.
Madrigals
Words of encouragement
from Dr. Sandborg:
-“Just beautiful… and at 9:00 in the morning!” (his response
to “Ubi Caritas”)
-“I just love everything about this group!”
He helped the Mads work on communicating the meaning of the
text through their facial expressions, threatened to throw a hymnal across the
room to demonstrate the rise and fall of a line or phrase, and reminded them
that the way they shape each line of music helps provide a “map of feeling” for
the listener.
Bell ‘Arte
Words of encouragement
from Dr. Sandborg:
-“Less than 1% of choirs in the whole country sing like
this!”
-“The marketplace loves musicians, because they get the job
done!” (He reminded the students that choir is a “great predictor of success
later in life” because of the way it cultivates diligence and commitment.)
He encouraged the girls to “sound all of the beautiful
sounds of all of the beautiful syllables of all of the beautiful words, all of
the time” as they worked on “Tantum Ergo.”
The other choirs joined us at this point for a short
presentation from the Roanoke College Admissions department, whose generosity
enabled us to have a wonderful morning on campus. They were glad to give our students
information on the college, especially regarding the choral program and the choral
scholarships offered!
After the presentation, all the choirs sang “Hark.” Dr. Sandborg complimented them on their
“surprising maturity” and reminded them how fortunate they are to be getting
this kind of vocal education! He said
that the group exuded levels of musicianship and learning that are not typical
for their age group.
At this point, Bellas and Mads went outside to debrief their
workshops and share highs, lows, and prayer requests from the tour so far. Meanwhile, the Women’s Choir and Men’s
Ensemble enjoyed their workshops.
Women’s Choir
Words of encouragement
from Dr. Sandborg:
-“I love that piece!” (after their performance of “Labor of
Love”)
-“What a fantastic choir!”
-“Dynamite.”
The women worked mostly on vowel shaping, and the change in
sound was evident after only a few minutes of concentrated practice!
Men’s Ensemble
Words of encouragement
from Dr. Sandborg:
-“You could make money with that.” (on their sound)
The men were encouraged to
concentrate on communicating to the listener what each song was about, as Dr.
Sandborg reminded them that “our job is to draw listeners in to consider the
text, through how we show what the words mean.” On their final run through “Come Travel With
Me”, several of the men entertained those of us who were watching with their
interpretive dance.
Workshop highlights:
“chubby baby”
“wild uncontrollable vibrato that
will get you thrown out of any church choir in the country”
“Nyyahhhh”
“the dead battery wobble”
We headed over to the college
commons for lunch, where we filled one of the dining areas with a sea of
green! It was amusing to watch the
college students’ reaction as they walked into to see our crowd of students eating
and talking in their bright green tour shirts.
After enjoying the college dining experience (complete with pizza and
frozen yogurt!), we headed outside for a tour of the campus. The admissions department provided enough
tour guides that we could split up into small groups, which enabled the
students to interact with tour guides who could answer their questions, show
them areas of the campus related to their interests, and share some of their
personal experiences at Roanoke.
A few fun facts about Roanoke College…
-It’s the #4 up-and-coming
liberal arts college in the country, with students from 40 states and 30
countries.
-It’s the 19th most
fit campus in America.
-It remained open during the
Civil War, and the current administration building was actually used for a
Civil War hospital.
We all reconvened in the chapel
after the tour, where Dr. Sandborg made a few closing remarks before seeing us
off. We headed back to downtown Roanoke
and were dropped off in the city square for an hour of free time. Students enjoyed snacks and window-shopping
in the quaint historic downtown area before we returned to the hotel to prep
for our evening.
We left the hotel around 4 pm
after singing “Hark” in the lobby for the hotel staff. We boarded the buses with a sense of energy
and anticipation for our first tour concert, and enjoyed a late afternoon snack
as we headed through the rolling hills to Christ Episcopal Church.
We arrived at the church and
quickly filled the beautiful sanctuary with the sounds of singing. Students spilled off of the raised platform
and spread across the front of the sanctuary for our final rehearsals of “All I
Have is Christ” and “Sing Praises.” The
latter, an energetic gospel number, got everyone warmed up and ready for the
evening’s performance.
People from the church and
community soon arrived, as the air cooled down and a breeze came in through the
open church doors. Everyone gathered for
a quick snack and a time of prayer in the basement before filing into the
sanctuary for an evening of singing praises.
The Women’s Choir opened up with
several pieces, followed by the Mads, the Men, and energetic performances by
Nota Dolce and Men of Note. The Bellas
were the final ensemble to perform before the closing pieces sung by all
choirs. Several audience members filmed
or recorded “All I Have is Christ” and “Sing Praises,” and the choirs received
a standing ovation before Mrs. Joseph, Ms. Kauffman, and Mr. Holmes closed out
the evening with the Barocha.
Everyone hurried back to the
buses to change for dinner, and we were soon on our way back to Roanoke. We arrived back at the Hotel Roanoke, looking
far spiffier than we had yesterday after our long bus ride from Maryland. To mix it up, students sat by birthday month,
and we enjoyed a delicious banquet meal, served by the friendly and extremely
efficient wait staff. Mr. Kempton shared
an encouraging exchange he’d had with someone after the concert (who kept
asking how big our college was, and couldn’t believe we were from a high
school!), and prayed for us before Mr. Holmes and Ms. Kauffman gave final
instructions, and we boarded the buses one more time to head back to the
Cambria Suites to get some much-needed rest!
It’s been a very full day, but
we’ve been blessed by the people we’ve encountered as well as the time we’ve
had to spend together in some very beautiful settings. We’re looking forward to some rest, and to
another full day tomorrow!
Highlights from
Twitter (#aacschoirtour2013):
-Jodi Hoffman -- Morning sunshine! oh my goodness, there are cute
little fair trade tea bags in the room :)
-Katie Kinsey -- Instead of counting down the days, lets make the
days count
-AACS US Choirs -- Strolling downtown Roanoake. Enjoying the sunshine, smoothies & other
treats.
PTL for:
-continued beautiful weather and
the opportunities we’ve had to enjoy God’s creation
-encouragement from Dr. Sandborg
-the graciousness of the
admissions department at Roanoke in accommodating our group
-opportunities to share our love
of the Lord as we sing for a variety of audiences
Please pray for:
-health and safety of all
students and staff
-energy and strength for our day
tomorrow
-our drive to Asheville, NC,
tomorrow morning
-continued relationship building
among students, and opportunities for them to encourage each other spiritually
-those who will attend our
concert tomorrow night
Some Pictures from our day:
In Tour Shirts ready for the day
Workshop with Dr. Sandborg
On Board the Girl's Bus
Workshop with Dr. Sandborg
On Board the Girl's Bus
A picture from the concert
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