Music with the Twilight Falls: Thoughts on Twilight Concert 2017

Emily Woo '18

The pre-concert routine was just like any other: I put on my too familiar black dress, black tights, and black shoes. I pinned the hair out of my face and put on some make-up. I checked to see if my music was in order in my folder. Then, I walked up the stairs to the Bailey Hall green room and picked up a white carnation. And it hit me. This is my last concert in Bailey Hall. This is my last Twilight.

I am graduating in a few weeks, and have been in the Chorus since freshman fall. I remember my parents driving up to see my first Twilight performance in Sage Chapel during Parent’s Weekend three short years ago. I remember moving to Bailey Hall the next year wondering if people would come. I remember exuding confidence my junior year, so proud of the Chorus’s ability to move and entertain its listeners. What will I remember about this Twilight?

The first thing that comes to mind is that I felt the most challenged musically this Twilight. In learning In the Bleak by Benjamin Britten and Salve Regina by Pedro Bermudez we were pushed to learn many notes quickly but we learned with confidence that we could make the music come to life. The Chorus made pieces like Ba Wo Thixo Somandla arr. by Sidumo Nyamezele and Thulele Mama Ya by Lisa Young sound easy, but I know all of our minds were racing to remember the words, notes, and structure of the pieces, having put them together that week. The Grail Bird made its world premiere that night, and with the composer Christine Donkin in the audience, we felt pressure to do the piece justice. Nevertheless, throughout the concert, I was never worried about the Chorus’s ability to deliver the music.

The next thing that comes to mind is how true the concert’s theme of Alone | Together was for me. As a Chorus, we have a singular goal to deliver music to the audience, and so I felt a sense of togetherness during the concert in achieving that goal. I especially felt our unity in Cor Meum by Hanne Bæverfjord and Will the Circle Be Unbroken by J. David Moore. But the acoustics of Bailey are such that you very much feel alone on stage. It is really hard to hear other people on your part, being so spread out. Thus, I felt a special kind of focus that night and was determined to come in on my part (I’m a Soprano 2) on time, on the right pitch, and with a warm tone. I’ve really appreciated the push for all members of the Chorus to be musical leaders and I have definitely seen the Chorus’s sound grow and mature over the past few years as a result.

The last thing I will remember is taking a bow with all of the Chorus alumni and exiting the stage for the last time. I am grateful to the Chorus for the memories of bringing music to people around the world and I hope that, before I die, I may tread the Hill again to sing of our beloved Cornell with the Chorus.

Concert Week

Christina Lee '18

It’s concert week! I sit here writing this mere hours from dress rehearsal. The composer of our commissioning project, Christine Donkin, is here with the Chorus on campus, and we are just about to wrap up a crazy week.

I’m a weathered Twilight veteran. I’ve been around this block three times before, yet each week leading up to this concert never ceases to surprise me. This year in particular I was stunned by how quickly we have been able to pull a full concert together in such a small amount of time. Before this week, there were several pieces that I was worried about. Did I know the notes? What were the dynamics? How the heck was I ever going to learn those Xhosa lyrics?

However, over the course of this week, I have become much more comfortable with what the composers have written on the page, or, in some cases, what the Chorus has learned by rote. The notes have become more ingrained in my brain, making expressive technique easier to come by. Through normal rehearsal time and an extra rehearsal on Monday, plus more time in small groups, I have gained the confidence to feel fully prepared for the concert.

I am really excited to show the Cornell community what the Chorus has been working on since late August. As I always seem to say, the semester has flown by. Suddenly, it’s almost November! We’ve made so much progress in terms of group cohesion and musicianship. Through events like Retreat and Homecoming, I feel as though I’ve gotten to know the new members of the Chorus much better. I am so excited for them to experience their first Chorus concert on campus. As a group, we have also learned to work together in various ways. Through sectionals, small consorts, and mixed rehearsals, we have gotten to know each other’s voices better. I’m excited to see our progress come to fruition tomorrow night.

Give My Regards to Davy: Homecoming 2017

Eri Kato '20

“When I get back next fall!”

A few weeks into every fall semester, we are bursting with excitement to see our alumnae and sing with our brothers in the Glee Club during Homecoming! This weekend, we were blessed with eighty degree weather and bright sunshine as we set up our tailgate while reuniting with alumni and introducing the new talent of the Chorus.

As a native of Tokyo, Japan, I had never experienced school spirit manifested in football and burgers before I came to Cornell. Donning my first football jersey (a mighty $44 investment at the Cornell Store just two days prior), I cherished my memories through the lens of my camera.

Although the tailgate ran for a little over 3 hours, the day left no room to rest. As soon as the barbecue was packed up, we hurried over to witness Cornell defeat Brown in an astounding 34-7 game, then to concert call in Bailey Hall where we would later collaborate with the Glee Club for their Homecoming Concert. Changing out of Big Red gear into my ECA dress and flats, I sat on the Bailey balcony and reveled in the beautiful sound of the Glee Club, enhanced by their new members.

It constantly amazes me just how much power, support, and pride we hold in this institution. With every day that passes I feel stronger calling Cornell my new home, and I have never regretted making my life-changing decision to come here. I hope to leave a legacy of music for those to come after me, and make those who came before me proud. I consider myself truly blessed and lucky to be able to be here, call myself a Cornellian, and sing with such talented, phenomenal people.

"No Whining, No Flowers"

Sophia Zhang '21

I’ve always thought of myself as someone who shares herself equally between STEM and the arts. There’s some strange, antiquated stigma that comes with a girl who wants to pursue both, as if it’s impossible to enjoy a busy day analyzing DNA and also love spending hours fawning over beautiful polyphonies in a musical piece. To me, music has always had aspects of mathematics and logic woven into it: when I attempt to sightread a complex measure of music, my brain is working just as furiously as it is when I’m trying to debug a stubborn section of code. When Chorus successfully puts together six different and difficult voice parts that clash and resolve intermittently, I’m just as happy as when I’ve finally grasped molecular orbital theory.

It amazes me now to think that the first time I came across the idea of the Chorus’s Commissioning Project, “No Whining, No Flowers,” was actually during high school, when my chorus director included “The Song of Perfect Propriety” in our repertoire. At the time I didn’t think much of it, but this concept means so much more now that I realize its capacity to influence younger singers even without them realizing it. The lyrics of each song no longer revolve around finding the perfect suitor or waiting for unrequited love, but rather some alternative, nontraditional passion. Not only does this commissioning project forefront composers that may be historically underrepresented, it also puts more emphasis on empowering women and others who wish to see themselves as something other than the backdrop in a patriarchal society. Even modern pop songs succumb to the pressure of sexualizing and objectifying women, and I see “No Whining, No Flowers” as an answer to problematic lyrics that teach younger women to remain passive and voiceless. The commissioned pieces are often complex to execute and quirky in nature, but the end result is just as wondrous, if not more so than the typical love song about unrequited romance.

In the end, the Chorus can sing love songs about hapless admiration, but we also have a powerful set of brains and ideas behind our beautiful voices. I’m so proud to be part of a group that celebrates women and others through music.

Alone, Together

Caitlin Gleason '18

Of all the themes we've had in the last three years as a Chorus, never has one been so relatable and thought-provoking as this year's. Isolation and community, as Robert has previously mentioned in rehearsal, relates to the core of the undergraduate experience and because of that, I find myself appreciating this year’s music so much more.

When we enter college, much of our identity is still shifting and transforming just as our voices shift and transform from freshman year to senior year. In a weird and whimsical way, things also come full circle. During freshman year everyone's biggest concern is: who are my friends? What is my community? Who makes me feel at home? I'm sure most, if not all first-year students, fear rejection and isolation during those early months especially. And if not for the musical groups I joined, I would have felt deserted as well.

But by the time senior year rolls around, there comes a newfound sense of appreciation for isolation. It becomes less frightening as we find comfort in enjoying spending time with ourselves, and find that simply observing the world alone is a fine way to pass the afternoon. I have come to appreciate the feeling that I am comfortable, and even often happy, being alone.

With that, however, I also have solidified my communities. That sense of security permits me to enjoy both time learning from those around me and time learning about who I really am.

So thank you, Robert, for picking a theme that leaves me pensive, introspective, and content looking back on how much we grow from freshman year to now. In the same way a choir operates, there is synergy in numbers, but to be impactful you must be equally as confident as a singular singer.

A Rejuvenating Retreat

Medina Keita '20

Every year the Chorus spends a weekend in Vestal New York to work on repertoire that we will perform for the year and for the two Sunday services that are held at Vestal United Methodist Church. Singing for a full day can be as draining as it sounds, but this year I was determined to sing and work in a way that was productive for both my body and my mind. I decided I was going to let myself be fully immersed in the experience of sharing our voices with people who may not be familiar with choral music and the power of its beauty.

On our first day of retreat, we were blessed with beautiful weather. When it came time for a break we all went outside and enjoyed each other’s company. Following tradition, we finished the day with a bonding activity that always makes me appreciate just how similar and different all of the Chorus women are. It makes me feel so lucky to know that I can make such beautiful music with a group of women who are all so strong and inspiring.

Our first performance on Sunday was strong, despite how early we had to be up after a late night of hard work, and our second performance only got stronger after we had settled into our groove. It always surprises me to see just how many people we can make cry during each performance; it serves as a reminder that what we do is important and valuable to so many people we don’t even know. Although I am always apprehensive to step away from the schoolwork that I know is waiting for me, I always leave retreat feeling like I have truly made a difference not only in my singing but in the lives of those it has reached.

A Chance Worth Taking: Audition for the Chorus!

Caitlin Gleason '18

Do you ever ponder those rare, strange, wonderful moments in your life where simply by chance your life drastically altered its course? I often do, and one moment in particular which resonates with me especially this time of year is when I decided to audition for the Cornell University Chorus.

I had sat next to a member of the chorus on my first day of classes freshman year, and she would later become the chorus president. She asked if I was interested in music.

“Well, I’ve played the piano for years,” I’d shrugged coolly. I’d always dreamt of joining an a cappella group at Cornell, but knew I was severely inexperienced in performing and singing. These groups were not for the novices. Yet, she eventually convinced me that having spent only one year in high school choir was reason enough to audition for the chorus. 

I showed up to the audition blithely unaware of what I was getting myself into. I had never done high school theater, had neither accolades nor All State appearances to write home about, and considered myself most comfortable singing in my shower.  But if I had not taken a chance that day—if I had not auditioned for the chorus that afternoon—my college experience would have been so different.

Had I skipped that audition, I would have missed out on touring South America for a full three weeks, singing at Beth Garrett’s inauguration, and becoming musical director of an a cappella group that I swore I only got into by force of sheer luck. Had I skipped that audition, I would have missed out on learning the numerous colorful Cornell alumni songs, performing at Carnegie Hall on my birthday, and working with Grammy-nominated, world-renowned composer Roberto Sierra. 

My advice to anyone considering auditioning for the Cornell Choirs is to simply do it. There is no archetypal chorus member, and there is no such thing as a perfect audition. But more than that, there are many things that make you a valuable member besides solely being musical. Your ability to sight-read is equally as important as your resilience, cooperation, and eagerness to learn. So get out there and sign up. Practice. Don’t drink milk before your audition (I did). And most importantly, stay humble and remember to enjoy yourself because singing is such a gift. Music is a means through which you can make people feel. Music is the universal language through which humanity can connect, an empowering and yet vulnerable power, and it is such a privilege to make music with these incredible, talented people. 

An Ithaca Summer

Michelle Carfagno '19

I remember first reading the "161 Things Every Cornellian Should Do " page in The Daily Sun right before my freshman year. I was so excited by all there was to do at Cornell! However, when I read Item No. 31, "Enjoy Ithaca’s two months of warm weather — spend a summer here!", I was skeptical. Was that just Cornell's way of convincing people to pay for summer classes? What is so good about a summer at Cornell, anyway? In my opinion, the answer is everything.

When I originally was looking into internships for this summer, the last place I was looking was Ithaca. Being pre-med, I was looking into all these competitive programs close to home and deciding which ones I should apply to. However, due to some procrastination and competition, the stars did not align. Chorus tour was approaching, and I was freaking out that I was not going to have anything to do for the summer. However, shortly before I left for tour, an opportunity came my way.

Ever since coming to Cornell, I have always thought about doing research. Everyone always says that Cornell is one of the top research institutions in the country. I always made the excuse that I didn’t have enough time (which is mostly true, but HEY, get yourself involved). However, I realized that this summer was my chance to finally do research at Cornell. There was one lab in particular in the Nutrition department that I had had my eye on for the past year, and I decided that this summer was the time to go for it. And, lucky for me, the stars did align and I was hired to work in the lab! For 9 weeks, I have been coding and analyzing data regarding the use of the word “healthy” on food labels (you would be surprised how complex the word healthy is). As a Biological Sciences major with a Nutrition concentration, I am extremely thankful that I have been able to learn so much about nutrition in just a short amount of time. Also, I am very thankful to have been offered a paid position in the lab for the school year and named a co-author on one of our abstracts, which were both things that I would not have expected to have been given before the summer started. Working 40 hours a week this summer has been tough, but this lab has already given me so much more than I could have asked for.

However, Cornell provides more learning opportunities than just academic ones. A summer in Ithaca teaches you life skills. You may think I am exaggerating, but when summer starts, the dining halls close, and apartment leases start, and you need to start truly taking care of yourself. You now have to find time to make dinner for yourself, clean your whole apartment, and live together with people for the first time. It can be pretty challenging. I am so happy that I got to make all my mistakes this summer, though. I think I have finally memorized where everything is in Wegmans. I also cooked myself some salmon last night, and it came out pretty well if I do say so myself!

Let me revisit Item No. 31 on the Cornell Bucket list, though. It says, “Enjoy Ithaca’s two months of warm weather...” All of us Cornellians know this all too well -- Slope Day is the one warm day of the year, and then classes are over. With an Ithaca summer, however, you get to do all the things it’s too cold to usually do during the year. I’ve tried to be outdoors as much as possible-whether it means kayaking at Taughannock State Falls, boating on Cayuga Lake, hanging out on the slope, or watching the sunset at Ezra’s Tunnel. That’s right, Ithaca sunsets are even more spectacular in the summer. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a sucker for a good sunset. What has made this summer extra special, however, is the people I got to spend it with. I got lucky because there were at least 30 people from the Chorus and Glee Club here this summer. Without them and all the other friends who I spent time with, this summer would have been a lot emptier. To everyone I spent my summer with this year, thanks for all the adventures. I’ll miss ya Summer 2017. #summerofyes

Tour Throwback: Washington, D.C.

Amy Penick '17

It’s windy and sunny as the Chorus plops off the bus directly between the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument. As we parade over to the Hall of Flags in trav, it’s hard not to feel a little patriotic, although passing through a flock of teens decked out in “Make America Great Again” hats aptly crushes that notion. An extremely helpful man shows us our changing quarters, some hungry singers grab $5 coffee and $8 pizza slices from the well-hidden cafe, and despite some members experiencing peak “tour rage,” we sing a somewhat impromptu afternoon concert in the Hall of Flags--and that’s pretty neat. O Magnum Mysterium (arr. Cristobal de Morales) rings beautifully in the chamber above us, soaring gracefully above the ambient noise of partially engaged passersby.

I spend my free afternoon with Anna, Nereida, and Xin on an expedition to find food and adventures. We discover an Indian restaurant that feels like the love child of a wood-fired oven, a sports bar, and a barber shop from the 22nd century. The absurdly tall sofa chairs, the TV screen embedded underneath the stairs, and the toilets’ Japanese control panels are a rather atypical combination to embrace, but the curry and naan make our bellies happy. We proceed to gorge ourselves on some local coffee, chocolate, cupcakes, and gelato before wandering through the sculpture gardens and emulating some statues to pose for photos.

Penny (our bus driver) arrives, despite DC traffic and all odds, to scoop us up and deliver us to the Women’s National Democratic Club, where we have a reception-type event pulled together by a team of planners in DC. This event doesn’t particularly carry any political implications but is more of an opportunity to establish connections between our two organizations. We sing a couple pieces encircling the audience and then enjoy a more casual schmooze session with intermittent Cornell Songs. Hakuna Matata-esque vibes propagate throughout the chambers of the clubhouse, encapsulating even the tiny, Amy-sized bathroom cleverly tucked underneath the staircase.

After a couple hours of Cornell spirit, we pair off with our homestays for the night. I have the pleasure of staying with the lovely Chorus alumna Emily Higgins ‘15 for the next two nights. Nick Ringelberg ‘16, a Glee Club alumnus, brings his homestay kiddos over to our quarters for guacamole and chill. As we share stories it occurs to me that the six of us span six consecutive years of Glorus, each having a unique but ultimately shared experience. It’s opportunities like this that remind me of the power of music to draw people together and keep a community within arm’s reach even after everyone has dispersed from the Hill.

Here’s to life after Cornell and life after Glorus.

Officer Spotlight: Social Media

Brianna Cox '20

I was shopping for snacks at Target when our president, Brigid Lucey ‘18, called me and offered me the position of Social Media Chair for the next year on the Chorus Council. I answered cheerfully and accepted the position, but inside I was thinking about how social media chair was not even my 3rd choice for officer positions. Later, I thought to myself, “Posting on Facebook and Instagram is actually going to be lit, and it fits in so well with being a communication major.” Little did I know that the job would be so lit, I would be excited to do work almost daily from the day I officially became Social Media Chair.

Continuing the work of my predecessors, Kathryn Miller ’19 and Megan Larkin ‘17, I started out simple. But the first time I read through the Social Media Chair log in its entirety, I realized that this position was much more than posting on social media. (FYI: An officer log is a Google document on the officer email’s Google Drive that explains everything that needs to be done in the position and how to do it.) Writing my first Advisory Council report allowed me to flesh out my goals for the position. One of the goals I wrote was, “showing the world who we are: an outstanding treble choir, a student-led organization, and a community with the Glee Club.” How could we show people who we are if a lot of people don’t even know we exist? This is something I still think about and work on. It’s difficult because I have to somehow convey the special part of my life that is Chorus simply through social media posts. To me, increasing our presence is the biggest challenge of the position, but I love the fact that I get to tackle it and make a real impact on this organization.

As I posted more and more on Facebook and Instagram and watched notifications roll in, I was intrigued by the “Insights” button at the top of the Chorus Facebook page. I genuinely wanted to know how people were reacting to our online presence, and increasing reach and engagement was a crucial step in achieving the goal I had articulated in the AC Report. One June night, I clicked that “Insights” button and was transported to a world of statistics, marketing, and social media metrics. Since then, I have been working to figure out the best posting times and days of the week, content that our fans enjoy the most, and strategic ways to reach people outside our current fan base. I found myself creating more work like this beyond the log because I love the position so much.

One of my responsibilities for recruitment as Social Media Chair is to coordinate posts in incoming Cornell class Facebook groups. I began working with John Schafer ’18, the Glee Club Recruitment Chair, to figure out the best way to approach joint recruitment from the social media side (Chorus has two wonderful recruitment chairs, Chiara Alvisi ’20 and Marta Faulkner ’20, who work on recruitment outside of social media, such as Orientation events and talking to prospective students). Coincidentally, John is a communication major like me, and his knowledge from upper-level communications classes and his experience from being Glee Club president last year proved invaluable in creating a posting schedule. We set out to create the “perfect Internet storm” of posting frequency and content that would drive signups for auditions from the summer through O-week.

At some point, this reminded me that people do social media as a career, and it was entirely possible that with my communications degree, I could end up working in marketing for some big company just like I’ve been marketing the Cornell University Chorus. I still don’t know what I want to do with my life, but I have the Chorus to thank for showing me an option.

Three years ago, Marissa Grill ’17 started the position of Chorus Social Media Chair. The position has evolved from the early days of posting rehearsal times on Facebook, PicStitch collaging everything on Instagram, and using hashtags galore on Twitter. It has passed through the hands of two other Chorus women before me, and after me will probably be passed to someone who will be taking their first class at Cornell this fall. But Marissa’s words in the Social Media Chair log will always ring true: “Congratulations on having the best job in the Chorus. Yea Social Media!”

Vulnerability

Megan Larkin '17

Being in the Cornell University Chorus taught me more than some of my hardest classes. The lessons that it taught me, though, were not always about practical knowledge or general skills.  While there could be many names for an overarching theme to what I learned, I feel that none fit it better than vulnerability. When people go to college, they want to gain a lot of adjectives: intelligent, engaging, innovative, hard-working, determined, or strong. We imagine ourselves becoming a better version of ourselves through positive experiences, friends, exceptional teachers, and success.  An instructor I had once told me something that has stuck with me: “Become comfortable with being uncomfortable.”  If you are comfortable in the worst situation, you can be confident in any situation.  To me, this means learning how to be vulnerable.

Vulnerability can take multiple shapes, especially in a choral environment: being alone in an audition, singing next to strangers and knowing that they can hear you, and understanding that if they can’t hear you, you’re partially letting the group down.  These generic choral experiences expose singers to criticism.  The Cornell University Chorus helped me understand vulnerability from multiple perspectives. I was generally nervous about having other people hear me sing, but also about letting them know my personality.  Learning to be vulnerable came through on my first tour, where I learned how to have a conversation with a stranger in whose house I “home stayed”.  It came through living with members of the Chorus and the Cornell University Glee Club, when I had no idea about people’s living habits. It came through traveling to a different country where I didn’t speak the language but learned to communicate with people regardless. It came through finding my best friends by chance, or sometimes by forcefully introducing myself. It came through being abroad for a semester and worrying that people would move on without me and later from understanding that these people would never let that happen.  Chorus taught me to enter to new experiences wholeheartedly, and that there are always people there to support you through it.  It came through helping friends with difficult times and having them help me with my own. It showed me that being vulnerable is not a display of weakness, but of true strength.

Being in the Cornell University Chorus taught me much more than many of my classes.  It not only taught me how to be a good singer, but also a true friend, a world traveler, a Cornell ambassador, an innovator, and a professional.  It taught me to be okay with being completely exposed to new experiences, and to even look forward to them. It taught me to thrive and show my strength in being vulnerable.

Warming Up

Marta Faulkner '20

“You are a tortoise. Shrink your face into a tiny little wrinkled walnut. Now, expand into a big huge face. Fill the room—big, hulking shoulders, that’s it.”

This is a part of Chorus warm-up routine that by now, after almost a year of being part of the group, is nothing I’ll raise an eyebrow at. But when I first joined the Chorus, shrinking faces, throwing invisible balls, and growing organ pipes through the top of my head took me by surprise, though not the way you might think it did. I’d met choral and band directors before and was well-acquainted with their penchant for strange imagery, but I had never encountered a musical group who responded to it so enthusiastically.

Being enthusiastic about anything was taboo in the high school ensembles I was in. Kids slogged through warmups with limp limbs and monotone voices, and the expression of disgust on their faces was proportional to the choir director’s attempts to energize them.

I found early on that warm-ups and everything that follows are more fun and rewarding if I take them all the way. But even though I was engaged physically, there was a constant sense of dragging the rest of the group behind me—and it was pretty embarrassing to be the only one really doing the warm-ups in our small choir. The overall atmosphere of apathy was exhausting, and because of this, my own enthusiasm often fizzled.

But in the Chorus, as I discovered on the first day I was told to become a tortoise, I don’t have to drag anybody; far from it. In the Chorus I can ride along with the enthusiasm of others. There’s no casting your eyes around to check whether everyone else is engaging with the warm-up before you take it seriously. Chorus members dive into every task, silly and serious alike, with equal intensity and equal enjoyment.

This made a profound impression on me when I first joined the Chorus, and I think it’s one of the things that makes the group so great. But it also means a lot to me personally: in the Chorus, I can lip-trill and invisible-hula-hoop and buzz like a bumblebee and enjoy it. In the Chorus, I can be myself without ever feeling ashamed.

Tour Throwback: Charleston, SC

Samantha Reig '17

Here’s what I learned about the Chorus from day six of our tour: there is nothing that breathes life into the Chorus more than a day of exploring a spectacular city followed by a concert with a spectacular audience. I also learned that no amount of rain can stop us, but more on that later.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Tour Manager Liz Mueller ’18 more excited than she was at the moment when it dawned on her that we’d arrived in Charleston (and if you’ve ever met Liz, you know that this is saying something). I knew from working with Liz that this tour stop had been in the making for many months, and that it therefore had special significance to her. She shepherded us all into the church, through a door next to the pews, down a narrow corridor, across a courtyard, and into the room where we’d store our bags. In rehearsal, it was a challenge to figure out our standing positions: we started out sufficiently squished on a set of steps that was taller than it was wide, but director Robert Isaacs encouraged us to use all of the space we had and connect with the resonant surfaces in the room, and by the time we all-too-eagerly dispersed for our free time in the city, our sound was satisfyingly strong.

We had the afternoon to ourselves, and I went with some Chorus friends to Charleston’s historic City Market and Rainbow Row. Walking along the beach and through the market made for a fantastic afternoon and a nice breather from the hard work of rehearsals, concerts, and running from place to place.

Next came the concert. Christina Lee ’18, who manages this blog, asked me to write about what I can already tell will become one of my most treasured Cornell memories, and I hope I can do it justice.

By this point in our travels, we’d already dodged three tornadoes, one by a few hours and two by a few miles. We were bound to get stuck in some crazy weather at some point. This was the only venue of our tour – and in fact, the only venue I can recall ever performing in during my time at Cornell – for which lining up “in the wings” before going onstage meant lining up outside. This worked well up until intermission. But it was exactly as we lined up for the second half of the concert that it started pouring.

If you’d been standing on Anson Street at about 8:00pm on April 5th, here’s what you would have seen: fifty-one singers of the Cornell University Chorus in long black dresses, hugging their folders to their chests as they stood, shivering, single-file under the awning that snaked around the outer walls of the three buildings that constituted the church grounds. Those at the back of the line straining to hear what Robert was saying to those at the front, about how the two pieces we were about to sing would be especially potent in this church which was built by slaves, for slaves, and which stood as a reminder of elements of our country’s past, the progress we’ve made and are making in the present, and all the work that’s left to be done in our future. His message making its way to the back of the line, telephone-style, reminding us of the power of music in bolstering community, especially given the cultural and historical context. Last-minute shuffling of papers as we put our music in order. And Megan Larkin ’17 perched in the doorframe, extending her arm to help Chorus members jump, one by one, through a section of passageway to avoid a heavy stream of rainwater that was coming down from the gutter of the awning just outside the entrance to the sanctuary.

We processed in, singing the Namibian traditional Meguru (arr. Mike Brewer), sopping wet. Intermission had forced us to walk outside, but the audience had stayed inside – it was clear that they sympathized. Once in place on the steps, we went on, without pause, to sing the spiritual Heaven Bound Train (arr. Stephen Hatfield). Our audience, consisting of St. John’s Reformed Episcopal congregants, Cornell Club of Charleston members, and friends of the Chorus from the area, gave us a standing ovation and cheered. From my second-row, right-of-center position on the steps, I looked over at the people at the bottom right of the risers; hair dripping and makeup running, they were all smiling. The rain had stripped away all nerves and any superficiality; we sang from the heart all the way through the Cornell Songs at the end of the concert, which got a sizable portion of the audience singing along.

After a wonderful reception at which Chorus favorites The Hill and The Road Home and numerous Cornell Songs made an appearance, we hopped back on the bus to head to our hotel. Still in high spirits from the fun day we’d had, and knowing we still had our Richmond and Washington, D.C. stops ahead of us, we listened to jokes courtesy of Amelia Pacht ’18 and told each other stories along the ride. Late at night, I ran through more rain – this time, from the hotel to the grocery store nearby – with Marissa Grill ’17, Katie Forkey ’19, assistant director Steve Spinelli, and a few other adventurous souls, to buy supplies for breakfast the next morning. I packaged them up and headed to bed, ready for the long drive to Richmond, Virginia.

Tour Throwback: Tour Day Four

Brianna Cox '20

I stepped off the bus and immediately regretted my decision to put on jeans and booties that morning. It was 75 degrees out, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and we had one hour to experience the beautiful beaches of Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Corralling my fellow freshmen and leading the way, I could feel every moment ticking by as we waited for sandwiches at Subway. As much as I wanted to eat lunch, I was desperate to experience a taste of summer on this tour. Spending spring break singing with my best friends beat going to Cancun and partying all week, but I wasn’t going to let a time constraint come between me and my lifelong love, the beach.

We rushed to the shore as soon as we paid for our sandwiches. The warm, powdery sand felt so soothing against our tired feet. While we sat on the sand eating our lunch, the warm wind blew around us, tangling our hair and threatening to blow our Subway bags halfway across the island. Vacationers lounged or swam in the gentle waves. In our travel attire, we stuck out on that beach like a sore thumb, but we didn’t care. We took pictures by the water and drew our names and Chorus’s Instagram handle in the sand.

A few of us began wading in the water, and my friend Eri was fascinated by the way her feet sunk into the sand with each passing wave. It made me so happy to see her experience the beach for the first time. To me, every time I come to the beach it feels like my first. Having forgotten I wasn’t wearing a swimsuit, I waded deeper and deeper, and before I knew it, my jeans were soaked up to my knees. We could only enjoy the beach for a few more minutes before we had to rinse our feet and head back to the bus. I pulled my socks over my wet and sandy feet and slipped my booties back on.

As the grains of sand grinded against my feet and the breeze chilled my wet legs, I felt a little angry that our schedule didn’t allow for a full beach day. However, I pushed away the tour rage and reveled in the fact that I had a full hour to enjoy the warm southern weather. When I got back to the bus, I shared a laugh with Lauren K, who’d gotten so excited that she’d jumped full-body into the ocean, soaking her hair and dress in the process. That’s when I realized that our little adventure of squeezing a beach day into one hour was worth it, little as it was. We’d made the best of our situation and had an amazing Atlantic Coast beach day. Weeks after tour, this hour still stands out to me. After all,  it’s the little moments that we always remember when things get messy.

Atlantic Coast Tour: Day Three

Brigid Lucey '18

We woke up early Sunday morning in Charlotte, North Carolina and drifted downstairs to our homestay’s kitchen for a 6AM breakfast of pancakes, fresh fruit, and coffee!  The night before, we’d arrived to find gifts on our pillows: travel size amenities and North Carolina t-shirts, and we six Chorus members had all slept soundly after our long drive the day before. 

Sunday was a TRAV day, so I donned a sea foam green dress reminiscent of the 1940s and a pair of heels.  (Note: TRAV is a business casual dress code the Chorus adheres to when we travel to perform.) The weather in Atlanta was predicted to be sunny and warm, so I didn’t even bother to wear a jacket.  What luck to be able to steal away from Ithaca and enjoy some warm weather before spring truly arrives!  We packed up our bags and new treats from the Williams family and they drove us to the bus pickup point as the sun rose over the city of Charlotte.  We passed enormous churches on the way; I thought forward to the rest of the week and of how many beautiful spaces we’d get to sing in.  We reached the bus and our driver, Penny, helped us load our bags under the bus.  A final goodbye and “Thank you!” to the Williams and we were off! 

The tour bus is, as you’d expect, a unique experience capable of bringing groups together but also of creating an arena for tension and stress to mount.  Before embarking on the tour, we decided to combat the fondly nicknamed “Tour Rage” with movies during particularly long rides.  Some Chorus members brought music, homework, logic puzzles, or light reading.  I brought a coloring book!  On Sunday, we watched The Breakfast Club during the ride to Atlanta.  Robert and Steve, our Director and Assistant Director respectively, admitted to the front of the bus that they were pleased with the selection and hadn’t expected us to have good taste.  (We later destroyed their newfound impression by watching Pitch Perfect and High School Musical.  Oh, well!)

On the way to Morehouse College we made a pit stop at the Ponce City Market, where we enjoyed about two hours of free time.  I made sure to get some fresh air in the outdoor areas, and a small group of us ventured to the park across the street to soak up the sun. 

Finally, we arrived at Morehouse.  Their Glee Club is an ensemble of talented, disciplined, and professional young men who demonstrated the epitome of “southern hospitality” to us during our evening at their school.  During our joint sound check, we marveled at how quickly they assembled on the stage (a speed which Robert joked that the Cornell Glee Club could never achieve).  They treated us to dinner at a dining hall on campus where we socialized and compared the inner workings of our groups, and then we all trooped back to the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center where the concert would begin at 7:00. 

The concert hall was almost completely comprised of wood, which made for one of the best acoustic spaces of the tour.  We enjoyed sitting in the audience to watch the Glee Club perform, then we rounded out the first half of the concert with our own individual set.  After intermission, the two ensembles combined to sing Meguru and Walk Together, Children in a powerful SATB choir.  We were honored to perform with such a wonderful group and their director, Dr. David Morrow. 

Atlantic Coast Tour: Day Two

Katie Forkey '19

Second things are forever underappreciated. No one looks forward to their second time moving out or their second car with keen anticipation. Second place is never quite worthy of celebration. We don’t remember the second person to discover the light bulb. And love at second sight is hardly romantic. Gone is the newness and thrill, the pride and pedigree that is reserved only for those rare and deserving firsts.

The weight of the dreaded second place was heavy on the night of our concert in Charlotte. After a seven hour bus ride, I sat at our second venue of the Atlantic Coast Tour, mindlessly taking in the beauty of the arched ceilings and stained windows of the church. The milestone of first concert had passed, and the excitement from the first day had disappeared along with the many hours of sleep intended for the past two nights. I rehearsed, ate, changed, and lined up with the rest of the Chorus, all relatively cheerfully and willingly, but not particularly zealously. The same feeling lingered as we walked out into the sanctuary and greeted the few audience members who had chosen choral music over the last game of March Madness (little did we foresee the dangers of performing in North Carolina on April 3, 2017). Nevertheless, there we were: we were given our first pitch, and began.

There is something about the making of music that cannot quite be captured by any explanation or imitated by any experience. I stood there looking out at our conductor and the dozen or so people behind him, surrounded by these fifty women who have so quickly become my comrades and friends. I felt the exhaustion palpable in the air, mingled with the eager but a bit wary anticipation of the eight more days to come. Now more than ever I could tell that this concert was in the place of the dreaded second. Yet together with these simple sentiments there was another, one that cannot quite be grouped in with them but still cannot be separated. It didn’t matter that my eyes were already demanding effort to stay open. It didn’t matter that I and everyone around me still smelled faintly like the bus. It didn’t even matter that we were beat out of an audience by basketball. The only relevant thing was the weaving and crafting of sound, the floor beneath us and the walls around us vibrating and echoing, the mingling of fifty one voices into one concise and articulate statement of beauty.

At times like this, one of my few remembered high school lessons comes back to me. There is something which the ancient Greeks dubbed “kairos”: undefined in our age, it comes closest to quantifying this strange melange of joy, excitement, satisfaction, and longing that we cannot quite grasp. It is the moment when the human meets the divine; the infinite instant that unites the mortal and immortal, the mundane and sublime. It is this kairos which makes music-making worthwhile. So often we say that the music is its own reward, but without kairos, without that euphoria of creation, that claim is empty. It is kairos which we attempt to communicate, not the sounds alone, when we perform. It cannot be stopped by exhaustion or apprehension or low attendance, because it is the very thing which dispels all three. That night in Charlotte, it certainly did. For with kairos there can be no seconds.

Atlantic Coast Tour: Day One

Christina Lee '18

       I won’t lie, this year’s tour started off a little rocky for me. I woke up to the sound of my housemate’s voice asking if I was ready to go. “It’s 7:41!” She said. We had to be at the tour bus by 7:45. Needless to say, I was a bit frazzled. Was I completely surprised? Considered I’d stayed up until 3 AM packing, not so much.

            Lucky for me, our bus was having some technical difficulties and wouldn’t be ready to go for at least another half hour. My housemates and I arrived at Statler Hall damp with rain and sweat, but thankful that we weren’t the sole reason the Chorus would be a little behind schedule.

            After a quick bus switch, the Chorus was on its way to Hershey, Pennsylvania. The morning’s sour start was definitely sweetened by the prospect of lots of chocolate later in the day. We arrived in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and started our day with a workshop with a couple of high school choirs at our Tour Manager’s old high school. Liz introduced us to her former teacher and two really talented groups. I always love workshops because it gives the Chorus space to reflect on why we continue singing after high school (because we love it) and allows us to share our music with others (which we also love doing). Plus, we get to play fun rhythm games and perform in rounds with the other choirs. It’s always a really fun way to engage with music differently in new places.

            Next, we were off to Hershey Chocolate World. There, we grabbed a quick bite to eat in the gigantic gift shop. The food was all chocolate themed. I loved the pulled pork sandwich topped with chocolate sauce so much that I literally dreamt about it later on tour. Then, we all hopped onto a historic Hershey trolley for a tour of the town. After an hour filled with fun facts and free chocolate, we were back at Chocolate World, hopping on the bus to head to our concert venue.

            Our concert was at the beautiful Messiah Lutheran Church in Harrisburg. The first performance of tour is always a bit interesting. It’s our first chance as a choir to show off our sound in a brand new place with an audience who, in many cases, have never heard the Chorus perform before. However, the concert typically comes after a long day of travel and exhaustion. Maybe it was a leftover sugar high from Hershey or maybe it was the pure excitement of the first day of tour, but the Chorus overcame our sleepiness and pulled together a lovely concert. It felt good to hear pieces we had been working on for a semester reinvigorated and gave us a good idea of the aspects of pieces we could really dig into over the course of our ten day tour.

            That night, I was home stayed by my friend Sarah’s wonderful family. A few other chorus women and I spent some quality time bonding over food and Sarah’s dog, but before we knew it we had to go to bed. The next day, our wake up call was 5 AM and we needed to rest up! Tour Day One: check. Only nine more days to go.

A Note For New Members

Johnna Margalotti '19

Here we are, at the start of another semester that now sprawls dauntingly ahead of me but will once again be far behind me too soon.  Just the other week, I sat in Lincoln Atrium welcoming another round of nervous callbackees, and couldn’t help but become a bit nostalgic thinking of my own Chorus audition freshman fall.  I remember it all so vividly – chatting with upperclassmen who were younger at the time than I am now yet who somehow seemed so mature.  I laughed when a few of the auditoners thought I was a senior, but was instantly humbled to think that they might look up to me just as I looked up to the older Chorus members who calmed my nerves before my own audition. 

That’s when it dawned on me: I am now a middle-aged Chorus woman. I am entering my fourth semester in the group, with nearly half of my career behind me and only half remaining.
As bewildered as I am that so much of my time in the Chorus has already elapsed, I am excited for what lies ahead.  Most importantly, I am excited to welcome a new batch of members to share my remaining time in the Chorus with.  I am excited for them to sing in their first Twilight concert, their first Vespers, their first Commencement.  I am excited to make memories and jokes with them, to make them feel welcome as I was made to feel welcome when I first joined the Chorus. 

So, to my lovely new friends – Katie, Lucy, Gauri, Somi, Dana, and Grace – welcome! I implore you to cherish every moment of your time in the Chorus, because I promise you nothing will prepare you for how quickly it passes.  There will be times sitting in rehearsal when you are forced to tediously sing the same three measures over and over again in pursuit of some yet undiscovered new musical idea, and you will think that those two hours of rehearsal have managed to defy the laws of time and space and stretch out to infinity.  And then, before you know it, you will have survived infinity 40 times over, wishing you could live it all over again because it is such a privilege to be able to enter into this realm that exists outside of time, outside of the daily stress of Cornell.  Enter into this realm willfully and joyfully, always with the awareness that your time here is a finite resource, and glean from this experience all that you possibly can.

My advice to you, and the advice that I hope to heed myself in the next half of my Chorus journey, is to immerse yourself fully – not only musically but also academically and socially – in the incredible experience that lies before you. Be open to new people, new ideas, new ways of thinking and being.  Go to Chariot nights, sing the “Evening Song” on Ho Plaza even when it only 15 degrees outside, sit next to someone new every rehearsal, visit Sage Basement often.  Bring a pencil to rehearsal (and use it). Sing boldly.  And when the next set of new members comes along, remind yourself what it felt like to be in their shoes, and welcome them with open arms.  Keep the circle unbroken.  

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