Keystone State Boychoir

The bus will be here in about 2 hours, so just a quick update.

I could not have wished for more for the boys this week. Many thanks to Peter Robb, Artistic Director and Founder of picfest – so glad to be part of the fulfillment of your dream of an all boy picfest! Our deepest appreciation to Maestro Malvar-Ruiz both for the depth of his dedication to the boys’ voice and for his thoughtful, light-hearted, inspiring instruction. Looking forward to seeing you back in the Mid-Atlantic! And three cheers for the terrific boychoirs we sang with, from the youngest boys from the Bay Area’s Ragazzi Boys Chorus and Calgary Boys’ Choir to the Boychoir of Ann Arbor, with their small but mighty TTBB section and the largest group, Florida’s Singing Sons Boychoir who could match KSB in post-concert energy, which is saying something.

We are all brothers now!

Everyone made great friends while singing with the other choirs, both the formal rehearsals and the non-stop singing everywhere else. I am sure that boys will see each other again, starting with Patrick, who found out that one of the Ann Arbor boys will be in his Freshman class at University of Michigan, studying vocal performance as well!

As for today, the boys could not stop singing.

Final rehearsal this morning, then off to Eugene’s Saturday Market, where KSB held an impromptu South African jam to promote tonight’s concert.

Of course, the concert, which was a perfect conclusion to all that the boys learned from the conductor, and from each other, and throughout the season at KSB. And congrats to Greg and Jimmy representing KSB as soloists!

After the concert, we shared a bus to dinner with most of Florida’s Singing Sons Boychoir’s tenors and basses, and sang back and forth, one of ours (Zikr), one of theirs (a Sea shanty) one of ours (Jai Ho) one of theirs (a Christmas piece) to which we answered with a falsetto Hodea from Ceremony of Carols and then one they all knew, Circle of Life from Lion King. After dinner, we shared a bus back to the dorm with Boychoir of Ann Arbor, with lots of shared rep – Hello Mary Lou, Prayer of the Children, and Brothers Sing On.

And one final song — an old KSB favorite, Hold Me Rock Me, back at the dorm, as the guys took their pins off, pinned them to their ties, and handed in their jackets for the season, with tears and hugs for our four seniors, Jimmy, Thomas, Patrick and Theo.

As always, thank you for entrusting your sons to us, and in case you don’t always see it at home, every single boy is everything you would want him to be when he is with us: helpful, respectful, friendly, disciplined, and fully engaged in what we are offering at KSB. I love traveling with all of them – and our three resilient and resourceful chaps as well! Can’t thank Pete Davis, Bob LePera and Bill Hoyt enough for their good natured patience in keeping this little army on the move this week!

They are all a great group of guys – or as you might say at the University of Oregon, a great group of ducks!

See you at the airport!

In the timelessness of the tour bubble – it just occurred to us that it’s Friday, and there’s only one more day!

Last night, all the choirs gathered again, joined by a local men’s choir, the Eugene Gleemen, this time for a chance to watch Fernando work with each choir on one piece in their repertoire. With members into their 80s, Eugene Gleemen, were just back from TOUR. Think about it. “Choirboys” going on tour into their 70s and 80s!

Once again, KSB brought their A game, as the Chamber Choir guys sang D’Animals. Fernando ended his session with them noting that we’re neighbors, and that he looks forward to seeing us at home, for which he and I laid the groundwork.

As for today’s music making, instruction has been turned over to Male Ensemble Northwest , a vocal ensemble made up of music educators/choral conductors committed to encouraging male singers in schools throughout the region. The grads are wrapping up an energetic session with the ensemble – imagine two hours with a dozen Mr Fisher’s leading a tag-team rehearsal, with a most kinesthetic approach to vocal instruction. The room is exploding with teenage boy choral energy! The trebles are up next, with a tutti rehearsal tonight.

For fun today, we went to a local pharmacy called Hirons. Ask your son about it when we gets home!

University of Oregon’s Hayward Field is hallowed ground, where Nike was invented, and where the US Olympic Track and Field Trials are held. It’s only open to the public from 6:00 – 9:00am, but that didn’t deter our two runners, John and Jaleel who went for run before breakfast.

Looking forward to our final day, and to the concert tomorrow night! 

Not much to say about the concert other than it was TERRIFIC! with praises from all for KSB’s performance. And really, it was an honor to share the stage with the other boychoirs, some SATB, some just treble, but all doing what we do – making excellent music with a great group of boys.

Imagine the post-concert reception: You know that thing that happens when our boys can’t stop singing after a concert is over? Lobby of the Kimmel Center after the Jerusalem Youth Chorus concert comes to mind…

Now multiply that by five boychoirs, and you’re there. South African, improvised, Festival rep — you name it!  This is the first all BOY PICfest, so the post-concert Jam seemed like a novel experience for the organizers, who had dreamed of this night for a long time. For the directors of the boychoirs, especially those of us with changed voice boys, a “welcome to our world” moment.

The tenors and basses from KSB, Florida’s Singing Sons and Boychoir of Ann Arbor can’t get enough of singing together, so when Fernando announced that the tenors and basses would be released after the mid morning break, they all headed to a lounge with a piano and kept singing together for the rest of the morning. By the way, when we saw each other perform last night, we all realized that we sang with the Boychoir from Ann Arbor at the Baltimore Boychoir Festival last year.

It’s a free afternoon, so KSB and Florida Singing Sons headed to a park to play ultimate frisbee, or to keep the card game going, and now they’re off to go swimming. We’ll be back to the singing tonight. Everyone is healthy, happy and having a great time!! 

 

 

 

Here in Eugene, we see signs of the earliest settlers, from the Oregon Trail to the Eugene Pioneer Cemetery that we pass on the way to rehearsal. With the music staff back in Philadelphia, our singers are have struck out for new KSB territory.

The music making is under the baton of picfest conductor Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, but what about tonight’s sharing, where each choir presents a 20 minute set? In the spirit of pioneers, KSB will be blazing a new path – performing under the direction of one of their own, Jimmy Paolini!

Along with Thomas and Patrick Flynn, and with treble support from Calvin Wamser, Jimmy led two rehearsals we had for our own repertoire. As an educator, there’s nothing more satisfying than what I am witnessing. From every single boy – excellent musicianship evident everywhere, starting with Jimmy as he works with a new accompanist to rehearse each group. Focus. Self-discipline. Generosity. Encouragement, but holding each other to the high choral standards of KSB. The 9 trebles traveling with us are being coached by the Anonymous 8 boys, passing on what they have learned about small ensemble singing to their younger brothers. I have lost count of the ways that boys remind each other of what Fisher/Fitz/Hoenig/Sheridan say about breathing, diction, dynamics, performance, that tricky part where the coda is different and so on.

This is exactly what we strive for: excellent musicianship, leadership, collaboration, boys who have internalized thousands of hours of instruction, now making music their own. 

We rehearsed three pieces with Mr. Malvar-Ruiz this afternoon (each choir has their own 30 minute workshop with him) The boys impressed the Maestro with how well prepared they are, and he clearly enjoys, as he says, what any conductor would want for his choir, ownership of the music. This team of pioneers are on their way!

More after the concert tonight!

PS – Last night all of the picfest boys went to the Oregon Bach Festival for a concert. Andy Neale did a little research on the three pieces we were hearing and imparted that what he learned on the way to the concert. (Best factoid: Mozart wrote the symphony we heard — his 25th — when he was 17!)

KSB was treated to seats in the front four rows of the beautiful venue, so it was a good thing the boys had taken naps after dinner! The concert concluded with Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass (renamed Nelson Mass-dela by KSB), and then a CY reunion with Zerrin Martin, former conductor of PG Trouveres, who is singing with the Oregon Bach Festival choir!

…and we’ll get a serious picture one of these days! For now, they are having too much fun!

 

How can you tell?

Lanyards on, always with a tour buddy.

Jobs assigned, no technology in sight.

Old friendships deepening, new friendships forming.

Card game that was paused when we came home from the last trip has restarted

Smiling Chaperones

Life lessons learned — like what to do when you are waiting! 

Even a tiny tour moment – one of the suitcases full of garment bags is on its way back from ALASKA right now! Good thing we don’t need formal attire until Saturday. 

The boys made a strong first impression, and have had the highest praises from the PICFest Staff and from festival conductor Fernando Malvar-Ruiz even before the first rehearsal.

Why?

Because the boys were so totally SILENT when we moved into our dorm rooms at 2:00am — so much so that the other choirs thought we hadn’t arrived! Maestro Malvar-Ruiz said that their silence spoke volumes about the boys’ character. Well done, KSB.

We’ve had our rehearsal making great music together, this time with boys and young men from four other great choirs, and there were even Philly Cheesesteaks (Philly Beef Sandwiches?!) for lunch.

Hoping to make as good an impression with our music as we did with our silence!

What a week!

The Gala Concert last night was breathtaking! Still can’t stop thinking about their stellar performance. Most impressive was the Haydn “Laudate Pueri”which sounded pretty rough on Day 1 but was truly outstanding at the concert.

This morning we said our final goodbyes to any group still on campus. It was a little emotional since we’ve made such wonderful connections with these groups! I think we’ll all carry this experience close to our hearts for many years to come.

After a not at all chaotic check-out, we boarded the bus for a day-long trip up the coast and then into Portland.You may be thinking, “what’s the big deal about the coast? How different can it be from the Jersey shore?” Well, it’s a lot different- just ask your singer when you pick them up tomorrow!

The singers had a blast exploring Florence, Newport, and Lincoln City- all beautiful and unique coastal towns. It was the perfect way to end our time here in Oregon. Many singers expressed how much they enjoyed their time in Oregon and some were even talking about looking at college out here (Parents: if you’re worried about the distance, know that out-of-state tuition is around 16K! Maybe some extra incentive….)

Once back in Portland, we headed straight to the airport to catch our red-eye back to Philadelphia. We are tired but excited to go home and sleep in our own beds!

More photos may come later next month when we get them from PICFest and other groups in attendance, but this is our official last entry for #PICFest2015! This experience has been incredibly enriching and rewarding for our singers and we know they’ll be talking about it when they get back home!

Goodnight from Delta flight #503!

Another short post today. We have an early morning departure and we all need the extra sleep! More to come this evening!

We were all giddy today when we realized that we had had our final rehearsal the night before and all that was left before our evening concert was a short church performance and some free time!

The singers did a wonderful job at the church service the morning. The parishioners were thrilled to have them there and were so complimentary on their performance and their behavior.

After lunch we had some free time to head to the U of O bookstore which doesn’t sell books so much as it sells U of O gear. I won’t give too much away, but I think our parents can expect some yellow and green gifts in the near future…

Following our shopping escapades, we went back to our dorms to change into formal attire and relax for a bit before a light dinner and our concert.

The Gala concert was fabulous! Everyone was dressed in their formal attire and we all looked great standing on the risers together! They also sounded good. It sounded like several months of rehearsal went into those pieces as opposed to the actual several days we spent!

Pizza was next on the agenda! We all headed to a pizza joint on the river for way too much pizza and dessert.

And then came our goodbyes! The hardest part of all was saying goodbye to all the friends we’ve made here, especially our friends from the Philippines. We’ll all stay in touch be we very much hope we’ll be meeting them again someday (Did you get that, Mr. Fisher????).

Tonight we packed up and have are ready to head out bright and early tomorrow morning for our day trip to the coast then on to the Portland airport to fly home.

More details about our Gala Concert tomorrow plus the coast!

Just a short post today- long day today and another one tomorrow.

We can’t believe that PICFest is almost over! Fitz and I had to really think about what day of the week it was and when we realized today was Saturday we couldn’t believe it. Good thing we have our tour journals to keep us on track!

We had 2 very productive rehearsals today, our evening one with the instrumentalists. The sound coming from that rehearsal room is stunning! It’s phenomenal how much you can achieve with these guys in just a few days. At the end of our final rehearsal together, Dr. Snow pronounced, “You’re ready.” Encouraging words indeed!

After lunch we rushed to make a concert featuring the Hail Mary the Queen Children’s Choir at the Hult Center and the hurry to get there was absolutely worth it. These kids are so talented and their director, Theresa, is incredibly kind and wonderful with her singers. We asked if they would ever be interested in visiting the east coast and we were met with an enthusiastic “YES!” (Did you get that, Mr. Fisher??)

Following the short concert, we walked to the Saturday Market, a fascinating flea market with handmade trinkets and gifts, live music, and dancing hippies! What an entertaining afternoon for our singers!

Back to campus we went for dinner and our final rehearsal and then an ice cream social!

Tomorrow is our big Gala Concert! We can’t wait- wish you could all be here to enjoy the fruit of this fun and intensive week of music-making!

College cafeteria breakfast was almost as good as dinner except no ice cream bars this time 🙂

This morning we met Dr. Sandra Snow, our conductor for the week! This singers enjoyed working with her, commenting that her enthusiasm was infectious. The mass choir sounds great, too! We have our first performance all together tomorrow evening- looking forward to that especially after tonight’s song sharing.

We spent a lot of our day in various rehearsals- some with Dr. Snow and some with just our gang and Fitz. It was a long day, but everyone was a trooper and the grand finale of the day made it all worthwhile…

After dinner, each choir here at PICFest (there are 5!), performed a short solo set of our own repertoire. Since our PICFest choir is comprised of singers from several different groups, the kids were a little nervous since we’ve only had a few days of rehearsal time leading up to this evening. However, it would be an understatement to say that they knocked it out of the park.

 

Sitting in the front row, I didn’t realize what was happening behind me as they performed “I Need You to Survive,” but when a chaperone motioned for me to look, I saw that the whole house was on their feet, singing and clapping along with unprecedented gusto! What a thrill of our singers to have the experience of a giving a performance so rousing that everyone was compelled to jump to their feet!

Working and being around these choirs so much, you understand that they are talented, but sometimes you start to take that for granted. Tonight was a nice reminder to myself and our parent chaperones just how awesome our singers are. Definitely an unforgettable moment for us as the adults as well as for our singers!

There are several excellent choirs here at PICFest, but a standout for many reasons is the Hail Mary the Queen Childrens Choir from the Philippines! They closed tonight’s sharing with some absolutely stunning pieces as well as the crowd favorite “One Thing,” made famous by boy band One Direction. If you have the chance to look them up, you should! One of the most professional, kind and welcoming choirs I have ever met and great performers, too!

Tomorrow we sing a mini concert with the PICFest mass choir preceding Haydn’s “Creation” at the Hult Center. Time for all of us to get some rest! More to come tomorrow!      

 

Bleary eyed and excited, members of Pennsylvania Girlchoir and Keystone State Boychoir filtered into the Philadelphia International Airport at the unrighteous hour of 5:45 am to depart for our long-awaited tour to PICFest 2015.

PICFest, or the Pacific International Choral Festival, is an 18 year-old tradition in the small city of Eugene, Oregon. Drawing from childrens choirs not only all over the US, but all over the world, PICFest has established itself as one of the most prominent choir festivals in the country. This is not the first time PICFest and Commonwealth Youthchoirs have met! The Motet Choir of the Pennsylvania Girlchoir attended PICFest in 2006!

After a bumpy start (Terminal E, NOT D- sorry!), we quickly proceeded through security and on to our gate. After some breakfast snacks, we boarded and the waited on the tarmac for another hour! However, our stoic singers took advantage of this waiting opportunity to catch up on some sleep. I think all of us, singer and chaperones, were glad for that.

A quick 2.5 hours later and we found ourselves in Minneapolis for roughly 30 minutes before boarding our final flight to Portland.

One more trip on a coach bus and we finally arrived in Eugene. We are astounded at how beautiful Oregon is. Everything is so green and lush! The weather here is equally stunning- warm and sunny but 0% humidity! Take that, Philly!

A quick luggage drop off in our rooms at the University of Oregon, orientation, and then, the most anticipated moment of the day: Dinner.

For those of our singers who have never eaten in a college cafeteria before, this was a real treat. The options were abundant and all quite tasty. Not one singer should be able to return home and say they didn’t eat enough because I think most of our singers ate enough tonight to last them the entire week. Oh, and we had ice cream bars for dessert- need I say more?

We then spend some time on the lawn watching some college kids play volleyball and just chatting with each other before heading into our last event of the night, the welcome ceremony.

After the welcome ceremony with PICFest artistic director, Peter Robb, we headed in for the night, totally exhausted from our 22 hour day. Nighttime showers and bedtime rituals ensued and it wasn’t long before the faint pillow talk faded into silence.

One last note, if you weren’t already aware, we are setting Commonwealth Youthchoirs history as the very first combined PG/KSB tour! So far, so good!

We are so psyched for our day with conductor Sandra Snow tomorrow- time for all of us (yes, even Kelly) to get some sleep! More updates and photos to follow tomorrow night! Goodnight from the Pacific Northwest!