Baltic Tour on Double Shot TV program

Our choir tour was featured on the UW Double Shot TV Program. There are interviews of choir members and video of performing at the Presidential Palace.  Check out the link to the right!

Tour Reflections

A big hello to all of the readers of the Baltic Tour Blog (I know there are many parents reading) and a shout-out to my middle school students in Edmonds (I hope you were good while I was gone).  It has been my pleasure to share our stories from our tour.  However, it has been from my perspective as a doctoral student, veteran tour participant, and music teacher.  I would like to invite all of my fellow tour friends to share something they have learned from this tour: whether it is about music, culture, the countries we visited, the people with which you shared a small living space/bus, or something that you learned about yourself.  For the sake of this blog space and the 78 people on the tour, please try to distill it to a couple of sentences and get to the “nugget” of what you have gained from this experience.  I enjoyed making music with all of you and look forward to sharing/building on what we have experienced together!

Terviseks!

Wendy Moy

DMA Choral Conducting Student

Final Concert with Revalia, Hirvo Surva, and Veljo Tormis!

At the end of every tour, you always “can’t believe that it’s almost over” and the same can be said about the UW Baltic Choir Tour.  On Wednesday, we walked in the snow to Mustpeada Maja (Tallinn) which was built in the 14th Century.  We were very privileged to share a concert with the Revalia Men’s Chorus who visited Seattle in the fall.  They shared with us a couple of songs from Estonia’s first song festival in 1869.  The Chorale dedicated their performance of “Laulusild” to Veljo Tormis who came to our concert!  What a moment to perform for the most venerated living Estonian composer!  Another moving moment was the Chamber Singers’ performance of “The Waking” composed by our very own Giselle Wyers.

We have grown a lot this past week as tour ensembles-learning to listen to each other in a new space; standing in different formations depending on the room and acoustics; and trusting each other in a way that led to new musical experiences.  The amazing thing of going on tour is the opportunity to take the shared experience of each day into the music making.  Wonderful things happened artistically; a connectedness of mind/spirit that brought out different aspects of the music at each performance.

Revalia joined us in singing “Ave Mater and Ave Pater” by Estonia’s Rene Espere.  It was a visceral experience to have the force of their sound behind us!  To close the evening, Hirvo Surva (Revalia’s famous conductor and 2011 Song Festival Conductor) led the UW Touring Choir, Revalia, and Vox Populi (from our previous concert) in the singing of Tormis’ “Laulu Algus”:  “Listen! One country away there started a song on the beaches of Estonia. . .I went to practice my voice, to sound my voice on a mountain, to get into a celebratory mood, raising the spirits of the people. . .I want to sing in the tongue of this land.  Where my beautiful home is. . .”  Many of us had the opportunity to sing this song with Revalia and Surva when they toured the Pacific Northwest in the fall.  However, it was almost a life-changing experience to sing this song this time in Estonia, with Estonians, for Estonians.  You could feel and sense the passion in Surva’s conducting. It was if he was conducting the Estonian Song Festival choir of thousands and the generations of singers who came before us.  The song, “Laulu Algus” which brought the Estonian community together under a time of oppression, now brings the global community together in celebration of friendship and joy.

2010 Baltic Choir Tour Program

2010 Baltic Tour Program

Dr. Giselle Wyers and Dr. Geoffrey Boers, conductors

Dr. Guntis Smidchens, Tour “expert” and Translator

Dora Kim, piano

Chorale

• Laulusild-Estonian Folk Song/Veljo Tormis
• Kyla Vuotti uuta kuuta-Janika Vandervelde
• Goodbye-Giselle Wyers
• Earth Song-Frank Ticheli
• Climb-Elizabeth Alexander
• Cuncti Simus-14th Cen Latin Song/arr. Eric Johnson

Chamber Singers

• Die mit tranen saen-Johann Hermann Schein
• Sure on this Shining Night-Morten Lauridsen
• Follow the Drinking Gourd-Traditional/arr. Andre Thomas
• Siin mu roomuua-Ester Magi
• Taaveti laul No. 104-Cyrillus Kreek
• The Waking-Giselle Wyers

Combined Choirs

• Jauchzet dem Herren-Heinrich Schutz
• Requiem, Intoit & Kyrie-Maurice Durufle
• Laulus algas-Veljo Tormis
• Two Jubilatsiooni-Rene Espere
• Put vejini-Latvian folk song/arr. Andrejs Jurjans
• Kas tie tadi-Latvian folk song/arr. Steven Sametz
• Eternal Sun-John Tavener
• Four Responsorials-Eric Barnum
• Hard Times Come Again No More-Stephen Foster
• Joshua-Traditional/arr. Norma Luboff

Special Thanks to:

Bret Amundson, University Chorale Assistant Conductor

Eric Barnum, Chamber Singers Assistant Conductor

Jeremiah Cawley, Tour Teaching Assistant

Jeshua Franklin & Shannon Murphy, Tour Handbook Coordinators

Jason Lin, Hotel Coordinator

Lars Myren, Roommate Coordinator

Laney McClain, Anderew Schmidt, & Catilin Tierney, Language Coaches

Vivian Lyons, Tour Treasurer

Watch us sing at the Presidential Castle in Latvia

President Zatlers, “Singing brings people together. . .”

What choir tour comes with a command performance with the President?  We arrived at the Presidential Castle and presented our identification to make sure we were all on the approved security list.  (see above) Next, we walked through security scanners and had our music checked by security.  We were ushered into a beautiful state-room where eventually about two dozen people gathered complete with photographers and news media.  President Zatlers gave a short address about the power of music to bring together communities and its significance to the people of Latvia.  He warmly presented to us a photograph of himself visiting the UW choirs in Seattle last year. UW Professor Guntis Smidchens thanked the President for the invitation to sing and the partnership between the government of Latvia and the University of Washington.  He presented the President with a wooden carving of a salmon; representing travel, our connection with water, and the journey of coming home. When it was our turn to sing, the President heartily wished us “Good luck!”

We sang “Hard Times Come No More”, “Joshua”, two of Eric Barnum’s Responsories, and “Put Vejini” (in which everyone in the audience lovingly mouthed the words”.  A smile was brought to the President’s face when we sang “Happy Birthday” in English and in Latvian.  After the applause, President Zatlers told us that if the audience turned around and closed their eyes, they would have thought we were a Latvian choir!  He complimented us on our pronunciation and appropriate emotion in the song “Put Vejini”. Following the performance, we talked informally to the invited guests who were in someway associated with the University of Washington.  Many enjoyed the opportunity to speak directly with the President who was more than happy to chat and shake hands.

After leaving the castle, some people took advantage of the free time to go attend the opera Nabucco, explore the Old Town, and/or visit the Song Festival Grounds.  I feel very fortunate to be able to visit the festival grounds where every five years  16,000 singers gather for an audience of 14, 000 to celebrate their heritage through song!  It was very awe-inspiring to be in a place designed and set aside for the celebration of culture, a people, and the power of singing.

Concert with Men’s Choir of Riga Technical College

Yesterday (Tuesday), we had a quick lunch at the Lido Recreation Center, a restaurant complete with Rodeo, Tower, Sky Dive, Canon Room, Hippodrome, Shooting-ground, Eurobungy, Children’s Town, Children’s Driving School and Sky glider. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to play!  The restaurant had buffet after buffet of different foods from the Baltic area.
We checked in quickly to our cute hotel in the Old Town section of Riga and walked to St. Savior’s Anglican Church.  There we shared a concert with Gaudeamus, the Men’s Choir of Riga Technical College.  Personally, it was very moving to sing in such an intimate setting where we could look into the eyes of the audience.  The highlight of the concert and so far for the tour was singing the Latvian folk song, “Put, vejini” (Blow, wind).  Many of us have been on numerous choir tours and all of them have aspects of meaningful connection and fun times.  However, nothing compares to the reception of us singing that song.  The whole audience rose to their feet-not in a “I must stand or I love this piece sort of way” but as if it was part of their being-beyond a conscious choice.  The look in their eyes crossed the cultural barrier and you could tell there was a long, deep connection/story to that song;  a story that we only had glimpsed in rehearsal and in our striving to make the Latvian authentic.  Dr. Wyers invited the audience to sing with us and it will be a moment we never forget.  There were people in the audience (and in the choir) with tears streaming down their faces.
After the concert, we were invited to a social gathering with Gaudeamus at the Technical College.  It was fun to get to know the members of the choir whose history spans 50 years and the members range from early 20′s to 76 years old.  They serenaded us with traditional as well as rock music from Latvia.  We also learned from the director that all the basses are single in their choir!

A lovely day to go to the castle!

This blogger apologizes for a delayed posting.  Yesterday was a very full day and I think we all felt the weight of our tiredness at the end.  However, I don’t think anyone would have traded it for the world.  (As I write this, I’m half-watching to Russian (which I studied) TV with Latvian subtitles so please forgive me for any typos!)  We woke up in Tartu and had another wonderful breakfast of pastries, eggs, meats, and yogurt.  Some of us actually were brave enough to try the herring!  We boarded our buses again and headed to Riga, Latvia.  It was an absolutely beautiful ride through the country-side with little houses and untouched snow.  As Tess said, “A beautiful day to go to the castle”!  Outside of Riga, we toured Turiada Castle and climbed to the top tower where we couldn’t resist singing of course.  So. . another shout-out to Eric Barnum.  We sang Responsorial #4: “Break forth into Singing!”  More to come about our performance with the Men’s Choir of Riga Technical University. . .

Morning Service at St. John’s and Evening Concert at Tartu

This morning we sang in the morning worship service at St. John’s Church in Tallinn.  To our surprise when the pastor introduced us, the congregation immediately stood up and applauded.  A highlight was singing Eric Barnum’s responsories as part of communion.  The choirs sat opposite one another in the divided chancel area and enveloped the congregation as they took the elements. It was very special to see the appreciative look on their faces and to be invited to be a part of something sacred in their life.  We quickly caught lunch at the local mall (they have many American stores) and boarded two buses to Tartu (still in Estonia).

The evening concert in Tartu was opened by the Hale Bopp (yes, the comet) Singers who shared with us some songs in Estonian.  They surprised us by closing their portion with the Beatles’ “When I’m 64″, “O bla di”, and “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”.  We took advantage of the hall’s acclaimed acoustics by performing Eternal Sun from the upper balcony that surrounded the room.  Both choirs gave very nuanced performances to an appreciative audience.

The evening was capped off by a rousing social event with the Hale Bopp Singers in which they frequently broke into song and we tried to keep up.  They even passed out song books so we could share in the experience.  Singing is definitely a part of the culture of Estonia!

Joint Concert with Vox Populi at Niguliste Church

Today was our first official day in Estonia.  The morning greeted us with a fabulous European breakfast complete with porridge and pickled herring.  We had the great opportunity to share a concert with Vox Populi in which we sang a song together in Estonian.   They were very warm and very gracious with our Estonian pronunciation.  The concert took place at Niguliste Church that had at least a five second reverb!  During our grand pauses, it sounded as if there was another choir in the room.  It was wonderful to sing in a place in which you felt that the building and time made music with you!  We spent the rest of the day walking through old Tallinn (zero degrees C); a cute town filled with linens, yarnworks, and wooden handicrafts.  Tomorrow on to Tartu!