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!
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