Saturday night concert
Tonight the choir sang a marvelous performance at Saints Bonifacio & Alessio Basilica, an externally rustic (but internally ornate) church dating from the 18th century, on a hill overlooking Rome. The performance began at 9:00 PM, and was followed by a dinner reception in the private courtyard overlooking St. Peter's Basilica and all the rest of the city.
That is a rather dry and dusty description of a wonderful evening of music, art, architecture and friendship. The church is sponsoring a music series, and the Gunn Choir event was the first to have the follow-on dinner reception. Our hosts were marvelously friendly, and the concert had many local parishioners and music lovers in attendance. The program was especially graced by Caitlin Gjerdrum's powerful solo in 'City Called Heaven' (which many of you saw her perform in the spring Choir Musical) and its power touched all who were there, drawing tremendous applause and many admiring comments afterwards. The always popular 'Surrounded' (thanks Karen) ended the program and likewise was very popular with the audience. The rest of the performance was, as always, an amazing musical experience made even more inspiring by the setting and the acoustics. The only hiccup was the emergence of a lizard in the soprano section, but the girls didn't even miss a beat, and the lizard (obviously a fan of choral music) left quickly to appreciate the show from a more sheltered location.
After the performance ended, the choir and our hosts emerged into a small courtyard enclosed on three sides and open on the fourth to an absolutely amazing view of Rome, with the illuminated dome of St. Peter's Basilica directly in the foreground, and delicious food waiting for the kids (who had only had snacks since around 1:00PM, and it's now after 10:00PM!). Great dishes of pasta & rice, salads & bread were served and all the kids were able to relax under the grape arbors and take in the amazing view and the beautiful weather. The staff of the church serenaded the kids with a few songs, closing with 'Arrivederci Roma', and we left to return to the hotel. At midnight on a Saturday, however, Rome was in full festive swing and traffic was quite heavy. We arrived and bedded down around 1AM, but tomorrow's schedule is slightly more relaxed -- we get to sleep in until 8AM (what luxury!) for the noon performance of High Mass at St. Peter's.
Tonight's concert was an enchanting and special experience, and everybody who participated was moved by the talent and skill of Bill & his choir. Once we have a chance to sort through the pictures we'll post as many as we can, hopefully tomorrow.
More updates to come!
That is a rather dry and dusty description of a wonderful evening of music, art, architecture and friendship. The church is sponsoring a music series, and the Gunn Choir event was the first to have the follow-on dinner reception. Our hosts were marvelously friendly, and the concert had many local parishioners and music lovers in attendance. The program was especially graced by Caitlin Gjerdrum's powerful solo in 'City Called Heaven' (which many of you saw her perform in the spring Choir Musical) and its power touched all who were there, drawing tremendous applause and many admiring comments afterwards. The always popular 'Surrounded' (thanks Karen) ended the program and likewise was very popular with the audience. The rest of the performance was, as always, an amazing musical experience made even more inspiring by the setting and the acoustics. The only hiccup was the emergence of a lizard in the soprano section, but the girls didn't even miss a beat, and the lizard (obviously a fan of choral music) left quickly to appreciate the show from a more sheltered location.
After the performance ended, the choir and our hosts emerged into a small courtyard enclosed on three sides and open on the fourth to an absolutely amazing view of Rome, with the illuminated dome of St. Peter's Basilica directly in the foreground, and delicious food waiting for the kids (who had only had snacks since around 1:00PM, and it's now after 10:00PM!). Great dishes of pasta & rice, salads & bread were served and all the kids were able to relax under the grape arbors and take in the amazing view and the beautiful weather. The staff of the church serenaded the kids with a few songs, closing with 'Arrivederci Roma', and we left to return to the hotel. At midnight on a Saturday, however, Rome was in full festive swing and traffic was quite heavy. We arrived and bedded down around 1AM, but tomorrow's schedule is slightly more relaxed -- we get to sleep in until 8AM (what luxury!) for the noon performance of High Mass at St. Peter's.
Tonight's concert was an enchanting and special experience, and everybody who participated was moved by the talent and skill of Bill & his choir. Once we have a chance to sort through the pictures we'll post as many as we can, hopefully tomorrow.
More updates to come!
posted by Glen at 5:14 PM
1 Comments:
Glen,
THANK YOU!!!! You are doing such a fantastic job of describing the trip for those of us at home. Although we do appreciate all of the work that you & Don are doing to keep us posted... don't forget to get some sleep!
See you all soon,
peri:-)
Post a Comment
<< Home