Rhodes Singers Tour, Day 1

Hey everybody! Greetings from Little Rock, Arkansas. I'm on the road with my Chamber Singers for Rhodes Singers Tour 2012. We're traveling with the Rhodes Singers - OK, to be honest, they are the headline choir - from Memphis to Ft. Worth via Little Rock, and the next few days will be full of performances and rehearsals. A little summary of today's events:

-We left Rhodes College at 2:00 PM for Little Rock, and we made it to St. Paul UMC just in time for dinner. We changed into concert attire, warmed-up, and sang an excellent first concert.

St. Paul UMC, our first stop

Well...actually, that's it. That was our first day. I must say that I was very proud of my Chamber Singers for having an excellent first concert; first stop is always the roughest. Tonight, though, my Chamber Singers gave their best performances yet of their repertoire, which can only mean that tomorrow's (Friday's) performances will be better. Furthermore, all of our students had classes to attend today, so last night they were busying packing their suitcases and working on homework and last minute practicing on their music. Chamber Singers are offering hard rep:

"Angelus ad Pastores Ait," Mauro Zuccante
"Salve Regina a 4," Josquin Desprez
"Locus Iste," Anton Bruckner
"Witness," Arr. Jack Halloran

Ladies of Rhodes Singers rehearsing before concert

If you know choral music, you'll see a trend. This is sacred, a cappella music of the last 500 years, with "Angelus..." being the most recent (2010) and "Salve Regina" the oldest (late 1400s). I wanted to teach my students the sounds and styles of our western choral tradition, and I want my audiences to hear music written from a bygone era, to see how expressions of faith are at once similar and foreign to Christians of the 21st century.

Tomorrow begins early; we load the bus at 6:30 AM so we can get to Ft. Worth for a 2:30 concert at Ft. Worth Country Day School. Then at 7:00 PM that night, a full-length concert at First Baptist Church of Crowley, TX. Excited to return to the great Republic, and my dear friend and brother Billy will be in the audience! If you're in the Ft. Worth area, please come hear our concert at the church!

Until next time,
-JC

PS, if you use Twitter, follow me at @jcorn819 to receive up-to-the minute updates on concerts, performances, and fun facts from tour. #RSTour2012