Visiting a famous Rock that people like to kiss! (Would You?)
Saturday, June 30
Random Stuff
We are working hard and having a lot of fun too! Here are some random pictures just for fun from the trip so far!! (more to come)
Friday, June 29
Concert Day No. 1
Greetings to all after a very long day in Limerick, and the completion of our first concert! I must warn you all that it is currently 1:40 am here in Cork, and this is being written by a very tired blogger. But, there is much news to report, and I didn't want to disappoint the reading audience - however, I am sure to miss something or misspell atrociously, so please bear with me!
But the best part about blogs are the fun behind-the-scenes stuff that you might not hear about otherwise. For example, there was some unexpected excitement last night when the batteries the fancy card-readers on the door lock went dead and needed to be replaced. Eric, a trusty chaperone, discovered the dilemma when he brought a bag of Burger King for the hungry boys (really just boy - apparently Stephen didn't have enough dinner and came home starving after rehearsal). In any case - fun pictures were taken! I got to chat with Stephen and John for quite some time while we waited for the front desk to send up someone to correct the situation.
The problem did get solved, even though it was well after the official "lights out". However, some pictures from this morning's busride to Limerick seem to indicate that it was a late night for everyone:
Including the conductor:
We arrived at the University of Limerick around 11:30am after a 2 hour drive from Cork, and went straightaway to have lunch in the dining hall with the members of the Irish Youth Choir. After lunch there was an afternoon rehearsal from 1:30-5:00 to get adjusted to the hall and make final corrections in the pieces before the performance.
After rehearsal we had dinner with the choir, again in the university dining hall. Our dear friend, and orchestra member, Kevin, celebrated his birthday with the help of the Irish Youth choir and NJYS students, who sang "Happy Birthday" to him, in full harmony no less!
We changed into our concert clothes after dinner and assembled to perform an excellent concert to a full, though not sold-out, audience! Sadly, again, I don't have many photos of the event - but I assure you that many others do. Wendy, our resident photographer, has been very busy capturing images and I am trying to find the best and most effective way to have them accessible to everyone without posting them here. I'll be sure to post my final solution so that you may look through even more photos of all the adventures.
Tomorrow we're headed off to the Blarney Castle and maybe even to kiss the Blarney stone. Then, we have another concert - this one at the Cork City Hall, where we had rehearsal yesterday. It will be another long, but fun, day so I now must say goodnight!
p/s: for anyone who was truly interested, here's an Irish breakfast - the only thing missing is tea!
But the best part about blogs are the fun behind-the-scenes stuff that you might not hear about otherwise. For example, there was some unexpected excitement last night when the batteries the fancy card-readers on the door lock went dead and needed to be replaced. Eric, a trusty chaperone, discovered the dilemma when he brought a bag of Burger King for the hungry boys (really just boy - apparently Stephen didn't have enough dinner and came home starving after rehearsal). In any case - fun pictures were taken! I got to chat with Stephen and John for quite some time while we waited for the front desk to send up someone to correct the situation.
The problem did get solved, even though it was well after the official "lights out". However, some pictures from this morning's busride to Limerick seem to indicate that it was a late night for everyone:
Including the conductor:
We arrived at the University of Limerick around 11:30am after a 2 hour drive from Cork, and went straightaway to have lunch in the dining hall with the members of the Irish Youth Choir. After lunch there was an afternoon rehearsal from 1:30-5:00 to get adjusted to the hall and make final corrections in the pieces before the performance.
After rehearsal we had dinner with the choir, again in the university dining hall. Our dear friend, and orchestra member, Kevin, celebrated his birthday with the help of the Irish Youth choir and NJYS students, who sang "Happy Birthday" to him, in full harmony no less!
We changed into our concert clothes after dinner and assembled to perform an excellent concert to a full, though not sold-out, audience! Sadly, again, I don't have many photos of the event - but I assure you that many others do. Wendy, our resident photographer, has been very busy capturing images and I am trying to find the best and most effective way to have them accessible to everyone without posting them here. I'll be sure to post my final solution so that you may look through even more photos of all the adventures.
Tomorrow we're headed off to the Blarney Castle and maybe even to kiss the Blarney stone. Then, we have another concert - this one at the Cork City Hall, where we had rehearsal yesterday. It will be another long, but fun, day so I now must say goodnight!
p/s: for anyone who was truly interested, here's an Irish breakfast - the only thing missing is tea!
Thursday, June 28
Rehearsal Day
It is now 10:45 and I have just returned to the hotel after a full day of rehearsals! We had our first this afternoon from 2-5 at the Cork City Hall with Dr. Geoff Spratt, conductor of the Irish Youth Choir. Here's what the hall looked like before the rehearsal:
And here is a photo of the stage, and very intersting curtain, before the choir arrived:
(Unfortunately, since I am playing in the orchestra, too, I didn't get any pictures of all of us together today. But they are sure to come soon!)
It was a challenging but rewarding effort, though there were certainly cultural barriers to overcome. Besides the brilliant English accent (Dr. Spratt moved to Ireland from native England many years ago), there is also a difference in British and American musical terms. For those who didn't know: semi-breve is a whole note, a crotchet is a quarter note, a quaver is an eighth note, and a semi-quaver is a sixteenth note. Though it did take a little while to get used to the same language, as well as how to perform as accompaniment to a choir and not as a separate orchestra, we did make excellent progress.
We ran back in time for dinner at 5:30 served at the hotel, and then back to the City Hall for another rehearsal from 7-10. After more time spent with the choir and Dr. Spratt, we spent time rehearsing the rest of our concert. But, as always, even though we were workin ghard we managed to find at least a few moments to relax and have fun:
We then loaded the truck full of percussion instruments to get ready for our first concert tomorrow! We have an early wake up call (7am) to eat breakfast and get on the busses by 9:30 and head off to Limerick, which should take about 2 hours. Since we'll be spending all day out of town, I will not be able to update throughout the day. After a long day in Limerick, including some time reserved for shopping as well as another rehearsal and our first official concert, we won't be arriving home until around midnight our time. I will be sure to update as soon as I can!
And here is a photo of the stage, and very intersting curtain, before the choir arrived:
(Unfortunately, since I am playing in the orchestra, too, I didn't get any pictures of all of us together today. But they are sure to come soon!)
It was a challenging but rewarding effort, though there were certainly cultural barriers to overcome. Besides the brilliant English accent (Dr. Spratt moved to Ireland from native England many years ago), there is also a difference in British and American musical terms. For those who didn't know: semi-breve is a whole note, a crotchet is a quarter note, a quaver is an eighth note, and a semi-quaver is a sixteenth note. Though it did take a little while to get used to the same language, as well as how to perform as accompaniment to a choir and not as a separate orchestra, we did make excellent progress.
We ran back in time for dinner at 5:30 served at the hotel, and then back to the City Hall for another rehearsal from 7-10. After more time spent with the choir and Dr. Spratt, we spent time rehearsing the rest of our concert. But, as always, even though we were workin ghard we managed to find at least a few moments to relax and have fun:
We then loaded the truck full of percussion instruments to get ready for our first concert tomorrow! We have an early wake up call (7am) to eat breakfast and get on the busses by 9:30 and head off to Limerick, which should take about 2 hours. Since we'll be spending all day out of town, I will not be able to update throughout the day. After a long day in Limerick, including some time reserved for shopping as well as another rehearsal and our first official concert, we won't be arriving home until around midnight our time. I will be sure to update as soon as I can!
Morning in Cork
I, like the rest of the tour, awoke at 8:00 this morning to a very cheery wake up call from the front desk. We all met at breakfast at 9. There was a cold buffet (pastries, muffins, cereal and fruit) and a "hot plate" which included eggs, bacon, blood sausage and blood pudding. I didn't think to snap a picture - but it was quite a sight. I imagine I will see it again for breakfast tomorrow and will try to satisfy any curious readers as to what an Irish breakfast really looks like!
After breakfast I did take some pictures of the hotel lobby:
I guess the smiling guests approve!
We all found our own lunch in Cork and are going to meet at 1:30, in about a half an hour, to travel on foot to the Cork City Hall for our first rehearsal. We'll be back at 5pm for dinner, and then head out to another, but hopefully much shorter, rehearsal. More updates later!
After breakfast I did take some pictures of the hotel lobby:
I guess the smiling guests approve!
We all found our own lunch in Cork and are going to meet at 1:30, in about a half an hour, to travel on foot to the Cork City Hall for our first rehearsal. We'll be back at 5pm for dinner, and then head out to another, but hopefully much shorter, rehearsal. More updates later!
Wednesday, June 27
Safe and Sound!
Hello to all parents, family and friends! The New Jersey Youth Symphony did indeed arrive in Ireland safe and sound this morning. Though plans did not go exactly as planned…
We left the Symphony Building at approximately 4:00 pm on Tuesday, after a delay due to a coffee craving conductor, but we managed to miss most of the rush hour traffic and arrived in Philadelphia just after 6pm. I’m pretty sure we terrified the ticket clerks at the check in desks, or, at very least, the other passengers who arrived after us and faced quite an impressive line.
We all got through security and our bags checked without any problems, and only a few confused looks, but it’s not every day that an entire symphony orchestra comes through the Philly airport. Once we got through security we all grabbed some dinner. I had the pleasure of having dinner with the “cello girls” (Jane, Erica, Faith, Katie, Megan and Lara) and had some great conversations.
Unfortunately, wait to board was a bit longer than anticipated. But everyone seemed to smile through:
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We didn’t actually get into the air until around 10:00pm, about an hour delayed. Most of us zonked out and slept at least some, if not most, of the way. The final descent, at 9:00 a.m. Ireland time (which was approximately 4 am Eastern Time) was astonishing – I’m sorry I had my camera stowed away in the overhead compartment and didn’t get any pictures to share. The green patchwork of the countryside, dotted with farm animals and hay bales, was always the Ireland I’ve seen in postcards and movies – but I didn’t think it existed in such perfect form.
Our passports were stamped, we collected our bags, all of which arrived and were unharmed. We were greeted by very enthusiastic bus drivers:
After loading the busses, we were on our way! We spent about 2 hours traveling through beautiful countryside from the airport to Cork proper, where we dropped off our bags and ate a full lunch.
We had a lot of time before we could check into the hotel, so we headed out again to see some sights. First to the Cork City Gaol (Jail). I was able to get a pretty shot of the countryside from the hill the jail sits on:
In the jail we heard some pretty horrific history and even got to try out some of the fun furniture!
Off again, then, to St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral, hear more history and take pictures of beautiful architecture.
We were finally able to return to our rooms at the Imperial Hotel at Cork. After being on the go for well over 24 hours and all in desire of a shower and fresh set of clothes, the accommodations seemed to be less than satisfactory.
(Sorry – just more fun with furniture at the jail… The actual accommodations are beautiful.)
I will be sure to put up some photos of the hotel soon, but no worries parents – the rooms are at very least furnished and heated. We had a quick shower then a very satifying dinner before heading out to explore the city a bit.
Even though it is just about 10:00 pm here, it is still very bright out. I suppose that’s one more thing added to the list of “things to get used to” including people driving on the opposite side of the road and the pervasive hospitality that is hard to find around NYC.
I will do my best to post pictures and fun stories each day, but I cannot be promised consistant internet access, so we'll take it as it comes. For the moment, I think I will head out to explore for a bit before heading to bed - we have another full day tomorrow!
Hooray for Ireland!
We left the Symphony Building at approximately 4:00 pm on Tuesday, after a delay due to a coffee craving conductor, but we managed to miss most of the rush hour traffic and arrived in Philadelphia just after 6pm. I’m pretty sure we terrified the ticket clerks at the check in desks, or, at very least, the other passengers who arrived after us and faced quite an impressive line.
We all got through security and our bags checked without any problems, and only a few confused looks, but it’s not every day that an entire symphony orchestra comes through the Philly airport. Once we got through security we all grabbed some dinner. I had the pleasure of having dinner with the “cello girls” (Jane, Erica, Faith, Katie, Megan and Lara) and had some great conversations.
Unfortunately, wait to board was a bit longer than anticipated. But everyone seemed to smile through:
.jpg)
.jpg)
We didn’t actually get into the air until around 10:00pm, about an hour delayed. Most of us zonked out and slept at least some, if not most, of the way. The final descent, at 9:00 a.m. Ireland time (which was approximately 4 am Eastern Time) was astonishing – I’m sorry I had my camera stowed away in the overhead compartment and didn’t get any pictures to share. The green patchwork of the countryside, dotted with farm animals and hay bales, was always the Ireland I’ve seen in postcards and movies – but I didn’t think it existed in such perfect form.
Our passports were stamped, we collected our bags, all of which arrived and were unharmed. We were greeted by very enthusiastic bus drivers:
After loading the busses, we were on our way! We spent about 2 hours traveling through beautiful countryside from the airport to Cork proper, where we dropped off our bags and ate a full lunch.
We had a lot of time before we could check into the hotel, so we headed out again to see some sights. First to the Cork City Gaol (Jail). I was able to get a pretty shot of the countryside from the hill the jail sits on:
In the jail we heard some pretty horrific history and even got to try out some of the fun furniture!
Off again, then, to St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral, hear more history and take pictures of beautiful architecture.
We were finally able to return to our rooms at the Imperial Hotel at Cork. After being on the go for well over 24 hours and all in desire of a shower and fresh set of clothes, the accommodations seemed to be less than satisfactory.
(Sorry – just more fun with furniture at the jail… The actual accommodations are beautiful.)
I will be sure to put up some photos of the hotel soon, but no worries parents – the rooms are at very least furnished and heated. We had a quick shower then a very satifying dinner before heading out to explore the city a bit.
Even though it is just about 10:00 pm here, it is still very bright out. I suppose that’s one more thing added to the list of “things to get used to” including people driving on the opposite side of the road and the pervasive hospitality that is hard to find around NYC.
I will do my best to post pictures and fun stories each day, but I cannot be promised consistant internet access, so we'll take it as it comes. For the moment, I think I will head out to explore for a bit before heading to bed - we have another full day tomorrow!
Hooray for Ireland!
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