Postcards from the Danube...
to the Delaware

VOICES European Tour, June 5 - 15, 2003

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At the Church of the 14 Saints





At the Bamberg Rose Garden





Singing on a hilltop!





Party with Annette after our 1st performance





At a wedding in Bayreuth





Singing at the Frankfurt airport

This is an email sent by a member of the St. Sebald Chorkreis in Erlangen.

Dear Singers,

We are having a wonderful time in Franconia, and I wish you were here.

Twenty VOICES singers and ten fans, plus as many from St. Sebald Chorkreis singing and touring in Germany and Austria.

It is Pentecost – a major holiday here, and we have sung full masses in Gössweinstein on Saturday, in St. Sebald in Erlangen on Sunday and Vierzehnheiligen, a pilgrimage church of 14 saints, on Monday.

We’ve also sung impromptu at several chapels and cathedrals – The Mendelssohn 100th Psalm resounded with a 3-second echo this morning at the Dom in Regensburg, first built in 1275.

We are drinking and eating well. Several basses have increased their ranges by sampling the beer in every town we visit. Sunday afternoon was free – some people took the train to Nürnberg; others ate in homes of German hosts. The fabulous Thing about this trip is to learn and relearn how much can be communicated through music – At our first rehearsal, we were all jet – lagged – but by reading “notes off page”, we and Chorkreis St. Sebald rehearsed the some music – really well, even though the foreign languages still felt foreign.

Our performances communicate too. Annette Grandke’s (former VOICES singer from Erlangen) mother and her generation are all smiles and say “sehr schön, sehr schön” again and again. The people at the impromptu cathedral performances light up when we sing The Rheinberger Sanctus and “Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel”. It’s great to practice German, but it’s greater to practice music!

Much love from your fellow singers

Lynne

Mit freundlichem Gruß / kind regards

Harry und Sigrid Keltjens