We're home... finally!

Most of us got home last night. Many of us are extending the trip and won't be back until next week. The Monday night rehearsal will be run by Kristina Nakagawa, since Daniel Hughes, will still be traveling in Europe.

What a trip! That was fun while we were there and frustrating getting there and coming home. We're tired, but happy! See you soon.

Will we ever get home?

What an ordeal! I'm currently stuck in Frankfurt, with 26 other choir members, because our flight from Bilbao to Munich was delayed 1.5 hours and the connection flight from Munich to San Francisco didn't wait for us! The earliest flight out is from Frankfurt to SFO with a hop in Dallas! I will be back in San Jose around 10 pm. I have a 6:00 am in office conference call on Friday! I will be very tired!

Safe travels my colleagues. Here's hoping our next tour won't be so difficult.

We did not win, but we definitely changed the world...

We are in good spirits after singing at every restaurant we ate. The Spanish folks love music. In fact, in every shop, they have music playing. Most of the tunes are American pop tunes, old and new, sung in English. Even though we did not even place at this competition, we come away knowing that everyone we interacted with was affected by our love of music too.

We went to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao today. We had a great day of exploring and reminiscing about our experience: from BurlingSpain to Bilbao. It was a great adventure.

Most of us are flying out tomorrow. Some are going to other parts of Europe and others are traveling home. I'll post all the pictures I've gathered in a photo gallery, when I get back home. Thanks to Randy Chastain, Kelli Lueder and Michael McCormick, there are some spectacular images!

Here's one for the road...

We're done!

We sang very well today and were very pleased with all the hard work we did. The room was much better than had hoped, the piano was terrific. We were among three of the last choirs to song in the Tolosa Festival. We were so disappointed that we couldn't hear the other choirs.

During the warm-ups, we sang the Basque song, "Phartitze Trixte Huntan..." while the arranger, Inaki Tolaretxipi, stood by with his choir as they began to sing with us. That was fun.

After our two sets, we went to dinner and ate with the other choirs. We were somewhat separated, so we really didn't get to meet anyone. We did recognize some of the members of the Basque choir that was in San Luis Obispo a couple of years ago.

Some more pictures will go up as I steal them from other photographers on this trip. Stay tuned!

We're going in..

Wish us good luck. Later...

Competition Day in Tolosa tomorrow

What a wonderful end to the concert tour before the competition. After spending part of the day in San Sebastian, we went to Aoiz to perform at the concert hall "Casa de Cultura.". The room was dry so we were finally able to hear everything clearly. Sone things were really good and there are just a few things that need to be cleaned up.

We went to a restaurant after the concert and, of course, we found an opportunity to sing for our supper... We sang Shanendoah for our Courier, Reinhart, since he was not able to hear this concert. In walked some other people, who turned out to be a men's quartet from Denmark. They sang a beautiful Basque fold song for us. It brought me to tears, it was so well sung. Then our director noticed that there was a children's choir from the Philippines in the next room. We asked if they'd like us to sing for them. They said "yes" and we sang "Let Me Fly."

They sang a version of a couple spirituals, including "This Train is Bound for Glory"

Then the quartet came into the room and sang another beautiful and comic German song.

I am pumped for tomorrow!

Iglesia Parroquia de San Pedro Advincula

What a beautiful ride to Polanca, which is about a 2.5 mile ride from Zarautz.

The concert went very well and again we were blessed with a standing room only audience. Kelli Lueder, a soprano in The Choral Project, met up with a friend from the Basque choir who came to the choir festival we went to in San Luis Obispo four years ago. Here name escapes me now, but I'll update this later. Anyway, they had a great time on the bus and she was able to give us some more insight into the text of the two Basque songs we are performing in the Tolosa festival.

This photo was taken earlier today after rehearsed at a local historical house, which is now a school. We went on a walking tour of Zarautz and found that this town is a surfers hang out. They also play soccer on the beach. We were all impressed by the sense of community the locals have. And we experienced their willingness to stop and talk to us, even if we can only say about for words to them.