MUSIC
is a city structured to be grand and yet not imposing, but welcoming. We felt equally welcome at Washington’s National Cathedral, where the Chapel choir sang evensong, our first musical performance. At a separate performance in Washington, the Chapel Choir gave the US premiere of Cecelia McDowall’s Some Corner Of A Foreign Field , with our very own Miss Lofts as the soprano soloist. Our next performance came en route from Washington to Philadelphia, where we stopped in an Amish village. The strings and brass contingents played for our audience, and Original Copy sang for them. After a quick look around, we were on our way to Philadelphia and on to masterclasses for the choir and the big band, with choral composer Rollo Dilworth and jazz trumpeter Terell Stafford respectively. We then had a walk around Philadelphia, catching a glimpse of the Independence Hall and the famous Liberty Bell. We visited Council Rock North High School, who welcomed us with food and musical performances from their Choir and Jazz Band, before
performing Blue Train with our Big Band. After that, we were off to New York, taking in the sights around the city, from Times Square to Central Park to the memorial at Ground Zero. Our performance at St Thomas’ Church was also the world premiere of Cecelia McDowall’s De Profundis , and then was followed by our last concert of the tour at Grace Church School. Their headmaster, an OA, made us feel very welcome. Finally, we journeyed to the top of the Rockefeller Centre and after gazing upon New York from such a great height, we were glad to be back upon the ground. But, alas, not for long, as the next day we left America and returned to Britain. The trip was a great musical success, with fantastic performances all round, including wonderful solos from Chyaro Hilton, Thomas Whittaker, John Pederson, Darren Wei, Yuki Suter and Alex Cheung, to name but a few. The staff were fantastic: the effort they all put into this trip was immense, and most certainly paid off. One more great success of the US Tour was one of the most significant and important – the food. It was absolutely delicious and plentiful.
AT LIBERTY IN THE LAND OF THE FREE
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