Cappella Nova Choir Tour 2010: Day Five

I think many people would agree that today was the most fun day of the whole tour.  We all slept great in our fabulous homestays from Oakland/Piedmont the night before, and we were dropped off for our last performance in the morning. 

We went to the Head Royce School in Oakland, an independent college preparatory school for grades K-12.  Upon our arrival, we were kindly greeted by the Middle School choir, who performed a lovely piece for us.  Shortly after, the High School choir, Colla Voce, warmed up with us, and then watched us perform a few of our favorite songs.  Then, we switched places and listened to a few of Colla Voce’s songs; they were fabulous!  One of their pieces was from India, and featured a traditional Indian dance by one of the choir members.  Their last song, which was my personal favorite, was a song about the forecast, written by a man from the Bay area.  It was a cute piece about how California is always sunny, while the rest of country suffers rain and sleet. 

After their performance, we hopped on the bus and left for San Francisco.  The bus dropped us off at the famous Pier 39, but we were free to wander around the city and explore.  My group, upon discovering the disheartening news that the sea lions were not there, watched a mediocre juggler in the pier, and then set out for China Town!  After some confusing directions and a long stretch of hills, we were greeted with all sorts of splendor from the far east.  Some people got food while others shopped, and then we all walked back together. 

The bus then took us all to our hotel for the last night, Hotel Tomo, a fun hotel in Japan Town inspired by Japanese pop culture (especially anime).  It was super adorable.  We had a bit of free time in and around the hotel, and then we were all treated to an end of tour banquet at a local Chinese restaurant called Brandy Ho’s (no, i’m serious).  There, we ate yummy food and shared some our favorite stories from tour; it was lovely! 

One of the day’s highlights occurred after dinner, when a group of us found an all-ages Karaoke studio in Japan Town.  Our group got a private room, where we were free to sing almost any song imaginable!  Some of the evening’s highlights included Eminem’s “Without Me” by Sean Inoué, Josh Groban’s “You Raise me Up” by Kenna Hicock & Kylie Della, Destiny’s Child’s “Say My Name” by Jess Jarris & Lauren Brown, “What a Feeling” by Kareah Garrison and KATHY FITZGIBBON!!!!!!, Grease’s “Summer Nights” by me & Zein Hassanein, and Radiohead’s “Creep” by Murray Cizon ‘98.  It was a blast and a great way to end a wonderful tour. 

Love,

Carmelle Kniss ‘12

Soprano