After a later wake up call, another yummy breakfast, and a short bus ride, we were at our performance venue - the National Auditorium located in the children's museum. This building was created out of the ruins of a dilapidated Costa Rican prison, making for a most interesting space. While the auditorium itself is reminiscent of a good high school auditorium, there was a full time staff tending to our every need. By the way, there is ONE set of choral risers in CR, and we used them for this performance.
The dress rehearsal went off without a hitch. Our conductors have done a wonderful job of pacing the rehearsals so the choirs did not become exhausted throughout the rehearsal period. They were also inspiring and engaging to our students, exactly the reason they've gained the reputation they have. They also secured some incredible musicians to perform the concert with us - José-Maria is a top notch percussionist, and has been a highlight of the musical process.
The concert was very well attended, mostly relatives and parents of the CR choir who joined us. Paul and Sean spoke about each piece, with Marcela (the Costa Rican choir's conductor) there to translate. Actually, the audience customs of our CR audience wasn't all that different from US audiences - complete with cell phone rings and babies crying. :-)
After the concert came the time that I will probably look back on the most fondly when thinking about this trip. Our students weren't exactly thrilled about hanging around the children's museum after the concert, but they ended up sitting in a big circle on the floor with a group from the CR choir. Now, you know how our kids are with wifi - they can spot it a mile away and disappear into their phones. The space had wifi, yet here were our kids, joking and chatting with these CR students, eschewing technology for real live human interaction. I paced a few meters away, smiling the whole time. I'm reminded that we can't force these things to happen, but if they happen organically, they're all the more special.
Headed to dinner now at the mountain restaurant our guides have been raving about. Tomorrow: Arenal.
No comments:
Post a Comment