From the bus on the way back to Vienna

“All things are mine since truth I’ve found…” Singing here has been pure joy, bridging all language and culture, joining hearts and spirits in song. ”How can I keep from singing.”

Maureen Dowdell, alto


Bitter For Sweet

One of the songs in our repertoire, “Bitter for Sweet”, walks us through the changes of seasons. Through song we say goodbye to each season and welcome the next. Just after we’ve settled into the season and become comfortable, we have to say goodbye and move on.

In another song, “There Will Be Rest,” using a text from Sara Teasdale, we journey through her profound sadness as she searches for a sense of inner peace and rest. She speaks of finding the crystal of peace – that kernel of hope to which she can cling.

Yesterday we officially finished our performance tour by singing Randall Svane’s Festal Mass at the Dom in Salzburg. And how bitter for sweet that was. The sadness of ending our tour, mixed with tired bodies and minds (not to mention feet!) was tempered time and again as our voices echoed through the massive cathedral.

From the simple petition of the Kyrie, to the triumphal glory and faith of the Gloria and Creed, to the peace and joy of the Sanctus and Agnus Dei – our own souls were lifted out of our sadness to a heavenly peace.

Today we journeyed from bitter to sweet. We have found our own crystal of peace.

Andrew Jones, tenor


Ite, Missa Est
So, now…it’s all done. We’ve sung four concerts, and then Svane’s Festal Mass at St. Rupert’s Dom in Salzburg, and now we’re on our way back from Salzburg to Vienna…watching The Sound of Music, on the bus, of all things.
There really are no words adequate to describe the experience of singing the Mass in the context of a worship service – in another language altogether and yet so familiar that at times I had the sense of the whole communion of saints gathered into one Kingdom of peace.
Afterward as we retired to the sacristy, I found myself quietly weeping – again for joy, for love, for sadness that it’s all over. And then the Kapellmeister came in, and handed a box of Mozartkugeln to Deborah (a long, narrow box he pantomimed conducting with), and a small square box to Mr. Svane, and then one piece each to every choir member, thanking us each individually.
And then lunch out, and a long relaxing ride in the country to see the Salzkammergut, and then back into town for dinner, and then out to the hotel for a bit of a party and some sleep – all gently blessed by the beautiful music we have had the privilege of making with one another these last ten days.

Karen Lea Siegel, soprano


Well, we finally did it! We performed the much-awaited Svane Mass in the Dom of Salzburg. The evening before our performance was a two-hour rehearsal in the Dom itself from 8-10 pm. I have to say; being in that cathedral at that hour in the evening was quite beautiful. The light was dim and the paintings on the ceiling and the scrollwork up and down the walls was aglow. We sang and there was intensity to the rehearsal brought on by our preparations for the next morning’s Mass that would begin at 10 am. We moved steadily through each movement, the Kapellmeister and Randall Svane sitting a few rows back listening to each part. Deborah would go back periodically to get their thoughts and feedback. The best part about singing in this setting was hearing the two-three second reverberation after the singing had stopped. This is the place that a Mass like this is meant to be sung. At the end, Randall said that he was moved by the heart our group put into performing the Mass.

The next morning, we left the hotel at 7:45 to make it to Salzburg for an early rehearsal/last run through of key parts. We practiced in a room in a building right next to the Dom. Then, as we walked from this practice room through the winding street of Salzburg down to the Dom, I really got the feeling for what Salzburg must have been like in the times of Mozart and other composers. We all wore our concert black and wound down the street following the Kapellmeister. The Dom, looming large above us, made all of us seem ant-like. The Kapellmeister looked back anxiously to make sure we were following him, a couple of people on bikes rode by, and the bells on the church rang deeply to bring everyone to the Mass. It felt a bit surreal—almost unbelievable to be here at this church. As we performed the Mass, the Kapellmeister sat nearby, and Randall Svane sat several rows back with his family. The church was filled.

I have to say one final note—the tour has shown me the pleasure of having the repeated focus of singing and rehearsing a piece and repertoire. Even in the midst of sightseeing, dinners, making plans, getting up early, feeling exhausted—it is nice to know that in as strange of a place as a hotel bowling alley our choir can “drop into” that rehearsal mode and literally focus on the music for an hour and a half. It makes the music sort of like an anchor that connects all of the varied and assorted experiences we are having. I credit Dr. King with the amazing focus that she is able to evoke from us at these rehearsals throughout the trip.

Cynthia Darling, alto


The best way to describe the tour, specifically the performance of the Mass, is without words. I’ve always thought the most profound feedback was that of a speechless audience member, one who, whether or not they could find words, knew that the emotion they felt trumped all they could have said. These were the expressions I saw during the Mass, and it was this that told me that we had accomplished what we had come to do: sharing our passion in the most personal way we know how.

Max G Jefferson, soprano; SCH Choral Scholar