Perspectives

In a way, it's a little surreal to be home. Lucky to have returned just before a holiday, giving us the chance to spend precious time with family before jumping headlong into the backlog of whatever work was put on hold for three weeks.

This odd feeing of of being so comfortable being away at work for such an extended period has occurred for me on occasion, but never so much as on this past tour.

As I listened to similar comments from my colleagues, I was struck by how many collective tour experiences we all share, and just how many important facets there are to the making of a successful tour. So many of us (if not all!) have agreed that this was probably the best tour they can remember, and everyone numbers their priorities in his or her own particular order of importance. For me, it was the diversity of the events in which we were able to participate, and the level of appreciation for our collective musicianship and versatility that was so immensely gratifying. Sharing in the culture of each place we visit always adds a special perspective, and this tour was certainly no exception, but hugely enhanced on this occasion due to the personal involvement of family and friends of Tama Copithorne and Cecilia Chueh. The incredible array of unique events, so many of which were arranged especially for us, and some not usually available to the casual visitor, added an especially rich aspect to this tour.

Not to leave the exemplary level of musicianship we achieved together unmentioned, I feel that the description of what it takes to make a tour like this work on so many levels was so eloquently articulated by our own Violet Goosen, a day or two ago on this blog. As I digested her comments, it made me feel so proud that she felt this way about our performances, comportment, and the level at which we represented ourselves as a choir, as musicians and as citizens.

I would like to add that we can never say enough about the incredible 'behind the scenes' work, much of which seemed to go on 24/7, not only in the months leading up to, but also during the tour. We can only imagine the incredible amount of detail and organization, and the stresses of dealing with the constant changes that arose as the days proceeded. Always, and as ever, handled seemingly without a hitch, hiccup or ruffle of feathers, Vi and our intrepid team of 'handlers' soldiered on, smoothing the way and ensured that things went according to somebody's plan! That these compliments come from someone whose years of musicianship and dedication has contributed so enormously to the shape and soul of the choir, is high praise indeed.

So, to Violet, Tama, Cecilia, and their extended friends and families, profound thanks and gratitude for all your efforts and expertise. Thanks to Jon for his leadership and that special ability to always find a direction for those workshops, and to John William Trotter, (John-boy, Trotzky, Asistanto) Bravo! It's the first time we've ever seen someone play 'Lotto Conductor" and we were dazzled by your skill, versatility and good humour. Special thanks to Charles and Lucille Flavelle, whose companionship and enthusiastic support always adds so much.

I know that, in the days to come as we make the transition back to the hectic scramble of making a living as musicians, I will remember the depth of appreciation of our art from those we visited, and particularly, the moving words of Charles, as he described the effect our performances had on their friends and his deep affection for the choir. It brings an enormous sense of fulfillment to have chosen this as a career. The memories of what we achieved and the people we were able to touch with our music are gifts I will treasure always, and I know I will be able to call on them whenever I need a reminder of just how profound and powerful the choral art can be.

Marla - #8

Day 17, 18, 19 Yokohama

We have finally made it to the last stop on our tour. Each place that we have visited has had such a distinct "flavour", and all the different cultures and experiences from each place we will bring back home with us. The really neat thing is that we, in turn, were able to give them a gift in return.










The view from our hotel room!!
I went on this ferris wheel. I am very proud of myself and thankful that Steve did not rock it too much.




Our hotel!!





The beautiful hall we performed in!!





We led a conductors' workshop. Lots of fun!





View from the ferris wheel.





We also led a workshop with some local choirs... We helped them perfect the sound of music.

My last post will be tomorrow!
T

In case you, our family, friends and faithful followers of this blog, have come to the conclusion that the singers have been on vacation, I am going to dispel that illusion very quickly! This tour has not been a holiday - the Choir has been the finest ambassador any city, province, country could ever hope to send abroad. Their "free" days were free only from singing. Most of those days were spent graciously accepting the "gift" of visiting shrines, temples, castles, museums when they might rather have been sleeping, resting or having some "down time" alone. Then there were the challenges of travel - on at least 3 occasions, our larger luggage had to be sent by truck (no room on the trains!) and so the Choir carried their music, their concert costumes and other incidentals as we climbed the stairs of rail stations and hustled into the train cars whose doors open for only 2.5 minutes to allow passengers to disembark and others to embark but we all made it! Our mantra of "patience, tolerance and flexibility" was put to the test many times.
But then, there were the performances...sitting in the lobby at the first performance in Tainan, Taiwan, I heard the audience respond to the Choir with cheers and thunderous applause. I felt like a very proud "Mom" whose kids have done well! And they did this over and over again. There wasn't one performance that didn't measure up! The audiences in Japan have been just as appreciative - the lineups for Jon's autograph after the concerts, the number of photos people have taken of themselves with the singers - we have about 8 CD's of photos taken by the people in Izumo alone. Yes, they've had some good times but they've also done Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada proud - Thank you, Vancouver Chamber Choir!

Day 15 & 16 Kyoto

We made the paper again! This time in colour!




We took the train from Izumo to Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan. It took us around 5 hours, and we had just enough time to check into our hotel before we went off to perform a concert.







So Japanese.








We were joined by a local womens' choir for the final piece on the programme. Their director also has a mens' choir which came to Vancouver and sang with Chor Leoni at MusicFest Vancouver about 5 years ago.




With 1000 tickets sold, the concert was pretty well sold out. People were lined up around the block.



This concert was presented by Pana Musica. It is a sheet music store here in Kyoto that specializes in choral music. This was the first time that they have presented a concert. The evening went off so well that we were told it will definitely not be the last.




Some of the awesome staff from Pana Musica.




Marla, the singers' representative to the board, made a very nice speech/presentation to Mr. Hattori, the director of Pana Musica, at a great reception after the concert.





We got aquainted with Mary Blossom... a Japanese merlot.



She was quite unforgiving.

Kyoto is so neat with hundreds of little temples that dot the city.




A little dog temple.




His bite is worse than his bark!

We had the next day off, so some people went sightseeing. We were staying right in the shopping district.



So, when in Rome...




T.

Sopranos (and a few altos) gone wild in Izumo!

Hello blog followers,

Ever wonder what the VCC ladies do after dark?

Well, let us tell you!

In Izumo, after a full day of sightseeing, Tama – our fearless and tireless Japanese liaison - took several of us gals to the local hot spring.

We entered the building, removed our shoes, turned a corner and were overwhelmed by local fig products at the hot spring store (the ones we sampled were very yummy!).

We were then led into the women’s change room and instructed to remove all articles of clothing, jewelry and makeup. After that, we passed through the steamy glass doors into the bathing room.

We were bumbarded by the sight of many backsides in individual, open showering stalls, where women sat facing the wall on bum contoured stools and completely scrubbed away all traces of the outside world. When we sat down, Emily commented that a picture of this would make great cover art for our next cd – notice how no one actually brought a camera!

Once thoroughly cleansed, we eased ourselves into the steaming indoor mineral pool. The water was soft, fresh and pleasantly odourless (unlike Harrison). There were two lovely jets to massage your cares away, but there was more...

Outside, the lanterns cast a warm glow in the chilly night as we followed a stone pathway under a wooden canopy. At the end we found a small natural rocky pool surrounded by a Japanese garden. Since we were still in our birthday suits, we were glad there was a bamboo divider between the men’s and women’s pools!

Through conversations with Tama, the local bathers discovered that we were singers and asked for a song. We ended up singing Aka Tonbo (Red Dragonfly) and Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) with them. The altos hummed along since in our arrangements they don’t get any words. There were two young girls outside with us who had never seen foreigners before. They were fascinated with our white (now pink) skin and asked us our favourite colours. Their favourite was pink.

Once the bathing beauties were fully cooked, we reluctantly left our pool and showered again – this time, to face the outside world. We felt calmed and soothed, and our skin was silky smooth. We were driven back to the spa resort by our lovely volunteer host, Aya, in our blissful state.

During the concert in Kyoto the following night, we discovered that our bonding experience had created our best blend ever!

Recounted by a few sopranos.

Video - O Canada

You might say this was our opening act for our concert in Shūnan: a group of local schoolchildren singing "O Canada".
ADORABLE.




s.

Video - Izumo, post-concert reception

Thanks to the efforts of the Izumo-Canada Friendship Society, we were treated like royalty for the duration of our stay. Our concert was merely the beginning of a long evening of performances, photo sessions and parties. The post-concert reception included singing, a short performance by traditional Koto players, and this dance routine by local schoolchildren.




s.

Video - Sea of Japan

By the time we arrived in Izumo it was already dark, and although we could hear the sound of waves crashing around us, we couldn't quite appreciate the stunning beauty of our surroundings until the next morning. This gorgeous view of the Sea of Japan was what we saw from our balcony the next morning. Incredible, no?




s.

Video - Taiko drumming

As we arrived at our hotel in Izumo we were greeted by the deafening roar of six Taiko drummers in the hotel lobby. These six drummers are actually part of a larger group -- 21 drummers in total, all female, and none of them older than 21! Quite spectacular. And a mere preview of the local hospitality that would await us...



s.

Day 14 Izumo

We managed to make the news!






Today we had a full day away from singing. That doesn't mean we were left to our own devices, though. The Izumo-Canada Friendship Society had a full day of sightseeing planned for us. We were up early and on the bus to our first stop. We visited a museum of sculptures made entirely out of sushi dishes. (So Japanese; it's cute, you like it, but you don't entirely get it.)

















This is a bug made out of bicycle parts??
We were there for around 15 min. before being ushered back onto the bus to go to our next stop.
The town of Matsue is so beautiful. We took a trip on the Horikawa pleasure boats, traveling past some of the ancient samurai houses and some pretty amazing scenery.






























The canopy needed to be lowered for when you went under some low bridges, at which point you had to practically lay down.







We went to a great Japanese restaurant for lunch!











So good!!
It had a lovely Japanese zen garden in the back.























This has inspired me to create one in my backyard. (You do all realize a mucky mess will be the more likely outcome.)






After lunch we went to the castle in Matsue. Second-largest of the 12 remaining medieval castles in Japan, it was built over a period of 5 years, and was completed in 1611.






We were of course greeted by Samurai warriors -- people from the village dressed in traditional costume especially to greet us. Wow.






We sang for them.



















The views from the top.












You had to take off your shoes while inside. This is as closed as I could get the locker for mine.






Really cool displays inside as well.






Helmets and armour






I really enjoyed it.
On our itinerary we were next scheduled to go to a kilt museum... apparently the only one in Japan. We were all a bit leery. I have not run into many Scots here, or for that fact seen too many Japanese men in tartans (outside of Shinjuku, if you know what I mean). It turned out to be the only QUILT museum in Japan. By quilt I mean the most beautiful/priceless works of art made out of ancient kimonos, housed in a 250-year-old Japanese home that made my mouth drop.












Mt. Fuji












This is the owner/designer of these beautiful quilts. Her quilts have been exhibited all over the world.












We presented her with a traditional Inuit wall hanging.







This day was so amazing. It was made even more special by the people from the Izumo-Canada Friendship Society, who followed us around everywhere. At any given time we had an entourage of 25 or so smiling faces. Where words could not communicate, their love and friendship definitely came through. I hope our appreciation did as well!
Thank you!






T