Fairfield to Washington

Hello all!!!! We are still very much alive, and apologies for not posting sooner but we have been on the run since leaving New York.

On Tuesday we headed out to Fairfield, Connecticut - a reasonable two hours drive out of New York, via New Jersey - seeing a real slice of typical American life. The houses and trees in Connecticut are beautiful, reminding us of driving through Stirling in Adelaide. We met our friends of the Fairfield County Children's Choir in the most stunning Chapel at the Sacred Heart University. We had a small rehearsal ourselves, followed by listening to the FCCC as they were also preparing for the Golden Gate Festival in San Francisco - where we will meet up with them again. The Colombian Choir we shared a hotel with in New York, Verata e Liberi, were running late due to traffic but we managed a quick combined rehearsal before being served a delicious dinner, prepared by the Mums (Moms?) of the FCCC - they were so sweet - even had Pumpkin Pie!

The concert was well attended by some 350 people and it was great to be performing again! The FCCC started the evening - they had two choirs performing this night, followed by the Colombian Choir (who's age range from 7 - 17). After that we strode to the stage, and simply blew the audience away. The highlight of the evening was undoubtably Currawong, finishing with native bird calls, culminating in a standing ovation! The video is available on the Young Adelaide Voices Facebook page.

After a quick farewell to ur lovely hosts, we bunked down for the night in preparation for an early departure next morning.

Day 6 commenced with breakfast (always an interesting adventure) Healthy food options are hard to find! We had a steady bus tour back through New Jersey with last glimpse of Manhattan as we crossed the George Washington Bridge one last time. We arrived in the beautiful city of Philadelphia in time to take a tour of the Independence Hall and hear about the history of the Declaration of Independence and be in the rooms where it was debated and finally agreed upon. Very cool! Some took options of a open bus ride around Philadelphia (which was amazing by reports!) and others wandered the streets taking in the Liberty Bell and Benjamin Franklins grave site. After regrouping we headed to our accommodation for a relatively early night (and much needed).

Day 7 was another early get up and go - heading for Washington  - arriving about 11.45 to enable us to spend some time at one of three Smithsonians - Aerospace, Natural History and American History - each group reporting they loved it and wanted to experience the other museums. Time has been allocated to allow more exploration of these really interesting facilities. We also have so much more to see here!

We checked into our hotel in Washington for the next 5 days - a chance to do some washing and really get prepared for the fantastic amount of singing and concerts over the remaining tour! Regrouping quickly we headed off to the Welcoming Address with the other choirs attending. We heard each sing their national anthem with South Africa, Canada (twice), Colombia, Czech Republic, USA and of course Australia all heard. They had a "quaint" ceremony where each choir had to answer random questions about various things - mmm, Americans do love a "pop" quiz! A group photo taken and snacks and drinks provided before we headed off to have an early night and prepare for some fantastic events over the ensuing days.

The Choir gathered back at the hotel and had a "reflection" meeting where each mentioned something they really liked and about how the tour is going. Most common was the real desire to sing - and the wonderful response to Currawong in Fairfield.  There was a real desire to keep improving more and more and really do a great performance each time. There were reflections of a real spirit of friendship within the group and delight at "ad hoc" singing whenever they gather - with anyone joining in anytime. They loved New York - not all of it, but most - and they were all looking forward to meeting the other choirs and sharing their lives and love of singing.