Final Concert Day!

Happy 4th of July! I hope all is well in the U.S. We didn’t get to see any sort of fireworks today, which is for the best, to be sure. We did have a busy day, though.

After a 7:30 wake up call we ate breakfast at 8:30 and climbed on the bussed at 9:30 head towards Kinsale. We arrived around 10:30 and unloaded the instruments at St. Multose Church before getting some free time to spend in town.

Kinsale sits right at the edge of the Atlantic and has a beautiful tidal river and bay full of sailboats, as well as gorgeous green hills and the quaintest houses and roads I’ve ever seen. The narrow streets were very interesting to travel down with our tour busses, but our excellent bus drivers managed to avoid any collisions.






There were a bunch of shops to be nosey in and we were given lots of time to also get lunch before a 2:00 rehearsal. St. Multose was built in the 12th century and is the oldest working parish in all of Ireland. The stained glass windows were gorgeous:






After rehearsal we went to Maureen Lewis’ house for dinner. Mrs. Lewis, former NJYS Board President, acted as tour liaison in Ireland and was the first person to think about a tour for the symphony. She welcomed us all to her home for a picnic dinner before the final concert, and we couldn’t resist. I mean – just look at the view from her backyard!




The final concert, which was very enthusiastically attended by the people of Kinsale, as well as Dr. Spratt from the Irish Youth Choir and some of the choir members. The concert, which was mostly chamber music with a two full orchestra pieces to end the night, was a great success! The only minor snag in the evening was the forgetting of one violist who forgot his dress shoes and had to borrow a chaperone's black socks for the concert:




We were very well received and appreciated, and the concert acted as a benefit for a local child-care center. The students wore red, white, and blue in honor of the holiday, and played “Stars and Stripes” as the final piece of the evening. I don’t suppose St. Multose has had Sousa played within its walls in the past few centuries, but it carries the sound quite well!

Here are the students waiting for the concert to start:




Everyone seemed to have a good time, and we made it back to the hotel by 11:00ish. Curfew was midnight, with all the kids in their rooms with (hopefully) lights out for a 6:30 wake up call tomorrow (Thursday) morning.