Gulf Coast Tour 2026 Day 9: New Orleans, LA

Kaelin Lamberson ‘28

I was exhausted after our final tour concert, so I went to bed early the night before, getting a full nine hours of sleep!  I had a leftover caramel pecan beignet for breakfast before exploring the French Quarter with Maya A. (we have two Mayas in the group), one of my roommates.  We went to The New Orleans Vampire Cafe and drank virgin blood bags (pomegranate lemonade) before going to the vampire boutique next door.  Maya bought a crow pin (“The Scavenger”) and postcards.  I was convinced that I wouldn’t buy anything and was set on saving my money, but the saleswoman convinced me to buy keychains related to one of my favorite vampire movies (The Lost Boys) and TV shows (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) after I blabbed about some of my favorite vampire media.

We then headed back to the hotel after browsing a bookstore to prepare for the Chorus group trip to the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA).  I bought two small, overpriced coffees (an iced latte and an iced mocha) and bonbons, and a large Langston Hughes poetry book.  

I also recreated Thomas Willeboirts-Bosschaert’s mid 17th-century oil painting Venus Mourning the Death of Adonis with Iris (Venus) and Eirini (evil-looking cherub), and I think we nailed it!

I really liked the art piece that looks like a rainbow, since it’s made of photographs of the Mississippi River at different depths, and therefore different colors and hues–very creative! The golden artwork, America, is also incredible!

After my tour and one of two coffee stops (Cafe NOMA), I went to the sculpture gardens with Eirini. Then, we went to Cafe du Monde with other Choristers before boarding the bus to the hotel.

At the hotel, everyone prepared for our group dinner at Broussard’s Restaurant and Courtyard with two alumni (yay, Rebecca and Julie!).  I ordered New Orleans barbecued shrimp and grits and mousse au chocolat to accompany the appetizers (parmesan crusted asparagus and beignets (crab and corn) and demi strawberry salad.  

After dessert, we sang “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” to the waitstaff, receiving compliments and high fives afterward.  I then headed to my room, wrote this blog (after having many technical difficulties due to the awful hotel Wifi–thank you, Maya, for lending me your hot spot), packed, showered, and went to sleep, preparing for the travel day back to Cornell.

Thank you for reading my blog.  I hope you enjoyed it!

Con amor,

Kaelin Lamberson, Care Chair, Soprano II, and Class of ‘28 in the College of A&S

Gulf Coast Tour 2026 Day 8: New Orleans, LA

By Thamarie Pinnaduwage ‘29

Hello! Welcome to our first full day in New Orleans! I started off the morning with a walk around the city. There was absolutely so much to see! The architecture was absolutely incredible, a unique mix of old and new. 

Next, we just had to stop for some classic New Orleans Beignets and coffee! I was surprised by the seemingly never ending amounts of powdered sugar on the top, but nothing can really top sweet, crispy fried dough. 

After the morning adventures, it was time for some morning rehearsal in a hotel conference room. Here we mostly went over small mistakes in our pieces, fine tuning for our very last concert on tour.

As a post rehearsal treat, I stopped again at Cafe Beignet to introduce more chorus members to  these delicious treats. We discovered super fun flavours like caramel pecan and chocolate strawberry.

Lunch time! We stopped at a little Indian restaurant for some much needed nutrition. I ordered the palak paneer and Natalie ordered a chickpea curry that came with a very unique bread! The bread was massive, bubble shaped and absolutely delicious! 

Then, we headed over to our venue for the concert. This was by far one of the most unique churches we had been in, featuring a black box theatre and even a bar!

While waiting at the venue, I stopped for a little sweet treat with Jay at a cupcake shop across the street. We picked up a chocolate and vanilla marbles fairy cake. Then, I went on a little walk around the neighborhood with Iris. We saw some super unique houses too!

After some more rehearsal, it was finally time for our very last concert! Here’s a little Freshman class photo!

Lastly, we enjoyed a beautiful reception organized by the incredible Chorus alum, Rebecca

This was truly an incredibly busy, fulfilling, and exciting day!

Gulf Coast Tour 2026 Day 7: Tallahassee, Florida and New Orleans, Louisiana

By Kate Townsend ‘28

Good morning!!! We started our day off with some lovely hotel breakfast and conversation with some locals - most notably, the owner of a Barbeque sauce company(?)! The Cornell Chorus is a very social group of gals :) Then, it was off to the bus for a nice long travel day.

Early in our trip, we made a stop at the ICONIC buc-ee’s!!! It was many chorister’s first times at this bucket list location, so everyone had tons of fun exploring. After much brisket and many mini beaver’s purchased (I finally got a t-shirt!!! - pictured below), we hopped back on the bus to continue the journey to NOLA.

Back on the bus, we all locked in for a quick bus rehearsal. This included going over notes/problem spots from the previous concert, reviewing our collaboration song for later this evening (classic barbershop anthem “Keep the Whole World Singing”), and surprisingly, an April fools joke by our director Doctor Lerangis and our president Sydney Pho. As you may be able to see (in the image below), we were taught a song with the lyrics “the coconut nut is a great big nut, if you eat too much, you’ll get very fat”. I have to say, the execution was a 10/10, and it took us all far too long to realize we would not in fact be performing this in the evening. Also pictured below is one of the TV screens on which we watched the cult classic, Kung Fu Panda.

Soon it was lunchtime, and we stopped at a mall for some fun and food. I had my personal favorite Raising Canes Chicked (yum!) and enjoyed a fun wander through some of the shops. 

After a few naps and the rest of Kung Fu Panda, we arrived at our performance location for the evening! We all changed into concert attire, played some games, made some beautiful art, and then it was time for rehearsal. We reviewed and sang a bit to prepare for the evening and then got to watch NOLA Vox (our collaboration group) go over some of their repertoire.

Then, in a flash, the concert came and went - a great success!!! The crowd was fantastic, and it was such a joy to hear and sing for the other, super talented group. Vibes were very high as we headed to a restaurant to socialize with our collaborators and relax for the evening. The barbacoa tacos were to die for, and I learned tons about barbershop music from Beth and Eileen, two of NOLA Vox’s incredibly sweet baritone singers.

Before bed, I took a quick wander around with some friends to acquaint ourselves with this beautiful city - and left behind some promotional chalk art as well! We met sweet dogs and even sweeter humans that night, and then wrapped up the evening by heading back to the hotel for some much needed rest. Yay Tour!!!

Gulf Coast Tour 2026 Day 6: Sarasota, Florida and Tallahassee, Florida

By Bella Brisson ‘26

This was a very jam-packed day full of travel and a concert. We started bright and early at the hotel for breakfast/waiting for the bus (Maybe a little too early - we were all very sleepy still). We then got on the bus and headed for Tallahassee!

We of course had to make a lunch stop, and we picked a nice mall not too far from our concert venue. I wasn’t even sure if this was our Tallahassee mall because they all started to look the same after a while. A very popular lunch among the Chorus was Chic-fil-a. I got a chicken teriyaki dish for some much-needed vegetable intake.

This picture of our lovely Sophie Spindler ‘28, came after she took pictures of all of us with this tiny foam finger we found in the merch suitcase. I believe this series of pictures can be found on the Instagram. This was just another fun thing that happened on the bus to pass the time.

Finally we arrived at our venue, the lovely Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More right near the FSU campus. I only got this picture during our time here, because we were super busy going right into rehearsal and then preparing for our concert. This concert was non-secular music only, so we actually brought in some pieces that were exclusive to this venue, such as “Long Time Traveller” arr. The Wailin’ Jennys, and “Illumina le tenebre” by Joan Szymko. It was a lovely concert and nice reception afterwards. This venue was fun and reminded us of Ithaca, because we actually found hills in Florida!

We ended our day in Tallahassee with a dip in the hotel pool. These pictures are from before most of the Chorus arrived, and we ended up having about 20 choristers in the pool splashing around while singing some of our favorite tour rep. It was a great end to a long day, and we were all ready to go sleep afterwards and leave for NOLA in the morning!

Gulf Coast Tour 2026 Day 5: Sarasota, Florida

By Sophie Spindler ‘28

Good morning from Sarasota! I started my day with breakfast and a sunny coffee walk with Eirini, one of our wonderful Tour Managers. We then took a group trip to the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens where we learned about epiphytes and orchids. The property was beautiful, and I was happy to learn about all their conservation efforts!

We then boarded the bus and were dropped off for free time! I joined some other choristers at Publix for pub subs that we enjoyed at Siesta Key beach. The water and sun felt so nice compared to the Ithaca winters! We did cartwheels, we swam, we napped, and we had a lovely time.

After the beach, we made our way to Café Epicure for a group dinner. I got pasta and tiramisu which was delicious. We then boarded the bus and went back to the hotel. I chatted with friends, packed for Tallahassee, and went to sleep!

Gulf Coast Tour 2026 Day 3: West Palm Beach, Florida to Sarasota, Florida

By Claire Kurisko ‘27

Today we traveled to sunny Sarasota for the second concert of our tour!

We got out nice and early and bused from West Palm Beach to Sarasota, stopping along the way for a nice lunch at Publix!

We finally made it to our beautiful concert venue in the mid-afternoon, where we rehearsed before our concert. We had a wonderful concert and an outdoor reception, where we got to know some of our guests and alumni!

After our performance, we bused back to our hotel and had a little karaoke session on the way. After a long day of travel, we met our wonderful homestay, Joanne, who welcomed us into her home. We got to relax by the pool and get to know Joanne, and turned in early to prepare for a day of exploring Sarasota tomorrow.

Gulf Coast Tour 2026 Day 2: West Palm Beach, FLorida (3/27)

By Natalie Suggs ‘26

We started off our day with hotel breakfast! They had a really good selection and some very nice potato wedges, plus fresh fruit.

Next, we had some time to chill at the hotel before the bus would take us downtown, so some of us went to the outdoor pool and enjoyed the Florida warmth outside. We also got to appreciate the palm trees surrounding the pool.

After, we boarded our bus to head to our concert venue for the evening where we were able to drop off our concert clothes.

Then, we had an hour of free time to explore Sarasota. We were close to City Place which was an outdoor mall, so we headed over there and explored some of the shops. We also saw a beautiful fountain on the way.

On our way back to the church, we passed by some outdoor chess sets and stopped to play a quick game.

Then, we headed back to the church where they gave us some lunch.

Afterwards, we rehearsed in the chapel in preparation for our concert.

After our rehearsal, we had an hour where we made a quick CVS run for some snacks.

Once we got back, we all changed and then we were ready for our first concert on tour!

This was a very fun concert, and it was great to see all the alumni in the audience. After our concert, we had a reception in the courtyard.

Then, we got boxed dinners from the alumni and headed back to the hotel for the night. At the hotel, we ended up finishing the day off with some time in the pool.

This was a really fun day, and we were able to fit in a lot of things and have a great first concert!

Alpine Tour 2025 Day 7: Vienna, Austria (4/3)

By Claire Kurisko ‘27

Today we had free time to explore Vienna until 3:30! I decided to spend the morning and afternoon exploring the city. I visited Belvedere Palace and St. Stephen’s Cathedral with my friends. We also tried Wienerschnitzel at an Austrian restaurant! After lunch, I visited the Hofburg Palace and went to a butterfly garden full of butterflies and moths. We returned to our hotel at 3:30 and traveled to TU Vien for our collaboration concert. We rehearsed in the space, watched TU Vien rehearse, and had a very fun concert together! We also had a mixer with TU Vien after the concert, and it was amazing to connect with the students at the University.

Alpine Tour 2025 Day 7: Vienna, Austria (4/3)

By Xiangyue Lin ‘27

- Free time
I originally went to Schubert's birthplace in the morning, but because it was closed, I took the streetcar and underground to Karlsplatz.

At first, I visited the famous Musikverein from the outside: it was a gorgeous light-red building with glamorous figures and ornaments.

I walked along the street and entered a park. Here, I met Anders, Hongtao, Claire, Sofia, and Erin. They took me into the butterfly house. Inside the house, large butterflies were everywhere: some were flipping their glittering wings, some were savoring food on the plates, and some were staying on a flower. Nature's beauty also had a place to thrive in Vienna.

Afterward, I had my lunch and went into St. Stephen's Cathedral to explore what this immense and elaborate building looks like. The sunlight passing through the stained glass windows left shades of blue and purple; the organ played intermittently; the candles burned silently.

- TU Wien! TU Wien!
At 3:20 PM, we all put on concert blacks and headed for TU Wien.

When we arrived, we rehearsed for a while. After a short free time, we gathered at the staircase to form a circle. Because this was our last concert during the tour and also the last tour for the graduating students, Prof. Lerangis let those students stand out and told us how they served as our role models with their commitment and love. Then, Prof. Lerangis said: "Arts should be shared, and we were sharing our art throughout the tour." Their saying made me very proud as a Chorus member because I was one of the people sharing music in different corners of the world.

The concert began. It was called "Pop Meets Classic." We performed choral pieces from the Renaissance to modern times composed by musicians from various countries. Before we sang the final song, Prof. Lerangis also expressed gratitude to the three tour managers who organized anything, no matter how big or small. After that, our final performance ended with the delightful and powerful gospel "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands."

Following our performance was the TU Wien Choir. At first, they formed a large circle around the venue, letting their voices resonate around and encompassing us; then, they performed a wide range of popular pieces with incredible creativity, such as using cellphones to create light effects and a variety of choreography. Alex, the conductor, swayed with the melody, seeming like an inseparable part of the harmony. We danced and clapped together with them. After each piece's end, we shouted "TU Wien! TU Wien!" because of our excitement about their performances. We cannot believe that such a young choir with 11 years of history had so much energy and musicality, just like the bright and bold clashes of black and blue they wore on the stage.

As a student studying conducting, I talked with Alex after the concert. The fact that he was not a professionally trained conductor startled me: He works both as a computer science lecturer and a choral conductor! However, even though I am taking conducting classes as a music major, I still need to learn a lot from him: how he managed his life, maintained his musical engagement, and interacted with the members effectively.

The mixer was in a large room. TU Wien students sang a song they arranged, and then the Glee Club sang "Ride the Chariot;" after TU Wien's second song, Chorus members formed a circle and did "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." Then, TU Wien performed a pop song medley, and we all sang along with them. Everyone was chatting, singing, and dancing, making the night unforgettable: even though we were from different countries, our love of music and willingness to share our art brought us together.

Alpine Tour 2025 Day 6: Vienna, Austria (4/2)

By Rina Macaranas ‘28

Goooooooood Morning Choristers! I'm writing to you from Salzburg at the ripe hour of 6:30 AM! We’re leaving today at 10, and I feel as if I didn’t get to go see enough of the city. Emma and Maya texted me last night and asked to go to the Sound Of Music Gazebo! It is so early…. But I’m excited– and there is a bus that takes us there!

Our time with the gazebo included such effervescent activities like:

• skipping around it

• contemplating picking the lock (i would never break any laws ever)

• singing 16 going on 17 dramatically

• taking exuberant amounts of photos

Also, thank you for noticing my dress. Where did I get it, you may ask? Second Hand in Salzburg. That’s right, my thrifting game does not end, even in Austria. :)

But alas, all good things must come to an end, and so we left Salzburg by train. Luckily the train ride was fairly short— and I napped/looked out the window for all of it. And then… we arrived at Vienna! I specifically requested to blog in Vienna, not due to any emotional attachment to the city, but because Vienna (the Billy Joel Song) is the song that got me into singing. I’ve been a pianist most of my life, and the piano for the song is enchanting. I sang it as the finale to my Senior Piano Recital— it was a hit.

Well, today was a very busy day— we went straight to the venue to do a sound check. The gasp I let out when I entered the cathedral was audible (with an audible reverberation too!) Once we dropped off our belongings at the hotel and ate a small snack, we changed and headed to sing!

I think this is the best we have ever sounded. It sounds corny, but I entered a complete flow state. We’ve been performing a lot over the last week, and our legs and feet were so sore, but all of that hurt seemed to fade away as we began singing. The audience was excited to hear us, and our voices were amplified by the tall vast ceilings of the cathedral. All in all, it was transcendent— I wish I could’ve been there to simply listen.

We didn't have much time to explore Vienna today, but I walked around with a few friends and got gelato before resting! (+rock climbing? Inexplicably there was a rock climbing wall outside of our hotel…)

Don’t think I forgot about Billy Joel, though! I had a friend take a video of me singing Vienna (in vienna!) I couldn’t find a piano, unfortunately, so its way less impressive… but I had a great time today. So sad tour is coming to a close!

Alpine Tour 2025 Day 5: Salzburg, Austria

By Summer You ‘26

Rise and shine… or not? It is a cloudy, slightly chilly day, but Glorus was excited to be in Salzburg regardless. We arrived at Mozart’s Birthplace Museum around 11AM, and took a tour through the quaint yellow townhouse where the renowned composer was born. There were some cool historical artifacts, such as old official documents, music scores, portraits, and such, but also bizarre things, such as strands of hair that allegedly belong to Mr. Wolfgang (creepy much?) and some funny Lego statues of him, which of course I took a picture with.

After touring a second Museum dedicated to Mozart, my friends and I decided to stop for a quick lunch at a restaurant across the street. The salads and rice bowls we chomped down were delectable, but we all raised our eyebrows at a strangely carbonated and unsweetened citrus drink that Pranati got (what is the European obsession with carbonated water?).

After lunch, we headed out and walked around the beautiful roads of Salzburg. Chloe, Emma, Jay, and I took our time browsing through cute shops and appreciating the scenery of the water.

 We didn’t have a lot of time left, so we attempted to find our way to the Fortress Hohensalzburg, but of course, our lack of research deterred our path, and we only realized that you’re supposed to take the FestungsBahn, or a cable car, to get to the fortress when we were already stuck in a 7th floor dark obscure parking garage trying to understand Google Maps. But no worries! We climbed up a large set of stairs and were still able to obtain a stunning view of the city and historic buildings.

Pranati texted me about an amazing thrift shop nearby, so of course we headed straight for that. The shop had so many amazing, cute clothes for decent prices, and I was too excited to try on all the old grandma chic aesthetic clothes (that’s what my friends have named my fashion style) to remember to take any pictures. But in the end, I got 3 cute button-up shirts and a jacket for only 30 euros! What a steal.

We rush back to the hotel to get changed into our concert attire and head to the Salzburg Cathedral with the rest of Glorus. The Cathedral was stunning–the biggest and most ornate venue of this tour so far–and I was super excited to hear our harmonies in this space. They even put up posters of us outside as advertisements! The concert went well, and it had a great turnout.

We were all famished after the concert, so we decided to head to a nearby Italian restaurant, which served up big platters of pasta and even bigger pizzas for a cheap price. We chatted with the friendly waiter from Greece and went home with our stomachs and hearts full. And that’s a wrap for Salzburg!

Alpine Tour 2025 Day 4: Salzburg, Austria (3/31)

By Gloria Lane ‘28

On 3/31, my room awoke a bit late. We got dressed and packed quickly to join the rest for breakfast. Our tummies were filled with hotel croissants and cappuccinos. All 80 of us walked to the beautiful Swiss train station where we took a short train before beginning our longer journey to Salzburg, Austria. On the train many people slept while Claudia and I listened to podcasts. After being amazed by the stunning alps I sketched a picture of my view out the window. We then used my sketchbook to draw portraits of each other where I have to admit Claudia beat me significantly.

At around 4pm our train halted into the station we filled out and I was lucky enough to have my suitcase carried on and off by the glee club. We arrived at Zum Hersen hotel where we got dressed up for dinner. In our fancy attire we arrived and ate at Sternbrau. I had the turkey with apple strudel for dessert but others enjoyed goulash and chocolate cake. With a full tummy I ended the night walking around the beautiful quiet city on a Monday night before returning to bed to prepare for tomorrow’s concert.

Alpine Tour 2025 Day 3: Zurich, Switzerland (3/30)

By Kaelin Lamberson ‘28

It was a rough night for me because in addition to recovering from jet lag and the five-hour time difference, I lost an hour of sleep due to daylight savings. I got four hours of sleep, waking up early to have breakfast at the Novotel Genève Centre. I couldn’t even tell you my favorite part of the meal because everything was so scrumptious! I’m not a cheese fan, but when in Switzerland, one MUST try cheese! I actually quite enjoyed three or four different types of cheese (the names of which evade me). Now, I can genuinely smile when saying “Cheese!” for a photo because I’m brought back to the happiness and fulfillment I felt when dining on these delicacies.

I slept on a forty-minute train ride for half an hour and on a two-hour train ride for an hour, dozing on my friend Rita’s shoulder. I practiced some of our concert repertoire and snapped some scenic shots of Switzerland. The hills were indeed alive with the sound of music!

While waiting outside Hotel Zuri By Fassbind, we saw a young child and their father smiling and waving at us from about four stories or higher above us. I beamed, searching for the pair, smiling even before I spotted them because their unexpected kindness was sweeter than the breakfast I had this morning.

The acoustics in Kirche St. Anton were incredible and our concert was a great success. Before two alumni joined us at the end to sing the “Evening Song” and “Alma Mater,” we sang “Happy Birthday” to Jill Parker, one of our fantastic tour managers.

To celebrate Jill’s birthday, a good chunk of Choristers (mostly After Eight (A8) members - Jill is in A8, as am I) ate at Piccolo Giardino. Before going to this restaurant, A8 sang our version of “Girlfriend” (our welcome-to-the-a-cappella-group song) to Frannie (the current A8 member who has been in the group the longest) to surprise her and because of this, we had to run to the tram. Four of us made it (including me, hehe).

A large group inside the restaurant was silently and intently watching something on a TV, so we dined outdoors, though it was a little chilly. The waitress was kind, offering us candlelight and blankets. The kitchen was closing but we were able to eat pasta, soup, and mushrooms. I didn’t know what the soup of the day was but ordered it nonetheless, hoping to warm up nicely. It was pea soup and I was not a fan. Frannie swapped dishes with me, so I had her pasta with tomato-chile pepper sauce, which I enjoyed (bless her, she’s so generous).

While today was mostly dedicated to train and tram travel, rehearsal, and the concert, I had a great time! I had never been to Europe before this trip and am so grateful to the Chorus for providing me this life-changing experience.

Con mucho amor (“with much love”) from one who “passed through the valley” (a lyric from “and the swallow,” a song arranged by Caroline Shaw in our repertoire),
Kaelin, ‘28

Alpine Tour 2025 Day 2: Geneva, Switzerland (3/29)

By Natalie Suggs ‘26

This was quite a long day, we ended up fitting in a lot of activities! I was rooming with Suhana and Julieanne, and we started out the day with breakfast at the hotel. There was an incredible array of options, lots of fruits and vegetables. We took a quick roomie picture before heading down to breakfast.

After breakfast, we joined up with Maya, Adedayo, Jiji, and Arianna and headed towards the edge of Lake Geneva in the hopes of taking a boat across part of the lake. However, we were unable to find the boats so instead we crossed the bridge by the lake. The lake was beautiful, it was showing different shades of greens and blues. And you could see the mountains in the distance which was an incredible sight! We also saw a swan standing on a shallower part of the lake.

After crossing the bridge, we arrived at the edge of the Jarden Anglais, where we saw a statue surrounded by flowers. We also ran into another group of people in the Chorus, and we took a giant group photo together under the statue.

Next up we headed towards the Old Town, and made our way up to the Saint Pierre Cathedral. On our way up, there were a couple of cherry blossom trees which were blooming, and we made a quick stop to take pictures. We also took a fun staircase photo together.

Finally, we reached the Cathedral. It was huge and had giant pillars at its entrance outside. Inside, it was very tall and had a very impressive design. It also had some beautiful stained glass windows.

Inside the Cathedral, we ended up going up the tower which was 157 steps up a winding staircase! While it took a while, the view at the top was amazing. There was a wonderful view of the city from all sides of the tower. We also could see the bells that they ring, and on our way down we heard them ringing.

After the Cathedral, we headed towards a chocolate shop called Guillaume Bichet, and along the way we saw some cool statues and scenery.

Next, we headed back to the hotel for a brief rest. Then Suhana, Julieanne, Jiji and I headed back out for lunch. I’m vegan, and Suhana found a vegetarian restaurant with many vegan options near us called Give A Fork, so we took the tram over to the restaurant. The food was delicious and tasted incredible, we all really enjoyed it!

After the late lunch, we headed back to the hotel and got changed for our concert. We then headed over to Holy Trinity Church for our first concert! It went well, and it was really cool to experience our first concert in Europe!

After the concert we headed back to the hotel and went straight to bed and all fell asleep right away, as it had been a very fun but very exhausting day!

Alpine Tour 2025 Days 1 & 2: Geneva, Switzerland (3/28 & 3/29)

By Emma Alexander ‘26

We begin our journey bright and early in Ithaca! Our bus left Ithaca around 10 AM to head towards JFK. From there, it was a six hour flight to our first stop of the tour, Geneva, Switzerland! After a long day of travel, we started off our trip with our first rehearsal at the Holy Trinity Church. The stained glass was absolutely gorgeous!

After rehearsal, we had some free time, so we decided to check out Lake Geneva. The lake is one of the largest in Western Europe, and spans across both Switzerland and France. We stopped to take pictures, and then continued onwards across the bridge to this beautiful park with some of the prettiest flowers I’ve ever seen! In the park, we passed multiple groups of about two dozen individuals dancing together to music, which was a great way to start the trip.

After the park, we had some time to walk around Old Town, where of course we had to stop for chocolates! After eating those within five minutes, we continued on deeper into Old Town, where we passed a beautiful carousel and entered the Terrasse Agrippa-d'Aubigné park, which gave us some great views of the Old Town area. Here we also saw some cherry blossom trees, which reminded me of home! On the way back to the hotel, we also stopped in Letu Books, which is a book store entirely dedicated to the arts! Inside, they had books in both French and English on everything from chair designs, to theatrical sets, and expressionist art. Of course, I had to take a picture of the typewriter they had for sale! The day ended with a lovely group dinner!

Bright and early the next day, we ventured out to explore Geneva! As a serial roadside-curiosity lover, my first stop was the Broken Chair monument outside the United Nations. This chair is symbolic of the human rights campaign against landmines. After visiting the chair, we headed across the street to see the UN Alley of Flags! We looked, but couldn’t seem to find the U.S.

After the Alley of  Flags, we headed over to the Geneva Botanical Gardens, which we explored both inside and out! We also attempted to find a geocache for a good hour before coming to the conclusion that someone had likely stolen it (although I was still able to find one in Austria!). The botanical gardens also had a small zoo with some adorable animals!

After the botanical gardens, we headed over to the Museum of Art and History. The museum had a vast variety of artwork on display, and is currently exhibiting an exhibition on clocks and music boxes. Afterwards, we grabbed some really amazing cheese fondue from the oldest cafe in Geneva. Bill Clinton apparently dined there a few decades ago!

We also stopped at the gravesite of Frank Martin, the composer of the Latin mass we sang throughout the entire tour, to pay our respects. Overall, it was a jam-packed day before our concert in the evening, but it was a great way to kickoff tour by exploring the beautiful city of Geneva!

Northeast Tour 2024 Day 10: DC -> Ithaca

By Emma Alexander, 01/20

While the last few days have been exciting getting ready for classes to start, it would be remiss of us not to mention any of our trip back home from DC to Ithaca!

After our fantastic reception the night before, we woke up in DC bright and early on Saturday to hit the road! While it was sad saying goodbye to our homestays and knowing tour was coming to an end, we still had a long bus ride ahead of us. To pass the time, we talked, made friendship bracelets, and took much-needed naps to rest up for our return from tour concert this Friday.

For lunch, we stopped at a mall in Pennsylvania, where there was unfortunately no singing cotton candy machine this time. After a nice lunch and looking through stores that were having sales (we are on a college student budget after all), it was time to hit the road again. For the second half of our drive, there was more laughter, talking, and much-needed rest. After driving for a few more hours through gorgeous snowy hills, we arrived in Ithaca around 6 pm. 

The fun didn’t end there, however. Once we arrived, we got to sing Will the Circle for one of our fantastic bus drivers, John. John and Stacy, our other amazing driver, worked tirelessly to make our tour as smooth as possible, and it was such a joy getting to know them throughout our trip. 

After parting ways, a group of us stood outside laughing and waiting for a bus back to our dorms, a memory I’m sure we aren’t soon to forget. That evening, a few of us couldn’t quite seem to part ways, and we spent hours reflecting on the joys that tour brought us. 

To everyone involved in this tour, whether it be our tour managers, professors, homestay hosts, or those who attended our concerts, I want to say thank you. Thank you for giving us such wonderful memories to look back on, and for helping us to create a community of music lovers. I know I speak for all of us when I say that we hope you enjoyed our tour as much as we did, and we hope everyone we met along the way will keep in touch!

And again, thank you, thank you, thank you.

With love,

Emma 26’

Northeast Tour 2024 Day 9: DC

By Summer You, 01/19

January 19th started with an unexpected snowstorm! Washington D.C. was evidently unprepared for snow, so my homestay group took an alternate route to meet with the rest of Glorus in the morning. We toured the Capitol building together; there were lots of old paintings and sculptures that were well preserved and displayed historical but outdated perspectives of the American population at the time of the artwork’s creation. The most memorable was the portrait monument to suffrage pioneers: I found it intriguing how the sculpture was left intentionally unfinished to symbolize the ongoing fight for gender equality in the US.

After enjoying some warm pho at a nearby restaurant, my friends and I headed for the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in the afternoon. I personally am a HUGE fan of museums so I had a lot of fun seeing all the sections. I loved playing around with the interactive gadgets in the Human Origins hall and fantasizing about all the different colorful gems in the gemstone hall. My friends and I also took some pictures with casts of dinosaurs and prehistoric humans.

We arrived at the Church of Epiphany for our soundcheck before the concert around 6PM. Everyone was talking about how we were almost done with the tour and how we hoped to end this tour on a good final note. Some Glorus members prepared gifts for our directors and tour managers and got many members to sign them, which was super sweet and wholesome. The concert went very well and I thought it had some of our best performances of songs that we previously struggled with. Dr. Nieh also laughed at our tour burn so I call that a success!

Northeast Tour 2024 Day 8: Philly -> DC

By Claire Kurisko, 01/18

Today was a relaxing day full of good food and good fun with the glee club and chorus! We slept in this morning, and many of us had a nice breakfast at our hotel in Philadelphia. After our rehearsal, we grabbed a quick lunch and got ready to depart for Washington DC!

Our bus ride was pretty relaxing, and most of us ended up napping for the few hour journey.

Once we got to DC, we all ran over to see the White House before our dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. The evening was full of laughs, and we also celebrated two birthdays while at dinner!

After a long day, everyone was ready for a good night sleep to get ready for our last concert tomorrow, and my friends and I departed to our lovely homestay’s house!

Only two more days of tour left!

Northeast Tour 2024 Day 7: NYC -> Philly

By Amy Mojica, 01/17

Yesterday, our day was super eventful! We started off the day in NYC, then made our way down to Mount Saint Mary Academy in Watchung, New Jersey for a workshop with the choir members. They were all incredibly talented, and we exchanged music in the chapel. Each group sang two songs for the other, and it made for a great sense of community.

Shortly after, we had a lunch break that was initially supposed to be in Plainfield, NJ. That didn’t work out, so we drove a bit further out until we reached the Menlo Park mall and enjoyed some food in each other’s company. My friends were feeling silly so they brought cotton candy from a singing vending machine (we got a lot of laughs from it). The bus ride to Philly was peaceful, but not for long because we played CHORUS JEOPARDY! Unfortunately I was a member of the losing team, but the glory of knowing that Prof. Lergangis’ only dislike in the world was Dr. Pepper was enough to tide me over the journey of overcoming shame.

Afterwards, we held a short rehearsal for the concert in Philly, and went up to sing. Overall, it was a great show and seeing all the different people come out to support the choir program was a reminder of the community that chorus has given me. A few of the glorus members went to dinner together after the concert and had a taste of Philadelphia (we loved it)!

Thank you to everyone who has been so thoughtful and accommodating towards the Chorus and the Glee club—tour has truly been such a joy!

Much love,

Amy :-)

Northeast Tour 2024 Day 6: NYC

By Priscilla Natawidjaja, 01/16

Hi! I’m Priscilla, a senior in the Chorus. As a tour manager from NYC, I was so incredibly excited to plan this stop and bring the Chorus and Glee Club to my hometown!

In the morning, we had a workshop at Stuyvesant High School, my Alma mater! We had three sessions with the high school’s tenor bass choir, the treble choir, and the SATB choir learning different songs from our rep. We also sang a few pieces from our rep and answered questions about our experience at Cornell.

Next, we had free time to explore the city. Students wandered all around Manhattan, walking around Brookfield Place, Times Square, and Tribeca.

In the evening, we got ready for our concert at St. Barts, a stunning venue in the heart of the city, lit up in red for Cornell. The concert was incredible, with a huge turnout! After the concert, we had a lovely reception coordinated by a few NYC alums: Megan Lemley, Nancy James, Debbie Skolnik, TP Enders, and Jacques Boubli. It was so great to meet all the alums and sing Cornell songs together.

This day was particularly special to me for a myriad of reasons—not only was I able to return to my high school and reconnect with old teachers and friends, and it was the first time my family was able to listen to us sing in person.