Bits and Pieces

***Beef with Yorkshire pudding in York.

We are having such a good time that a lot of things don't get into the blog. For example...food...we are liking it. British breakfasts of sausages, english bacon, eggs, potatoe patties, and heinz beans are to our liking. Cornish Pastys are a big hit since they are hot, good, and tastey. Salmon pastys are well liked in addition to the traditional steak and leak ones. Joy and the rest are not having a tough time finding a Starbucks because they are everywhere here. We've had fish and chips (okay). Scones clotted cream and jam are a hit. But the big hit is: Tatties, a local baked potatoe place. The chili one is good, as is the hummas and olive one (an English minor is correcting my writing as we go) , chicken and salsa is also suggested. Cafe Concerto is already a favorite for others. It is clear that we are not starving and though food isn't as fast as we are used to, it is good, hot and relatively cheap. Wendy and Bill went to a local pub last night and had "Bubble and Squeak." More to come.

Sunday May 2 - Church Day

Today we spent a lot of time in church. After breakfast we took the bus down to Great St. Mary’s Church to practice for music in the worship this morning. Joy says this morning went very smoothly and was glad we had the practice back in Edmonton at Holy Trinity. The first university church dates from the 1300's so the ministry is very old. It was a good experience after which we went for lunch in the inner part of Cambridge. At 1 we went to King’s College for a special afternoon. For two hours we had a special workshop with Stephen Cleobury who gave some great tips for improving our music. After that we walked around the beautiful court yard to the Kings College Chapel we were able to be part of the congregation at the Evensong service. Kings College Chapel is huge and beautiful. The boys choir sang the music and were conducted by Stephen Cleobury. It again was a great experience. After time for supper uptown we came back to the hostel where everyone chilled out to play games and do email.
A great day for experiencing church music.
Update: Some have wondered why the initial emphasis on potties!!. Some had trouble getting them to flush but Megan tells us that she now can get them to flush. There was just a lot of history connected to the development of toilets.

Punting at Cambridge.

Here we are after our concert upon returning to Cambridge:

Punting at B

More Pix from Ely

Kristin Kahle says that the concert at Ely was phenomenal. Elizabeth says that it was pretty cool. Amanda says that Tegler just won't feel the same again. Others added: tear jerking, wowed, and fantazmagorical.

Ely Cathedral - Saturday May 1.

The day started sunny as we drove for 45 minutes from the hostel to the town of Ely and the chance to perform in The Lady Chapel of the Ely Cathedral which has it’s roots back to the mid 800's. The cathedral is beautiful and grand(how do you even begin to describe something so majestic and awe inspiring. The sheer history of this place reflecting many changes in history. Oliver Cromwell’s house is in Ely and his impact on many churches in England was immense as was that of Henry VIII, but still the cathedral has a spiritual presence that lifts your eyes to the heavens when you enter.
When we arrived we had a tour of the cathedral. The history and the detail are very different from anything we have seen thus far. As we were sitting a procession of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre(50 - 60 people)in their robes and cloaks marked with the crusaders cross. Our guide had never seen such before so we were honored to see them as they went to the chapel for a service. The Lady Chapel is large with awesome acoustics (7 sec reverb). Very different sound from the practice room back at Concordia. Singing in such places gives the choir a whole different sound.
The concert when wonderfully. In this space our choir sounded as they never have before and a few were moved to tears when they got to the final traditional piece. There was a good crowd and now the top experience thus far is The Lady Chapel. As we left the cathedral there was an orchestra and singers preparing for a Gilbert and Sullivan presentation this evening. The amount of culture and opportunities to hear choral music is amazing. We returned to Cambridge for a rehearsal in St. Mary’s where the choir will be singing tomorrow. Later this afternoon we will be going Punting in the Backs. Stay tuned.
PS from Garry: It has been wonderful to watch the choir members react to the acoustics in the various places they have sung. They have risen to the challenge to make some amazing music. We will have more supporters for a new chapel in the future.

On To Cambridge - April 30. Friday

It was quite sad to leave Manchester. We had such a good time there: history to see, our first real experience with ancient spaces to sing in, Karaoke, learning how to use European toilets, and simply enjoying being part of the adventure. We packed and left (right on time) and drove for 4 hours across several shires to Cambridge. Once there our bus left us off a distance from the center of the city which is pedestrian and bicycle only and we walked to St. Mary’s Church where we had some free time to get lunch, followed by a walking tour of downtown Cambridge. Our guides told us about the university system, the colleges and how they all fit together. Only 18,000 students at Cambridge. It is very beautiful with wonderful architecture and lots of history. We even stopped on the site of the pub(no longer there) where English reformers such as Latimer discussed the works of Martin Luther. There is a pub up the street that bears a plaque honoring two of its patrons and the discovery of the structure of DNA that was first mapped out there(Watson and Crick). With 800 years of history it is no wonder that the university has so many famous alumni–including our own Dr. Kraemer. The lawns are green and with all the rain it is a treat for the eyes. We got to our hostel late in the afternoon(much smaller and less modern than our first one which we hear is the best one–too bad). Supper was at Pizza Express a very nice place in an old building on “Jesus Street”–very fitting for our choir. It was cooler and raining so many tried to catch up on their sleep. English countryside and cambridge. A good day to remember.