Serenade! Festival Concert 1st July 2012

Sunday 1st July - a wonderful day that we will all remember after the tour is finished,

The morning was a morning off - to sleep in - get some exercise - or do washing - whatever was needed. I think all parties appreciated this down time after a massive 10 days on the road.

The storm damage around Washington DC and nearby places caused one massive problem for the organisers of the Festival. The venue for the concert tonight had no power. They were all frantically trying to find a venue that allowed 7 choirs their own space, to hold the expected audience - to advise the audience of the change of venue - to get buses to take us there. The only difference it made to us was being delayed by an hour, but this was of no consequence at all - we were happy to relax and not be stressed about being somewhere.

They deserve an enormous pat on the back, as the venue was spectacular and gave us everything we needed. And the drive there was lovely too - looking at all the Embassy's along the way (missed the Australian one - find it tomorrow!) The buildings in this area are gorgeous - looking forward to going by there again.

We have found this great place to buy healthy lunches, so we stopped along the way to get some good food again. Salads are suddenly very popular amongst everyone, rather than fast food options!

After a rehearsal on the huge "stage" we regrouped for the Combined Choir rehearsal, then returned to our room in preparation for the concert.

The Choirs that performed (in order)

• Zvony-Praha (Czech Republic)
• Cantare Childrens Choir (Canada)
• Voices of Namibia (guess!)
• Boston City Singers (guess again!)
• Young Adelaide Voices
• Countermeasure (Canada)
• Verata e Liberi (Colombia)
• Minnetonka Chamber Choir (USA)
• Imilonji KaNtu Choral Society (South Africa)

At the end all choirs assembled for two special performances - the Washington DC premiere of "When Muisc Sounds" by Stephen Paulus, and the World Premiere of "We are as one" written by Aaron Jensen (of Countermeasure) - both conducted by leading choral conductor Philip Brunelle. Hopefully, we can post the videos on the YAV Facebook page soon.

Following the concert, we got back on the bus to head into Washington DC for a "singing dinner". What was this event, we wondered? It was a huge ballroom with circular tables, much like a banquet or awards night - the groups mingled together at tables and many friendships were started! We ate a lovely meal, then the fun began! One of the guys from Countermeasure started playing on the piano and all the choirs gathered on the "dance floor" to sing together. Bohemian Rhapsody was sung very enthusiastically, followed by "Just can't wait to be King" from the Lion King. The lovely song from Rent was sung (Seasons of Love) The Colombian childrend led the Macarena, The Czech ladies led the dance "Ride your pony" - similar to one we do at fun and games with the junior choir. Its a progressive dance really, with people ending up with a new partner - what a fun dance!

Christie eventually called a halt to proceedings as we had to get back to the hotel and rest up for tomorrow, plus protect our voices! I am sure we could have stayed a lot longer - so much fun! We had some of the Cantare Childrens Choir on our bus, for the trip back to the hotel, so there was a lot of fun being had.

After a quick debrief and planning for tomorrow - all choristers headed to bed, with a promise of another later start and a rehearsal before some sightseeing.

Thanks to all of the positive comments about the Tour Blog- makes staying up late to do it worthwhile!