Saturday night summary

The 3 choirs (Chamber Singers, Concert Choir, Treble Choir) all won gold (see 2 of them below) and an invitation to the Heritage Festival of Gold. This is an especially strong showing for the treble choir, and all the kids (and parents) should be extremely proud of their amazing performances.
Sorry I don't have more photos from the awards & dance, unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, but the kids had a great time on the Hudson River, dancing on a chartered ferry with Manhattan glittering in the background. The weather participated by not raining on us (weather.com's prediction notwithstanding) and not being cold. Ziti & sandwiches were available for all to provide energy for the festivities.

Tomorrow will be our departure day; we check out of our hotels at 10AM and take a bus ride to Little Italy for a brunch & sight-seeing (how many sights can we actually see !?) and then a commute to the airport. So, tomorrow night we'll be home and this trip will only be a memory -- and, if I'm not mistaken, the subject of about 100 Facebook photo albums.

It's been a great (albeit short) trip, the kids have been terrific without exception and the performances were award-winning. However, I think we're all looking forward to sleeping in our own beds tomorrow night!

I hope to make another entry tomorrow before we board, but if not I'll just say it's been a pleasure to once again chaperone these talented kids, and to accompany these terrific adults (conductor + chaperones) on and exciting and busy vacation. See you soon!

Saturday morning roundup

Today has been a very busy day! After last night's dinner & play we hit the sack around midnight, and got up at 6:30 this morning to trek to Riverside Church, site of the adjudicated performance. We only had time to grab a few bagels & coffee along the way, but the kids arrived in time to perform with their usual style. After the performances came a relaxing afternoon free of planned activities, which most kids seem to be using with the same activities as every other day (shopping, sight-seeing, eating).

At 6:00 there will be an awards ceremony at the church, and we'll find out how our choirs performed. Then comes the big payoff, an around-the-island river cruise with dinner, dancing & music.

Below are a few pictures from today's preparation & performance:

Bright-eyed & bushy-tailed in the hotel lobby:


Choir Director Liberatore, ready to lead
Singing in the beautiful Riverside Church

I'll post some more tonight, after that fabulous cruise.

Friday night wrap

Today was another busy day. After the morning's breakfast, rehearsal & museum tour, we had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, followed by the play 'In The Heights'. Dinner was about what you would expect to have if you showed up with 120 people wanting to eat at the same time; not bad, but not necessarily great. A great place, though. Below are lots of photos of kids eating, hopefully all of them.

The play was dominated by the presence of Corbin Bleu, apparently a star of 'High School Musical' (why this information escaped me until now I can't say, but now I'm very familiar with it). His initial arrival on stage was greeted by so many screaming girls I thought for a moment that he was Paul McCartney (how's that for being old)? It's an interesting story of the changes in a New York neighborhood (Washington Heights), predominantly latino, among residents & business people. The music was interesting & the characters compelling, but the sound was a little poorly amplified. Most of the kids seemed to enjoy it a lot; apparently Corbin was very gracious signing autographs as he exited the stage door.

After the play was a stroll home through the quite busy Times Square on a Friday night, followed by lights out. Tomorrow: The Competition!

Pictures from today are below, including a shot of the US Navy Rock Band playing in Times Square...

















And, below we're waiting to see our play:

Friday mid-day catch up

Today was the kick-off of the music portion of the trip. After a breakfast at Planet Hollywood in Times Square, we walked a few blocks to a rehearsal space where Bill spent the morning putting the finishing touches on the choir programs. This was followed by a 'grab-your-own' lunch at Columbus Circle, and a visit to the Natural History Museum (including "Journey to the Stars", an amazing space show narrated by Whoopi Goldberg). We've had a little free time since then for shopping & walking, and will be having dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe in about an hour - followed by 'In the Heights', another musical show.

I don't have a lot of photos today, but here they are:

Breakfast at Planet Hollywood -

Rehearsal at Caroll Music -

Strolling the streets & avenues of Manhattan...

Thursday evening wrap-up

Tonight we had dinner at B.B. Kings Blues Club on West 42nd. Given the size of our group, it's inevitable that the selection for group dinners usually boils down to few choices, but this was a better experience than most. My hamburger was, well...a hamburger. Even though we started dinner a little late, we still had plenty of time afterwards (some of it spent cowering under awnings and umbrellas to escape a sudden (but blessedly brief) downpour, accompanied by a little thunder) to get to the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on 46th for 'The Adams Family', a musical starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth.

Most seemed to enjoy the play very much (it got an enthusiastic standing ovation). The sets were astonishing, and of course the music & choreography were great (Bebe Neuwirth really isn't much of a singer, though...)

So now all are in their rooms and sleeping, ready for a full day tomorrow: breakfast buffet at Planet Hollywood, rehearsal, an exhibit at the Natural History Museum, dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, and another musical ('In The Heights').

Here are some photos of dinner tonight, I tried to catch all the faces:












And here we are outside the theatre after the show, getting ready to head back to the hotel:

Arrived in NYC!

We've just completed our Thursday morning & afternoon sight-seeing, and are checking in to our hotels now. It's about 4:00 and we'll head over to B.B. King's Blues Club for dinner in about 1/2 hour, followed by 'The Adams Family', a musical adaptation of the TV show/movie starring Nathan Lane & Bebe Neuwirth. The critics weren't kind in their reviews, but we hear box office has been brisk - so apparently the public is voting with their dollars ...

Both flights arrived safely at the Sheraton Hotel this morning, and after stowing bags we departed in groups for separate sight-seeing activities. Some groups went to Central Park or 5th Avenue; our group went to Times Square for a little souvenir shopping & (carbomb-free) gawking. After that we all rendezvoused at the Empire State Building for what turned out to be a surprisingly quick ascent to the observation deck and a 360-degree view of New York. Then a stroll back along 5th avenue (or other routes, depending on the chaperones & kids preferences) to the hotel for check-in. And there we are.

Here's some pictures!

Arriving at the Sheraton:


Hanging out in Times Square:

And, the Empire State Building:




As you can see, despite the jet lag everybody's having a great time. Now, off to dinner!