Day 11: Final day in France

Well as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. It's been almost two weeks since Spiritus touched down in France to begin its first international tour and now we're counting down the hours before we fly back across the pond. But one last blog entry from me...

Chateau Chenonceau

Chateau Chenonceau from the front

The chateau from a glorious vantage point off the
garden of Diane de Poitiers

On the way back to Paris from Tours, we took a little detour to visit an incredible chateau called Chenonceau. Richly steeped in French history, the chateau figures quite prominently in the history of Henry II, his wife Catherine de Medici and his mistress Diane of Poitiers. Here's the Coles notes version:

Diane of Poitiers was Henry II's favourite mistress and so he gave Chenonceau to her. The chateau was well known for its lavish parties and walking through its halls and rooms, it's easy to imagine. After Henry II died, Catherine de Medici demanded Chenonceau as compensation - and she could demand it because her son, the future Henry III, was still too young to assume the throne so she pretty much ruled France anyway. To make a long story short, while Diane of Poitiers lived in Chenonceau, she created a breathtaking garden. When Catherine de Medici took Chenonceau over, she created a garden on the other side of the chateau. Personally, I thought Diane's garden better, but that's just my humble opinion.

From Diane de Poitier's garden

From Catherine de Medici's garden

Anyway, Spiritus spent its morning trolling about the grounds, taking the guided tour of Chenonceau and enjoying the lavish grounds. I will post some pictures when I get a spare moment. For now, it is off to Paris for our farewell dinner.

Montparnasse: The Final Destination

Our final night in France is at Montparnasse, which is in a rather bustling commercial area of Paris. The tower of Montparnasse is nearby, which allows you a 360° view of Paris (I had planned on checking it out before dinner before discovering that the attraction was not all it was cracked up to be). That evening, we had a farewell tour dinner nearby in a quaint restaurant called Montparnasse 1600. There we toasted everyone who made the trip such a success. After that, we were pretty much free, and with the prospect of a long travel day ahead, some people made their last night in Paris an epic one.

Justin, Anna Marie and Aaron enjoying our farewell dinner

Oliver and Marian at dinner

Montparnasse 1600 is a pretty amazing-looking place

Marian, Bernie and Boyd at dinner

I'm still trying to figure out what
Montparnasse 1600 used to be

That's it, that's all

And with that, I'll bid thee all adieu (although I'll update the previous section with some pictures). Special thanks to Cathy Klopoushak for helping organize this trip for Spiritus, to Timothy Shantz for his artistic leadership, his vision and for getting us prepared for competition, to our courier Marianne for her fantastic work, and our legion of bus drivers, particularly Angelique, who took us from Paris and beyond.

It's been fun maintaining this blog and I hope you all had fun reading it. I'm staying on in Paris for the next few days but haven't yet decided if I'm going to blog about it... If I do, check out my musings at http://formerjourno.blogspot.com/.



Thanks for reading, everyone!

Day 8 to Day 10: Tours

Sorry for the blog silence everyone!

The hotel in Tours had intermittent internet access at best, and it could really only be guaranteed by having a European cell phone. Needless to say, I decided to wait until I had a more stable connection before attempting to update the blog. 

Day 8: Arrival in Tours 

Spiritus arrived in Tours last Friday afternoon after five hours of travel from Dijon. Incidentally, it was the only day of the trip that we had rain. We arrived in the early afternoon ready to sing in both of our categories for the Florilège Vocal de Tours competition. Our guides for the competition were two local students: Mary and Anne, who would work with our own courier Marianne (really, I can't make any of that stuff up). 

Category IV - Expression Libre 

Spiritus began its Florilège experience late Friday afternoon with its repertoire for Category IV. This repertoire included the commissioned Quiet by Calgary composer Allan Bevan, Sunset from the Stephen Chatman suite of Due West, and the traditional French-Canadian folk song Alouette, as arranged by Robert Sund. I think it's fair to say that after five hours on a bus, combined with the nerves of this being Spiritus' debut at international competition and a relatively flat venue, we admittedly did not sing our best, but it was a great way to get started. 

Category I - Chœurs Mixtes


There wasn't much time to rest to dwell on our Category IV performance: Category I came calling almost immediately after we finished our previous repertoire, and we still had to get to the Grand Theatre in downtown Tours! Thankfully, we were already dressed for the competition and were already warmed up. This repertoire consisted of Weinachten by Mendelssohn, the double-choir performance of Ave Maria by Victoria, and the haunting My Prayer by Bob Chilcott. This time around, Spiritus came ready to sing. In the words of Artistic Director Timothy Shantz, "that sounded a lot more like Spiritus". 

Results from Day One of competition 

That night, much of the choir found itself at a local Chinese buffet to await the results of the competition. A few glasses of blue Kir and a few plates of deep-fried Chinese goodness later, we received word that while we had not advanced to the Finals for Category IV, we did advance in Category I. That meant we couldn't have a late night, and we'd have to prepare another three songs.

Day 9: Renaissance Competition  

Day two of competition began with Spiritus competing in the Renaissance competition. The venue for this competition was a picturesque former monastery on the outskirts of Tours situated in the midst of a  The Renaissance group competed of eight singers: Krishan Power and Aaron Bartholomew on bass, Oliver Munar and Ben Kim on tenor, Boyd Hansen and Timothy Shantz as countertenors, and Katy Warke and Julie Crouch on soprano. The eight began the competition by singing the Ave Maria by Victoria that had previously been sung by the full chorus the day before. The octet was then pared down to a quintet (Julie, Boyd, Tim, Oliver and Krishan) for an additional two songs: Plaine de DeuilTriste Départ by Nicolas Gombert. The octet would then be restored for a performance of Dans le serain de sa jumelle flamme by Anthoine de Bertrand. It was a nice way to end the performance because Bertrand is buried at that monastery. Dennis Voth was nice enough to record the competition so I'll work on getting something posted, with some pictures from Tours.

The remains of an archway at a rather picturesque former
monastery: the site of the Renaissance competition

Spiritus' Renaissance octet
(L-R: Julie, Boyd, Ben, Katy, Tim, Oliver, Aaron, Krishan)

Category I - Chœurs Mixtes, Day Two of competition 

After the high from the Renaissance competition, it was time to prepare for the Final round for Category I. The repertoire would include The Fountain by Edward Elgar, the bold and brassy Benedictus from Giles Swayne's Missa Tiburtina, and the bell-tones of the Epithalame from Daniel-Lesur's Cantiques des Cantiques (which, incidentally, was recorded in Dijon at Eglise Saint-Symphorien and made into a video that has been posted to YouTube). Spiritus joined three other choirs in the Final round: the University of Maryland Chamber Singers, the University of Houston Concert Chorale and the Parahyangan Catholic University Choir from Indonesia. Spiritus definitely went for its performance and came away rather satisfied. However, later that afternoon, we found out that the adjudicators chose the University of Maryland Chamber Singers to represent the category in the final Grand Prix round of the competition, putting an end to Spiritus' competition. With that known, Spiritus enjoyed a rather spirited gathering in a parking lot adjacent to our hotel to celebrate the experience of our first international trip, which culminated in our first international competition at which we advanced to the final round of our category.


Day 10: Results from Tours


Sunday morning and afternoon were free for us to tour around Tours. But that evening, we returned to the Grand Theatre in downtown Tours for the results of the competition. Spiritus won second prize in Category I (behind the University of Maryland and tied with the University of Houston). We also won the French Ministry of Culture award for the whole competition, with special commendation for our performance of Daniel-Lesur's Epithalame. Congratulations to everyone for their hard work and dedication for this trip and competition!


For those who are curious, the Grand Prize winner of the whole competition was Harmonia Ensemble from Tokyo, Japan. Amazing group, in my humble opinion.


Farewell to Tours


After the announcement of the prizes, all the choirs congregated at the Place de la Résistance to each perform a few numbers for the families gathered there. Spiritus sang Train from Stephan Chatman's suite Due West and the French-Canadian standard Alouette, arranged by Robert Sund.

Spiritus' "cultural costume"

Marian Zekulin enjoys some high-calibre choral performances
at the Place de la Rèsistance in downtown Tours

The day culminated in a mass choir singing Beethoven's Ode to Joy not once but twice, accompanied by a brass band. We then made our way to City Hall for a reception that featured a combined performance of Leonardo Dreams of this Flying Machine by Eric Whitacre with Spiritus and the University of Houston Concert Chorale, which both groups had prepared for the Grand Prix round. Before I left the hall, I also heard performances from the University of Maryland and the Parahyangan Catholic University Choir.


I'll have a final entry for this blog before shutting it down. It will feature our detour to the castle Chenonceau on the way back to Paris where the majority of the choir will enjoy a last night in France with the choir.


A la prochaine!

Day 7: Our last free-form concert in France

What a way to end our time in the heart of the French wine country!

Spiritus had one of its best concerts yet with a sing at Eglise Saint-Symphorien in the picturesque town of Nuit Saint Georges, about 20 km from Dijon. Eglise Saint-Symphorien is a rather old church with a cemetery but was recently renovated. The sound, like all the churches in which we have sung so far, was incredible, and I will busily work on getting a second Spiritus tour video up on YouTube featuring some of the sights of Dijon and surrounding area.

A last day in Dijon

Our morning started a little ominously with rain clouds rolling into the area - the first time for the tour. It did rain a bit but certainly not enough to dampen anyone's spirits. We had the morning free so I joined Dawn Coulter, George Fenwick and Kathy Hanna at the Musee des Beaux Arts in downtown Dijon, in the Palais des Ducs. We enjoyed some fine art, including sculptures and paintings.

Part of a work featuring the various stages
of the Passion of Christ

Adam and Eve

A sculpture of Hébé and Jupiter as an eagle

After a brief respite, it was time to get on the bus and head to Nuit Saint Georges for a rehearsal at Saint Symphorien, and then a dinner dressed in our concert attire. The dinner provided by Les Cultivateurs was the best yet - and yet, I left my camera back in the coach. Oh well, live and learn. I'm sure someone took pictures of the fabulous food...! The choir treated our hosts with a sing of Willan's How They So Softly Rest.

A surprise audience and a brilliant sing

Eglise Saint-Symphorien

Eglise Saint-Symphorien

Our courier Marianne had warned us that she wasn't sure how many people would show up for our concert. After all, the church had hosted a concert earlier this week, so it was likely that there wouldn't be many people. However, after taking a few pictures, Spiritus delighted a rather full house. The concert featured the European premiere of our very own Ben Kim's Gyeongbokkung Taryeong, as well as a number of pieces performed from memory. Personally, I think Willan's How They So Softly Rest is quickly becoming a tour favourite (check out how we sung it on YouTube), and it really worked in mixed formation. Bob Constantin was kind enough to record our performance of the Epithalame from Daniel-Lesur's Cantiques des Cantiques so on the five-hour ride to Tours, I'll try to put something together. In all, a fabulous performance that was very well received.

Let the competition begin!

So now, after concerts in Paris, Dijon and Nuit Saint Georges, it's time to head to Tours for the 40e Florilège Vocal de Tours international choral competition! We leave Dijon bright and early tomorrow morning, so I'll have to leave this blog entry for now. Wish us luck!

Spiritus Chamber Choir
Timothy Shantz, Artistic Director
Taken at Eglise Saint-Symphorien, Nuit Saint Georges, Framce
May 26, 2011

Day 6: A Trip to Beaune and a Special Surprise from Spiritus

Hello Spiritus blog enthusiasts!

Spiritus has reached the halfway point of its tour and to celebrate, we've gone to Beaune for some wine from the heart of Bourgogne wine country. Well at least most of us did... I'll admit I was a little groggy this morning from the impromptu celebrating last night after our concert at Sacre Coeur in Dijon. Our next concert isn't until tomorrow, which makes today another day of fun!

Il fait beau en Beaune

Once again, our trip has been blessed with fantastic weather. A few of us were curious about what the weather has been like in Calgary, lately… anyway, let's just leave it at that. :)

Today is the trip to Beaune. Because I didn't go with the rest of the delegation (you'll see why, below), I will have to rely on them to bring me up to speed.

The big reveal

So you're wondering why I didn't go to Beaune. Well, you'll remember that I had quipped about creating a video out of one of the songs that Spiritus performed at Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris. Well, that is no longer a quip! You can take a look at the video of Spiritus performing Healey Willan's How They So Softly Rest by going to YouTube.

MORE TO COME… STAY TUNED!

Day 5: First day in Dijon

Today marked Spiritus' first full day in Dijon. It started off with two different types of tours and topped off with a concert at Eglise Sacré Coeur.

Getting to know Dijon - The History Tour

Much of the choir went on a walking tour of Dijon. More details will follow once I find one of the walking tour participants to tell me what happened.

Getting to know Dijon - The Food Edition

I didn't go on the walking tour - at least not the scheduled walking tour with the rest of the choir. Instead, I joined a smaller group that took a more private tour of the city, and culminating in a master cooking class.

Our guide was Alex Mills. Originally from New York, Alex is a chef who specializes in French cuisine, having worked in a number of five-star restaurants during the course of his career. He picked us up from the hotel and took us on his own walking tour of Dijon, where we discovered a very interesting philosophy: whereas North Americans tend to flaunt as much as they have (i.e., the yard, the car, etc.), the French tend to allow you to uncover. That was particularly evident from the various courtyards we passed.

Along the tour we stopped by Dijon's own Notre Dame cathedral. Along one of the sides of the cathedral was the famed owl stone. According to local legend, you're supposed to say a wish at this stone. Alex told us that we should repeat our wish three times to coincide with the three underground springs that supply water to allow your wish to come true.

La Chouette de Dijon
You place your left palm on the owl and
make a wish three times

Our next stop was perhaps one of the most fantastic markets I'd ever visited. And this was where we truly saw our chef masterfully weave his way through looking for ingredients. Alex is a firm believer in the locovore movement, that we should try to gather our food locally. Alex met with vendors at the market that specialized in local foods. It was interesting watching him converse with them because it shows they certainly know him well, and would provide the best ingredients for the food we were about to prepare.

I have to say, though, that the market had some pretty amazing foods. I was particularly blown away by the fruit. One of the vendors we met had some rather exotic fruits: juicy nectarines from South Africa and sumptuous mango from Ivory Coast. OK, so I broke the locovore pact to indulge but it was definitely worth it!

Just a piece of some of the best mango I've had... ever!

It turns out that Alex had rented a kitchen from a family that lives in downtown Dijon for the cooking class. It certainly gave the experience a rather homey feel. It really felt like it was more than just cooking, it was more like creating art. And believe me, what Alex created for us was indeed art. I won't bore you with all the details of what we did, but rather jump ahead to the finished products. Sufficed to say, it was a gastronomically adventurous afternoon that left all of us feeling rather contented and full.

The starter: Green beans and asparagus in butter sauce.
Wild asparagus on top with pastry in the middle.

Rabbit and pork in white wine and mustard sauce with
potatoes and chantrelles.

Various cheeses, including a Roquefort that doesn't
get exported from France, and is made from
ewe's milk.

A flour-less cake with creme patissiere in the middle

Our cooking class
Anne, Mark, Oliver, Anna Marie, Alex, Bob, Katy and Katherine

Concert at Eglise Sacré Coeur

We finished the day with a concert at Eglise Sacré Coeur. Again, the acoustics were wonderfully live in that our voices kept bouncing around the sancutary. The French crowd seemed genuinely pleased with our performance: our encore number Alouette certainly put a smile on many people's faces. We also performed George Fenwick's Cold Spell for the final time on this tour.

The evening ended with an impromptu celebration back at the hotel. Tomorrow, the choir heads to Beaune, about 30 minutes away from Dijon, which our courier Marianne tells us is in the heart of the Bourgogne wine country. The choir will visit a wine vendor, and pretty much have the day open.

A la prochaine!

Day 4: Concert at Notre Dame, Paris to Dijon

Day four is almost in the books and let me tell you, what a day it's been. At times it was challenging, particularly in syncing up with our bus, but it was a fantastic day nonetheless.

A visit to Notre Dame de Paris

The day began with another Spiritus first: a concert at the famed Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris. We attracted a bit of a crowd as we sang sacred selections from our tour repertoire. Thanks to the wonders of technology, I can work on creating a video of one of the selections that Spiritus sang in Notre Dame so stay tuned for that.

Following our concert, we had a chance to scatter for a few hours. Some, like myself, attempted to get a tour of the towers, which leads to a most breathtaking view of the city next to some of the gargoyles. Alas, that will have to be a return visit, because we simply didn't have enough time to wait in the rather long line-up before we left for Dijon. That's OK, though: there were a lot of pictures taken, given the grandness that Notre Dame offered.

Not many people see this entrance to Notre Dame…
but Spiritus did (not that we used it, of course)!

A look from the altar toward the front of Notre Dame

The Pieta, which sits behind the altar at the back of Notre Dame

Notre Dame definitely looms over you. Fantastic piece of architecture.

Three archways lead into Notre Dame. The central
arch is not used. The one on the right is used for
entrance, while the one on the right is used
for exits. Around the corner from the left-hand
archway is the line-up to tour the towers.

From Paris to Dijon

We spent most of the afternoon travelling to Dijon, where we will be stationed for the next few days. And believe me, there's definitely more to Dijon than mustard.

I'm definitely struck by how much quieter it is in Dijon. I don't have to worry about skateboarders outside my window, which is a big plus. It's also a rather lush city, with lots of trees and green vegetation. I'm definitely settling into the city rather nicely.

There's also a lot of construction going on, which made things rather interesting for our tour bus. Thankfully, Angelique, our driver, navigated the rather narrow steps like a pro. I'm pretty sure I'd be hitting every building with a bus that size.

We had a rather pleasant group dinner at a place called simply La Grande Taverne, where we were reminded that Dijon - and the Bourgogne region in general - is home to outstanding food. Along with my fantastic dinner of chicken and mushrooms, I indulged in what's called a Kir Royal, which is a popular French cocktail consisting of blackcurrant cassis and either white wine or champagne (mine was of the champagne variety).

Kir Royal (champagne variety)

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel - but not before getting lost, perhaps another reminder that the day wasn't entirely perfect. Oh well, the important this is we all got back safely, and are definitely looking forward to a new day, which will be highlighted by our next concert.

Let the adventures continue!

Day 3: Concert day

Our first concert is in the books!

Spiritus Chamber Choir entertained some rather appreciative music lovers while visiting Eglise-Ste-Anne-de-la-Butte-aux-Cailles today.

Church bells calling

Our first performance was at a Sunday morning Mass at Eglise-Ste-Anne. And while the architecture was beautiful, the sound was other worldly. I really enjoyed giving pitches in that church because the acoustics wold allow me to harmonize with myself. The congregation participated with us throughout - led by our cantor, Denis, we sang a number of French hymns, while also performing Taverner's Song for Athene, Victoria's Ave Maria and the Epithalame from Lasur's Cantique des Cantiques.

For lunch, we again scattered around the area. A bunch of the tenors and basses headed to a quaint little cafe where €18 would get you a three-piece meal! Myself, I definitely enjoyed my lamb with fine herbs, but the beef bourgignon was a big hit too.

And then there were 37...

Sunday also marked the return of bass Bob Serrano. To call his journey to France an ordeal would be an understatement, but let's just say that we're very happy that he was able to join us for today's performances. I'd imagine that as I'm writing this, he's catching up on the jet lag that everyone else has shaken off, somewhat.

A Spiritus first

Spiritus trivia alert: what's the site of Spiritus' first-ever concert in France? The answer: Ste-Anne-de-la-Butte-aux-Cailles in Paris! I'd also accept Eglise Ste-Anne in short.

An appreciative audience gathered on Sunday afternoon to listen to Spiritus go through most of its tour programme. The sounds coming back from both the audience and the building itself were rather pleasing. Whitacre's Leonardo was definitely a favourite, with some members of the audience listening with widened eyes as Spiritus took them on a journey of flight. They also nodded and smiled appreciatively as the double choir hit cadence after cadence in Victoria's Ave Maria. In all, it was a wonderful way to kick off our France trip.


Last night in Paris

After the concert, we were once again left to our own devices. Myself, I fulfilled a life-long dream to visit the hallowed grounds of Roland Garros for the first day of competition at the French Open grand slam tennis tournament. I missed the match featuring Canadian Rebecca Marino but I still caught some action on the outer courts.

Our visit to Paris concludes with a sing at the famous Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris, tomorrow morning.We're scheduled to have a couple of hours of free time before we have to leave the city for Dijon, our home for the next few days.

Pictures are coming, folks! A demain!