on the bus, from Prague to Salzburg

After our glorious concert in Prague, a very excited woman approached us and shared that, not only had she loved this concert, but she had also been at our concert in Cesky Krumlov two nights earlier! Our first official East European “groupie”!

Diane Michael, alto


Well, it wasn’t so much a matter of raising the rafters as it was climbing them! Imagine us trailing up a narrow, steep, slightly hair-raising spiral staircase up to the clerestory of this beautiful baroque cathedral [in Prague]! The concert started with our glorious voices wafting out over the audience like angel voices descending from the heavens as we sang of the incarnation [Whitacre's 'Lux aurumque' and Lauridsen's 'O magnum mysterium'] and then segued into the creed [from Randall Svane's Mass].

Then, miraculously we made our way back down to the nave to finish off the concert. Everyone practically “rocked out” as we sang our 5 spirituals. It was such a great concert I’m almost certain that the glass-casketed corpses of a couple of saints were actually smiling at the end!

Andrew Jones, tenor


One of the members of the audience in Prague was an elderly man, very taken with the spirituals, rocking from side to side with the rhythm. He also loved “Blue Skies”, humming along and sometimes mouthing the words to himself. Afterwards he told Bob [Kosinski, husband of soprano Sherry Kosinski] and me that he remembered the movies of the 1930’s and 1940’s with great fondness. His name was Dvorak, but no relation to the composer, or so he claimed.

Mary Lou West, wife of bass Roger West


We are now in the bus again, on our way to Salzburg. It’s nice to have some down time and quiet. It also has given me the opportunity to get to know my fellow Schola members. The bonding that I’ve experienced on this trip could not have been obtained any other way. We are all different people with different experiences, but all have something in common, our love of music. For me, this has been a wonderful way to get to know my fellow choir member and their significant others (the shadow members). All too soon we will be challenged by our final performance and do what we all seem to do best, spreading the joy of music to others.

Marlene Karu, soprano


I am finally chiming in on day 7. The challenges of traveling with a 2 year old have made blogging difficult. Nonetheless, there are many observations to report and stories to share, so here comes a slightly longer than average entry.

I am sure that this has already been said, but it bears repeating… Our concerts have been nothing short of impactful. The audiences have each had their own character, which has helped feed the performances. I think my favorite is a toss up between the jubilant Bad Schönau and the awestruck Cesky Krumlov. Watching the faces of those hearing Schola for the first time (while still keeping one eye on the conductor ☺) was thrilling! With every performance, the music takes on new meaning. Sometimes this new meaning is born of the desire to impart the beauty of the thoughts portrayed in the text to a foreign audience… a need to make them understand why this music is so important in our lives. Other times the new found meaning is more personal. At last night’s concert in Prague, I sang my own “Alleluia” for the God who made my 2-year-old son sleep during the concert so that my mom could finally sit in for the concert.

Speaking of that 2-year-old… Carter has made the trip interesting. Thankfully, this is a group of wonderfully warm people who have put up with the occasional tantrum and the more frequent requests to “sit lap” that Carter has made. To stick to the theme of musical ambassadors, I will relate one particularly cute story from our dinner in Bad Schönau. It was a beautiful evening and we were eating outside when a boy with Down Syndrome who was about 8 years old came out and began playing his electronic toy guitar for us. He sang at the top of his lungs and even did some dances. He was very excited to have such a large and enthusiastic audience. He wore a black snow hat that said ”Austria” which he placed on Carter’s head. Carter, loving guitars as much as he does, asked the boy if he could play the guitar as well. Carter then gave his own concert of every song he could think of from “Freight Train” to “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.” After a while it was time to give back the guitar and return to the bus. As we boarded the bus, the hostess/owner of the place came running up with a red “Austria” hat that she said the boy wanted Carter to have so that he could remember him.

Rachel Carter-White (mother to Carter James White… not Carter Carter-White ☺),
SCH Executive Director and singer


My fellow singers surround me on the bus, reading, slumbering, or even now sharing music educator experience. “What am I doing here?” I ask myself. Most of these musicians know more music than I may ever hear. The depth and breadth of their knowledge sometimes overwhelms me. But I realize we have one great thing in common: our love for the gift of vocal music and a desire to enhance our own lives and the lives of others by preparing and performing it.

I wonder if audiences think they are the only beneficiaries of a concert experience. If any are reading this, rest assured we benefit, too. When I see your faces react to a piece of music I met some time earlier, I think to myself, “Cool, you get it, too.” When you smile, cry, or close your eyes to absorb the genius of a composer, you mirror our experience while preparing for the day we get to share it with you. The music alone is a joy unto itself; your participation makes it transcendent.

What impresses me about my fellow Scholars (Scholites, Scholians? I still haven’t found the right word) is that they are not only good musicians, but interesting, sincere, warm, earnest souls – passionate about what they do inside and out of the group. It has been a pleasure sharing these new countries with them and reporting on it to you.

Mark Davies, baritone