July 04, 2008
Performance with the Durham Youth Chorale
Thursday morning we all gathered briefly at the County Hall building and walked to the Durham Light Infantry "DLI" Museum. We were given a tour of the DLI and received a history lesson of life in Northern England during WW II.
Following our tour, we returned to the County Hall building, where we had the privilege of meeting with the County Council Chairman Len O'Donnell. A most interesting fact about Chairman O'Donnell was that he biked across America in support of the Fire and Policemen of 9/11. He biked all the way from Santa Monica to Washington DC. He was 69 when he began his incredible journey. Upon his arrival in Washington, he posted a message on his website and asked for help to get to Durham, NC. Our mayor Bill Bell arranged for the Councilman to visit Durham. It was wonderful to meet with a County official who actually had personal ties to Durham, NC.
After an afternoon of brief shopping we had our final official performance of the trip with the Durham Youth Chorale at the Elvet Methodist Church. The performance was a benefit for an orphanage in Dar Es Salaam. What a truly remarkable way to culminate our stay in our sister city. The Durham Youth Chorale sang beautifully and we enjoyed singing "Swinging with the Saints" with them as our final number.
After a reception in the church hall, it was off to our host homes to spend our final evening together. We have been truly blessed with the hospitality of our hosts in our sister city and we have made lasting friendships during our time here.
Posted by webmaster at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)
July 02, 2008
Arbeia, Angel of the North and Beamish
Today was a busy day.
We began by visiting Arbeia, a Roman Fort near Hadrian's Wall in South Shields, England. It is an active archeological site which has also done reconstructions of some barracks and the West Gate. Very near the site was a spectacular view of the North Sea. Here we saw an offshore oil drilling platform that had been towed to port for repairs.
Next up was a visit to the Angel of the North. The Angel is a public art display in Gateshead that was initially met with much resistance when it was built in 1998. It is Britain's largest sculpture and is extremely popular with tourists. All of us felt pretty insignificant standing at its' base.
Lastly, we visited Beamish, an open air museum set on over 300 acres of land and somewhat similar to Williamsburg, VA. It demonstrates life in North England in the early 1800s and 1900s. The first stop in Beamish was a performance at the Methodist Chapel in the Colliery Village. Space was a bit tight for the choir but the acoustics sounded very nice and Richard Hill commented that he thought it was the best rendition yet of the Ave Maria.
The group had lunch and then split up to explore. The first stop for most of the group was the upper deck of a double-decker tram that circled the property. Other attractions on the property included exploring an old mine, wandering down an old Main Street into all the shops (such as an old fashioned candy shop, a general store, a bank, a freemason's hall etc). There was also a Colliery Village, a manor house, a farm and a train station.
Posted by webmaster at 10:52 PM | Comments (0)
July 01, 2008
Performing in 3 Durham Schools
This morning we began our day with a performance at the Johnston School. The students there were more close in age to our DCC kids. We left shortly after the performance and walked to Durham Cathedral. Dr. Hill gave us a great lesson on the Cathedral before we entered. The Cathedral was absolutely breathtaking inside and out and we even saw the cloisters where Harry Potter was filmed!
We boarded the coach and headed to our concert at the Hermitage School. What a great time we had! The audience was amazing and we even did a sing along. We were treated to an amazing lunch and the kids were able to talk with the students there. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to talk with students in our sister city!
We ended our day with another concert at the Wolsingham Comprehensive School. It was interesting to see three different schools in one day, and perform 3 different concerts!
It was back to our host families this evening with free time to relax and bond. We definitely need to rest up for our trip to Beamish tomorrow!
Posted by webmaster at 11:22 PM | Comments (0)
Performing with the Ynysowen Male Choir in Aberfan
What a moving experience we had in Aberfan. We were very honored to perform with the Ynysowen Male Choir in a memorial concert honoring the children whose lives were lost in a horrible landslide accident caused by a spoil heap from the mines. This landslide headed straight for the school where 116 children and 28 adults lost their lives. The most tragic part of the story is that an entire generation in the village of Aberfan was lost.
Again, our hosts outdid themselves hosting a dinner prior to the concert. The performance couldn't have gone better and ended with the singing of both the National Anthems from the United States and Wales. Many thanks to the Onllwyn Choir for their help in teaching us their national anthem.
After the concert, we all toured the memorial gardens located on the site of the school that was destroyed. In fact, the walls that surrounded the gardens and some of the concrete are the actual walls and floors of the school. Following some time in the gardens, we went to the cemetery and viewed the memorials of the children whose lives were lost. It was an overwhelming experience, but the children felt that it was very important to go to the cemetery and felt like it was the missing piece in the puzzle of Aberfan and made this concert even more special.
Posted by webmaster at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)
June 29, 2008
Performances with Local Male Voice Choirs
-UPDATED on 7/1/08-
On Friday night, we performed with our hosts, the Onllwyn Male Voice Choir, in Llandybie. It was a delightful concert with a very enthusiastic crowd. It was wonderful to perform with our Welsh friends again and our combined "Rhythm of Life" performance was a huge success.
The children were then treated to a reception by the Llandybie Male voice choir. It was back in the coach to return to Hafan y Coed for much need rest and relaxation.
Then on Saturday night, the cities were swapped and we performed with the Llandybie Male Voice Choir in Onllwyn. By this time we had become renowned throughout the region:
After another wildly successful concert, our Onllwyn hosts treated us to another reception. The reception was filled with more songs and a lot of laughter and comraderie. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time with both the Llandybie and Onllwyn choirs and are looking forward to performing with the Ynysowen Male Choir on Sunday evening.
Parents you should be very proud of our children. They have conducted themselves with utmost professionalism and they have been absolutely BRILLIANT!
Posted by webmaster at 04:32 PM | Comments (0)
June 27, 2008
First International Performances by DCC!
This morning/afternoon, the choir performed 2 concerts. The first was at an elementary school in Banwen. We sang a number of songs for them and they even joined in on one of the songs (Over the Rainbow). We all had lunch together and had the opportunity to sit and talk with all of the school children.
Just before leaving, we found out that we received an impromptu invitaion to sing at another elementary school in the area. This school was a Welsh-speaking school, whereas the school in Banwen was English-speaking. It was a great test of our pronunciation of the lyrics in "Suo Gan", and we were thrilled to hear that we did a great job!!
Afterwards, it was back to the hostel to rest up and have dinner before our concert this evening in Llandybie with the Onllwyn Male Voice Choir. We are looking forward to performing with our hosts!
Posted by webmaster at 04:10 PM | Comments (1)