'What an Incredible Adventure We Had!'

Some thoughts from Ms. Anne Tornillo, Choir Director:

What an incredible adventure we had! I was so proud to be associated with this wonderful group of young people who were consistently pleasant and enthusiastic, mature and professional, and when they were faced with a challenge they rose to the occasion. The flights were smooth; the hotels ranged from nice to very nice; the weather ranged from decent to very nice with the notable exception of the day we visited Chartres and Versailles; the chaperones were all fantastic; and for the most part the students remained healthy.

The visit to the Normandy Beaches was incredibly moving and our special guides for the day were extraordinary. One of the guides came to the hotel the evening before so we could meet and when we asked him what might be an appropriate way to show our gratitude and respect when we visited the American Cemetery, he suggested that we stand on the steps of the Memorial which overlooked the graves and give the gift of a memorial song. We sang Javier Busto's Ave Maria. Unforgettable...
We visited Bayeux and saw the Tapisserie de Bayeux, the Cathedral Notre-Dame Bayeux, and enjoyed the beauty of this lovely town. We explored Tours in the Loire Valley and visited Chateau Chambord and Chateau Chenonceau – I think that we all particularly enjoyed Chenonceau. We set out on a very cold morning and visited Chartres and the cathedral which was undergoing a major renovation - a little disappointing - and then the skies opened as we arrived at Versailles. We all had our umbrellas, rain coats, and warm clothing, but due to a very poor system at Versailles our 2:00 entrance reservation turned into a 2:35 actual entrance time. However, instead of complaining these amazing students began singing their repertoire in the pouring rain and wind huddled under umbrellas. I could not have been more proud. That same evening we arrived in Paris and the sky became crystal clear as we ascended the Eiffel Tower. We moved 91 people on the metro there and back - a little scary, but the students and chaperones did a great job. We had a delightful visit to the Louvre with more time on the Metro and a fascinating bus tour of many of the sights of Paris.
The concerts were all extraordinary. Our first performance in lovely Honfleur was sponsored by their music society. We sang in a venue called Grenier a Sel which was converted from a salt storage facility to a beautiful and acoustically friendly concert hall. There were large posters all over town for the Trumbull HS School Choir performance as well as newspaper and radio advertising. It was a standing room only crowd who were incredibly enthusiastic and appreciative. There was a standing ovation and a wildly enthusiastic call for an encore and a beautiful reception to follow. We really felt like celebrities. Our second performance was in Tours at Notre-Dame La Riche and it was a joy. The church was a perfect size with ideal acoustics and as we arrived they were finishing the tuning of a beautiful piano which they rented for our performance. The advertising was not nearly as evident as it was in Honfleur, so we had a small but enthusiastic crowd and another call for an encore. Our Paris performances were equal parts thrilling and terrifying, but the students and Marsha - our incredible accompanist really, REALLY rose to the challenge. First, we had our performance at Notre Dame Cathedral. We warmed up in our changing facility below the church in one acoustic, our rehearsal was in the Choir Area on the sides of the altar area near the organ, which we used in the performance, in a completely different acoustic, and then our performance was on the main steps of the altar area, miles away from the organ and the pipes using a "monitoring system" between our wonderful accompanist, Mrs. Hall, and me. The camera was behind me so I was told that I had to conduct out to my sides so that Mrs. Hall could see me on the tiny little screen which they installed on the organ. The delay between what she played and the sound that came back to us had to be several seconds, so during the performance, to a packed Notre Dame Cathedral audience, I struggled with the decision to wait for the sound to decay or just plow on ahead with the previous sounds swirling around. The students were so, So, SO professional and just carried on. Our performance at Eglise de la Madeleine was also challenging in terms of the delay; however, Mrs. Hall and I were at least able to see one another from a distance. We were so fortunate to have another large and enthusiastic audience. Phew!!!

The success of our tour was a team effort! So, once again thank you so much to Ms. Rodrigues, Mr. Margonis, our medical team, the amazing chaperones and followers, and of course to our incredible THS Choir students. I could not have been more proud. The students were ideal representatives of Trumbull HS, the town of Trumbull, Connecticut, and the United States. It was a pleasure and privilege.