A Sort of Homecoming

 

One of the parts of the whole tour I was looking forward to the most was the return to Ann Arbor for a series of concerts appropriately entitled “Experience Blue Lake.”  An overwhelming swath of campers for the program comes from a 100 mile radius of Ann Arbor and one of the feathers in the tour’s cap are the performances at gorgeous Hill Auditorium. This was my first time being back in my home for four years since I moved last August and it was a treat to be back.

 

Just like last year (LINK), the Brahm’s Requiem was broadcast live on Blue Lake’s very own public radio station (LINK) for the entire WORLD to hear. 

The back of Hill with the satellite and equipment trucks parked in full view (with a bit of bell tower in the background thrown in for good measure)

 

Joining us once again to conduct the Requiem was Carole Dr. MaestrA Ott.  She had the thankless task of preparing the choir and orchestra for the European tour without the benefit of actually getting to conduct us while overseas.  Needless to say it was an immense pleasure to get to work under her baton again, not only because her musicality and expression were unrivaled by any of the guest conductors in Europe but because I consider her a dear friend as well.  Even though she conducts and teaches in North Carolina I am dependent upon the very small musical world that we live in to bring us back together collaboratively in the future. 

Three very content divas

 

Sabrina and I were also joined by a very special guest in the audience in the form of John Nevergall, who long time blog readers will remember was the tenor soloist in last years Elijah (broken glass during his aria, anyone?!).  Though he lives in Ohio he drove up for the concert and I am so grateful to have gotten to see him, if only for a short time after the performance.

“Bist du’s Elias?!?!?!”

 

I also must give a special shout out to my host “moms” for this portion of the tour.  Mom of course being in quotation marks because they were actually my friends Kristin (who, though a mom in her own right, is absolutely nowhere near near near old enough to claim that title over me) and then later Cynthian. 

Like John before, some of you may remember Kristin from our sharing the stage in Le nozze di Figaro, Armide, and Albert Herring as well as, you know, being kind of a kick ass friend.  Unnnnnfortunately I was stupid and failed to get a picture with her and her darling Alyssa before getting away so I leave you with a picture I pilfered off of her facebook profile. 

 

Cynthian and I have also had the pleasure of performing together in Albert Herring and Eugene Onegin and is also a member of that wundermusical family the Brundages—as in, Julia of the Singing Seargeant’s fame and Mary Anne and David of my utterly fabulous vacation weekend to Washington D.C. this past February.  Cynthian actually commented that I had basically seen everyone in her family more recently than I had seen her, so I’m glad we could rectify that situation!

Enjoying sangria at Ann Arbor’s popular summer drinking destination, Dominick’s

 

Artist: U2/ Album: The Unforgettable Fire

You’d Think a Person Could Travel Lighter Than This

 

We departed from Dillingen on Thursday, July 14th at around 4:00 pm Paris bound for a flight the next morning.  Before leaving, however, I was able to get a picture with Carole and our lovely host family:

I MISS Y’ALL!!!!

 

Even though he wasn’t able to join us for the farewell I feel it necessary to represent our host brother, Leopold:

No really, don’t bother getting up to say goodbye!

 

The bus ride to Paris took twelve hours (!) and as we were crossing the border from Germany to France we were able to see some final fireworks in the French countryside in celebration of Bastille Day (yes, that’s how far behind I am on the blog…) In fact, we got into the City of Lights around 4:00 am, and as we didn’t need to be at the airport until 7:30 we did a bit of sightseeing.  No, seriously though… with 70 children at the break of dawn the day after a huge national celebration in the capitol city we decided to visit the Eiffel Tower.  To be more succinct, the campers got to sightsee while all of the staff were on drunken, skeevy French guy patrol.  I took one picture in the whole process:

That’s all you get!

 

The whole endeavor went off basically without a hitch.  Well, except for the fact that when leaving the tower I heard a loud bang followed by some mild yelling from our driver, Peter.  I looked forward and saw an extremely inebriated reveler swaying in front of the bus and a large hand print on the windshield.  So… maybe he walked in front of the bus and maybe Peter maybe maybe hit him with said bus.  Maybe.  He just kinda stood there stunned and stumbled off after a couple of seconds.  I couldn’t help but laugh because the hand print stayed there for the remainder of our trip to the airport, reminiscent of that scene in Titanic when Jack and Rose get it on in the old timey car.

Get it little Frenchy!

 

Everything at the airport went smoothly and I took the opportunity to get a final group shot of the choir staff before we got back to the States.  Even though we still have a couple of more concerts together one of the counselors, Seth, won’t be joining us… he’s being all selfish and moving to South Korea to teach English.  Pfffft, whatever.

Zack, Jessie, Ed, Carole, Seth, Joseph, Kate, Sabrina, Josh, Zach!

 

If you would have passed me in the aisle on the plane you would have seen the following view.  I was a bit paranoid about dropping my glasses or putting them somewhere where they might get crushed so I found what I would consider an elegant solution to the problem:

 

It’s always a bit nerve-wracking when taking a large group of inexperienced international travelers through customs and security but there were no problems to speak of.  It wasn’t until catching my flight from Chicago to Dallas that I personally had a bit of a snafu.   I mentioned previously in my birthday post about the glory that is Speculoos spread and how I received a jar of “crunchy” from Sabrina and purchased some “creamy” for Mallory.  Now, being classy and European they were kept in glass jars; as such I decided to pack them into one of my carry-ons so they didn’t break in transit.  Stupid me, apparently… sure, it got through French security and American customs, but they were not having it when I went through security for the domestic flight. 

TSA Agent: I’m sorry, sir, but this liquid is over the allotted number of ounces.

Me: Wait, this counts as a liquid… it’s like peanut butter.

TSA Agent: Yes, sir, it’s considered a liquid.

Me: But you can only get this in Europe.  Did I mention it was my birthday present?

TSA Agent: You are either going to have to exit security, check it and re-enter security or throw it away right now.

Sabrina: Wait, since one of them is crunchy and has a higher ratio of cookie chunks can we just count that one as a solid?

TSA Agent: *not amused by Sabrina’s logic*… … … Sir, you are either going to have to exit security, check it and re-enter security or throw it away right now.

 

So… I took the former option and did some major re-vamping of my other carry-on bag and checked the spread.  Yes, that’s how delicious it is and how determined I was to get it back to the States for myself and Mallory.  I made sure that they knew it was special property when I went back the second time as is evident below:

 

After about 36 hours of travel I arrived in Dallas and was picked up by my brother, Matt.  That weekend was my granddaddy Dan’s 85th birthday party and then it was back to Michigan for the Blue Lake homecoming portion of our tour!!  Obviously more on that later…

 

Artist: Dominick Argento/ Album: Postcards from Morocco

Fire and Rain

 

In addition to touring the lovely Augsburg, one of the reasons for going to to the city was to see an open-air performance of Verdi’s Il trovatore in the evening.  Unfoooortunately Mutter Erde had other plans in mind and the opera was rained out. 

Sarah called her mother and informed her that we would be returning to Dillingen for the evening instead and when we got back there was an amazing dinner all set up for us!  Apparently this type of service is genuinely done during the winter months as, well, it tends to get a little steamy.

Choose your meat (turkey shown here), cheese and/or vegetables; grill

 

Place in empty skillet-y thing

 

Finish cooking underneath the grill

 

Remove when cheese is BUBBLY and devour!

 

It also doesn’t hurt (when in Bavaria, of course) to pair a delicious meal like this with some beeeeer.  And, since we’re on the subject, can I just put it out there that this case of 20 was only 10 euros!!!!

DE-LECKER!

 

Artist: James Taylor/ Album: One Man Band

I Say a Little Prayer

 

Before heading back to the glorious United States of America we had a full free day in Germany and our host sister, Sarah and her boyfriend, Andreas, took Carole and I to the city of Augsburg!  Andreas is actually from the city and his mother (with impeccable English) was our tour guide for the day!!

Our first stop was the world’s oldest—and still operational, mind you—social housing complex in the world, the Fuggerei.  According to Wikipedia’s page on the subject:

The rent was and is still one Rheinischer Gulden per year (equivalent to 0.88 euros), as well as three daily prayers for the current owners of the Fuggerei - the Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary, and the Nicene Creed. The conditions to live there remain the same as they were 480 years ago: one must have lived at least two years in Augsburg, be of the Catholic faith and have become indigent without debt. The five gates are still locked every day at 10 PM.  The doorbells have elaborate shapes, each being unique, dating back to before the installation of streetlights when residents could identify their unit by feeling the handle in the dark.

 

 

One of the community’s most notable residents was that of Franz Mozart, grandfather of Wolfy and father of Leopold, another resident of Augsburg for a spell.  The Fuggerei has left his old place much like it would have been in his day as a part of the museum.

Andreas and Sarah in front of #14!

 

 

Kitchen (duh)

 

Living room… don’t forget to pray for Herr Fugger or you’ll be EVICTED!!!

 

 

Bedroom and entry way.  Why is ALL of Europe too small for me!?!?!

 

And now for some other buildings that are important but I can’t exactly remember what they are for:

 

Those cow skull motifs are right out of the Texas national architecture playbook!!! That’s right I said national!

 

Besides being home to some of ol’ Mozart’s relatives, Augsburg is also the birthplace of poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht. 

Name not necessarily ringing a bell?  He collaborated with Kurt Weill on The Three Penny Opera, which provided the world with the song “Mack The Knife.”  And now my favorite version, dedicated to my friend Jeremy!!

It’s a surprise hit!!

 

Artist: Aretha Franklin/ Album: 30 Greatest Hits

Lazy Bones

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this leg of the tour was host to two different performances of the Brahms’ Requiem (perhaps to make up for the fact that we didn’t do one when in France).  I failed to get any pictures from the first concert, however there was a nice review in the paper about it:

With a warm timbre, he [Joseph Roberts] sang the humble selection ("Lord, teach me yet"), he was powerful in proclaiming ("Behold, I unfold to you a mystery"). Sabrina Laney Warren's soprano solo was a soft-lined, expressive consolation song full of vocal grace.

~from the Augsburger Allgemeine (full article here)

The second one, in the nearby town of Donauworth, was held in a very beautiful baroque Catholic church—it’s certainly been a while since you’ve seen any pictures of a church so here’s your last installment for Europe!

 

Exterior and interior shots

 

Apparently it is a Bavarian tradition to display the bones of long passed saints in the church proper with the notion that, while one is good, two is certainly more saintly.

 

Saints Stephanus et Benedictus (I think?)  Stephanus has quite the sassy pose going on— I mean, if you’re going to rest for eternity for all the world to see you might as well be photo-ready, right?!?!

 

CEILING!

 

As this was the last evar performance in Europe I had the luxury of actually going home and enjoying a couple “one glass of wine/beer” with dinner… and Sarah and Mamma D. didn’t disappoint! There is a type of beer sold in Bavaria (only during the weekdays according to Sarah) called stark beer that is very very strong and they managed to procured some for us! Apparently it is so strong that before we were allowed to drink it our host mother told us we would need to eat a lot of protein in order to counteract some of the effects—HUZZAH!!

DE-LECKER!!! (to be fair, one of the beers is Carole’s!)

Artist: Harry Connick, Jr./ Album: Oh, My Nola

When in Rome (I Do As the Romans)

 

When driving us to the nearby town of Gandolf’s-finger (truth be told I can’t for the life of me remember what it was really called but it sounded something like that) our host mother took us by an ancient Roman temple built for the god Apollo.  Edith Hamilton would be so proud!!

 

Me: Pretending I’m hiding from a camper.  Carole: Pretending the column is her husband (she got married the week before going on tour!!)

 

Artist: Barbra Streisand/ Album: People

Get It Get It

 

(I realize I haven’t posted in a bit but the last couple of days have been a bit busy what with all of the traveling back to the US and a quick stop back in Texas for my granddaddy Dan’s 85th birthday party.  More on all that later, though… still have a couple of more posts from my last stop in Germany to catch up on!)

The last leg of our European tour led us to Dillingen, Germany for a much longer duration than all of our other stops (we had two Brahms performances instead of the usual one).  Throughout the trip some of the choir staff had been using “Get It” as our go-to phrase whenever something good would happen and over the course of the tour it transformed into DillinGETIT the closer we got to our last stop. 

I was lucky enough to share a family with the choir director, Carole, and on one of our first days our host mother took us on a tour of the town.

 

View of the city and statue of a submarine built by 19th century engineer and resident of Dillingen, Wilhelm Bauer

 

I don’t remember what this was but it reminds me of my trip to Heidelberg last year!

 

Apparently this tower is where the German equivalent of Robin Hood was imprisoned before he was executed by being pulled apart by two horses.  At least I think that’s what I heard— Is that even right, Carole?!?

 

We also stumbled across one of our favorite things about Germany: A vending machine that sells BEER!!!

 

Can we also comment that it is 1,00 and 1,20 Euro please?!

 

And finally, Carole and I enjoying a delicious cup of coffee at home after the fabelhaft tour of the village!

DillinGETIT!!!!!

Artist: Scissor Sisters/ Album: Scissor Sisters

The Big Dollhouse

 

Five staff members and our director, maestro Dr. Ott Carole, all shared one house for the Eberbach stop—and what a house it was!  Built in 1687, the building is actually comprised of two separate houses that have been joined together.  Originally, our host mom, Ute, only owned one of them but when her neighbors told her they were moving she quickly made an offer: “I wanted the garden,” was her retort.

“I would think it was that house from Hansel and Gretel except it’s not made of candy.  Trust me, I already tried to take a bite.” ~ Sabrina

 

 

Whaaaaaaaaat!?!

 

Having a house this fabulous also comes with certain perks.  Perks like having it appear on post cards for the city and seeing paintings of it for sale throughout the city:

(excuse the poor picture quality, but it is a picture of a post card after all!)

 

 

 

We had all planned on making a video of how massive (and how many stairs) were in the house but kept putting it off until we ended up having no time at all.  I did, however, want to make note of one very special set of stairs.  These led up to the fourth floor where my room was and, though it’s really hard to tell from the picture, was extremely narrow and even more extremely steep.  I said a certain prayer every time I went down them just hoping I wouldn’t slip and go tumbling down.

“Our Lady of La Scala,  please help me to descend these stairs and arrive safely at the bottom.  Give us this day our daily Brahms.  Amen”  (Usually I’m a bit hyperbolic about these things, but I actually did say this about 5 times a day.)

 

And finally, one final shot with our host mother before we headed off to France for the next stop:

 

Our ensemble: Seth, Carole, Kate, Ute, Jessie and Sabrina!

 

Artist: Marc Shaiman and Scott Whittman/ Album: Hairspray