Today, March 22nd, is our third day of tour.  Our wonderful home-stays dropped us off this morning at the church we performed at last night.  We travelled a long stretch north to Granville Island in Vancouver, BC.  

After a brief interlude at the border we finally reached Granville Island.  It is half amusement park and half boutique carnival, and after stopping in several of the shops, we sampled Vancouver’s seafood and then headed to the University of British Columbia.

Once we got there we met up with the UBC Chamber Choir.  We had a wonderful choir exchange with them.  Their performing space is a beautiful, warm-sounding auditorium, and it augmented their music wonderfully.  They sang an amazing collection of music in various styles, all by composers from the Vancouver area, and we in turn sang them some of our music from tour and for our forthcoming Latin American concert.  At the end of our exchange, we teamed up to sing Josef Rheinberger’s Abendlied.   We merged seamlessly, and I was amazed at how quickly we adapted to each other’s sounds.  

Afterwards we headed back to our hotel, where we ate a sumptuous dinner in preparation for a choir karaoke bonanza that took the hotel bar by storm.  We explored the wonderful city of Vancouver by night and returned, tired but glowing, to retire in advance of our penultimate day of tour.

Will Cross, Bass

English Major, Class of 2012