Results

Ok, we didn't win. We did, however, make some amazing music together, and help people see PSU music in a new way. We have several offers on the table now to come and tour France and other countries, so we win in that way! Looking forward to seeing you all Tuesday!

Competition done

And....it's done. I mean, the competitive portion of the festival is over. Our conductor is at a dinner tonight, where they will announce the winners, so we will know sometime around midnight if we placed in the top 3. Tonight was...so amazing. All the hard work payed off. There was a moment, between the two sets, when we all looked at each other and realized that something special was happening. We spent most of the week being able to hear each other very well in these amazing cathedrals, so, even when we were in a dry room, we knew what we were supposed to sound like. It had become muscle memory. When we got onstage, we gave the music over to the technical side, letting our bodies handle that on their own, while we concentrated on the emotion and heart of the pieces. Of course, technique and emotion are both needed at high levels. It's not that we didn't pay attention to technique. We simply didn't make that our primary focus. It was secondary. We sang with such heart tonight. My tenors and I got offstage and immediately hugged. We felt like we had just won the Super Bowl. It was a huge accomplishment to have sung the way we did tonight. All the countless hours of hard work paid off in an amazing 40 minutes of music making. We know, win or lose, we have done our absolute best, and the judges will decide. As Ethan said tonight, if we are bested by another choir, then we can all agree the world is a better place for having more choirs that can make such amazing music. There are no losers here. 

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Now, our journey here is coming to a close. Tonight is a national holiday here in Spain, so the plaza outside our hotel will probably have music until about 4am. Tomorrow, we have an awards ceremony at 11, followed by lunch with all the choirs. There's a winners concert if we placed, then one more concert in a nearby city. We return to our hotel, then leave at 2am to catch a bus to Barajas airport in Madrid. Then, our flight to the states leaves at 10:30am. Thus begins the journey home. I'm excited to see you all!  I barely have wifi, so I won't post any pictures or video until I get home, but I promise to debrief with you on Tuesday. Keep checking the blog for text updates! I'll let you know later tonight how we did in the competition!

Sound check done

We are waiting. This is the nature of competitions. You get there in a hurry, do a sound check (if you are able), and then you wait your turn. We are fortunate, though, as we are the absolute last choir in our category. There are 9 choruses who are singing in the same category as us, and they will have all performed either yesterday or today, before we go on. That's a good position to be in, as the judges won't be holding back on their scores. We've got two, 4 song sets to sing, and they're not back to back. We do the first set, wait for the other two choruses, then do our second set. It's a great position. Still, the nerves are running high right now. People are pacing, sitting, sipping water anxiously, and waiting. The waiting is the hardest part. Once you do your sound check, you're ready to sing. Then, you don't get to sing. You get to wait. At least we are outside, in beautiful, 70 degree weather with a wonderful breeze. Sadly, the building we are going to sing in doesn't share the acoustic characteristics of the ancient churches we've been singing in, but we are able to hear each other pretty well, which will give us what we need to feel confident when we sing. Ok. Gotta go. More as I can, my friends. 

Competition day

Today is the day. This is the day we go to be judged. It's funny - we feel like we've already won. You see, we've done what we set out to do. We've touched lives with the music. No matter what the judges say today, we know that we've done a good job. It doesn't matter if we win. I mean, selfishly, we would love to win, but it's almost not important. Winning means that so many things have to come together. What's important is that we do our best today. Gotta sing our hearts out in the most competent and emotionally responsible way possible. Then, we can wak away with our heads held high, no matter who wins. No matter what, PSU Chamber Choir came to win the hearts of people through the way we approach and honor the music. If we can do that just a few more times...we are successful. We are competing in two categories today - classical and folk music. Two, 4 song sets. We will be done by 6pm, local time, then it's off to our hotel for some dinner and recap. A lunch and final concert tomorrow, then off to the Madrid airport for the journey home. It's been an amazing tour, once in a lifetime. And it will be an amazing homecoming. Wish us luck!

Back in San Sebastián

Today, we've spent the day in my favorite town, San Sebastián. I took a hike with some friends to the top of the highest point, El Castillo de la Mota.

There's a HUGE statue up there, similar to the one you've all seen in Rió de Janeiro.

It was an arduous hike, as the castle has been on top of this hill for hundreds of years, long before governments required wheelchair access for people. I had to stop a bit, both to rest and to take some pictures.

The hike was worth it, as there was a free museum at the top, which was worth the price of a steep hike. Then, once you get in, you get access to the very top of the observation point. That's where the views were the best. 

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Currently, I'm sitting on a plaza, enjoying a café con leche while a few of our party do some last minute shopping. We have to meet at the cathedral in town in about 45 minutes, so I'm taking the opportunity to simply relax a bit.

We had a rehearsal on the beach earlier, and will have a concert tonight. Then, it's an early lights out so we can be rested for tomorrow's competition. We want to do our best. Not because of winning, but because of us. Because we've worked hard. Because we work well together. Because we are professionals. Because we should. Enjoy your class today. Please let Mrs Lohman know how much you appreciate her, as this is her last day. Also, happy Halloween!!  Be good to each other today, and please be safe tonight!

The final stretch

And so it begins. Today is our last concert before the competition. We will spend most of the day in San Sebastián, rehearsing and wandering around before we have an early dinner and sing. Many of us were here on vacation earlier in the week, but today it gets REAL. The competition push can be felt by everyone. We are all a little nervous, and a bit anxious about what is going to happen tomorrow. While we know we are going to do our best, getting judged is never an easy thing, even if we aren't concerned about the outcome. Gotta run. Bus is arriving at the church for rehearsal. More as I can. 

Bilbao and the Guggenheim

Today, I had the opportunity to go to Bilbao and visit the Guggenheim museum. Every day that goes by, I think, "wow!  This is the trip of a lifetime!"  That's how I felt today. Again. And I'm so thankful. Our time in Bilbao began with a walking tour of the city, beginning with an overlook that gave us panoramic views of the entire valley.

Walking through the older portion of the city, feeling like I was transported back in time several hundred years, I had a moment where I felt like I was literally back in that time.

The people around me were speaking in both Basque and Spanish, and it was a mixture that I couldn't understand. I felt like I was a visitor to another time. It was amazing. 

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The museum was something else. Totally out of this world. Designed by the same architect who designed the Seattle EMP and the Disney Concert Hall in LA, it is quite fantastic.

The exhibits are huge!  The best one is a series of metal walls, made by ship metal. They're massive, and our group of 10 or so spent some time singing in them.

The overtones were so powerful!  I'll share video of them with you once I return. Ok...it's been a long day, and we have the final stretch ahead of us. We are all going to bed early, so we can get enough sleep for the competition. Tomorrow night is our final concert before we compete the next day. San Sebastián, where we visited the other day. Take care!!

After the concert

Tonight's concert in Pamplona was...wow. We had a full house, over 1000 people in the audience tonight. The Spanish crowd was eager to hear the spirituals that we performed, but also loved the slower ballads. It was clear, though, that they were hungry for the fast, rhythmic, negro spirituals by Jester Hairston and Moses Hogan. Tonight, a man came up to our director, Ethan Sperry, and told him that the only way he will hear more beautiful music will be once he is in heaven. We are honored to be able to bring such joy to our audiences. The competition looms over us, just two days away. At dinner, after the concert, we met the choir competing from the Phillipines. They're amazing, as we found out when we sang for each other in the restaurant. Even though we are "competing" against each other, we just want to share good music, and do our best. We are interested in being in musical relationship with the other choirs, not in an adversarial relationship. We want to be friends. Sharing music is what it's all about. For us, win or not, if we can touch other choirs and audiences with our music, then this tour is a huge success. The trophies we have own don't matter nearly as much as the lives we have touched. I could show you a list of people who now follow us wherever we go, both virtually, and in person, thanks to having touched their lives with our music. Your music and relationships can have that same effect, my young friends. There is a time to compete, but I think that competition happens with yourself, not with others. You can't quantify what we do like you can with a foot race or a soccer game. There, you have a clear winner. In music, judges are all looking for different things, based on their own life experiences. Your job is to be your best self, regardless of what they think. This happens every day, in rehearsals, in hydration, in making sure you are always ready. Being a musician is a lifestyle, not a class, and you are old enough to start thinking about that. I'm proud of you for making these decisions. Enjoy the rest of your day!  More from me tomorrow! (It's after midnight here)

Rehearsal

I'm sitting on a park bench in the middle of downtown Pomplona right now. This is a city of 2 or 300,000 people, and it moves with the energy of a much larger city like Vancouver or Seattle. I broke off from the group so I could write you all. It's been an emotional roller coaster of a day. More on that below. But first, a few pics of this amazing city, where they so the running of the bulls every summer. This is the city hall. 

Here is the church we are singing in tonight. 

This is of some of us, pretending we are running from bulls on the fences they put up to separate the spectators from the bulls. 

And this is the clock that counts down the time to the next event, next summer. 

Now, for the harder stuff. 

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Rehearsal. It's something we do almost every day in this choir. We are used to hard work and dedication. Sometimes, though, something surprises us in a rehearsal. Today was one of those times. We were working through a piece we've sung for 4 years. Through the creative process, something happened that put many of the choir in an emotionally vulnerable place. It wasn't intentional, but we ended up finding a new level of emotion in the piece. It was so deep that we had to stop singing for 20 minutes to recover as a group. We went outside, into a park surrounding the building and had a good cry together. It's a healthy place to be in together, but very hard to do. You have to be very vulnerable with each other and have a great deal of trust. That's part of making amazing art at this level. Trust and vulnerability. Believe in each other, not just in yourself. Miss you guys. 

Another beautiful morning in Spain

We have been blessed with some amazing weather here. It's so beautiful!  I can tell that today is going to be warm, though. You can feel it in the air when you step outside. One of the things that's neat about this town is that many people have pet birds, and they leave them on their porches in cages during the day. The city is filled with the beautiful sounds of singing birds, without the dive-bombing and bird poo that could happen were the birds free. :)

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We are about to head to rehearsal. I don't have an idea as to where we will be, but it will probably be outdoors. Ooohhhh....gotta go. More later!!

After the concert

Hi, students!  Whew!  I'm on the bus, for a 40 minute drive back to my hotel. What a night!  Tonight's concert was in Ordizia, Spain, a small community over 1000 years old. The church we sang in was built, partially destroyed, and rebuilt countless times.

It dates back from the 11th century, and it shows. Much of the stone is original, and you can see where they have made countless repairs to the walls.

The altarpiece triptych is several centuries old,

but they also have an older, less ornate altarpiece stored in the back.

People have been making music here for a long time, and our ensemble was honored to share our music with this group.  This tour involves singing mostly in churches until we get to the competition, as they are the most suitable concert venues in these communities. The acoustics are amazing, and they lend themselves well to choral music. I had our guide and interpreter, Adrianna, take video of our performance tonight, but I'll have to upload it when I return. Apparently, my European wifi (they pronounce it "weefee") only gives me so much data before I have to buy more. Sorry. I hope you are enjoying the holiday music you're working on, and learning a lot with Mrs. Lohman. It is always good to have a guest teacher in the classroom. They teach the same things from a different perspective, and that's healthy. Please continue to show her the same respect that you show me. I'm sure you're getting along quite well. More when I can!  Tomorrow we sing in Pomploma, the city where they do the running of the bulls!!

Good morning!

Greetings!  It's a beautiful morning here in Zarautz, Spain. I'm sitting in a cafè, enjoying a morning cafè con lleche, and, strangely, listening to musika Americanos. The cafè is playing 60's vocal jazz.

The building I'm in must be at least 500 years old, but updated on the inside.

Today is a busy day. Breakfast is at 9, then a sectional rehearsal with my fellow tenors at 10:30. We will go until about 1, then have a couple hours free to get ready for our concert tonight. I'm excited about rehearsing with my guys. We are a tight knit group, and love singing together. The problem with tenor voices, though, if you have a group of solid soloists, is that our voices don't naturally blend together. We talk about that in our class sometimes, needing to sound like one voice. That's blending. We have to work very hard to try and get the right blend. Sometimes that means changing the order of who we stand near. It ALWAYS means listening. The other problem is that tenors love to be right. Every singer in the group is an excellent musician, and some are very strong leaders. We need to lean on our conductor, and let him figure out how best to make us sound blended, rather than us trying hard to work it ourselves. So, that's the order of the day. It's a tall order, but we will put the work in. 

___________________________________One final note - in Spain, like most of Europe, coffee isn't found in to go cups like at Starbucks. They expect that you will sit and enjoy your coffee for the experience that it is, rather than just buying a gallon of caffeine to power your day. I rather like this model. Makes me want to slow down a bit at home. Although, if American coffee were as good as Spanish coffee, I think I'd have no choice. :). More later, my friends!

In San Sebastián

So, I am sitting on a veranda overlooking the bay here in San Sebastián. I have a Spanish cafè con lleche in my hand, and about 15 good friends surrounding me.

Today has been a sightseeing day for us - no concerts. Still, I had the good fortune to conduct our little group in a stone outcropping overlooking the ocean. We had a small crowd form while we made music. It was special, making music in this place. You'll see from the pics that this is truly a resort community, but very friendly and warm. We met a couple of people from Portland today!  They were wandering the beach, and asked us where we were from when they heard our English. Our guides, Adrianna and Alvaro are wonderful, and have shown us a side of this city we wouldn't normally see. The cathedral we went to was amazing, as you can see. We wanted to sing in there, but were too reverent to make a peep. I simply sat and took it in. Gotta go catch a train back to Zarautz. More later!

Second post today!

Oh my. Tonight was something special. Life-altering, actually. We are riding the bus back to our hotel, after singing in the Spanish city of Borja. (Boar-cja) The concert we gave tonight was something special. We were in a church built in the 12th century!!  That's the 1100's!!  

Obviously, it's been altered a lot since then, but the crypt and the walls date from that era.

We sang to a full house, and received a placque from the mayor and city council, commemorating our visit to their town. It was a magical concert, singing in a place where people have been attending church for the last 900-1000 years. We sang our hearts out, and gave one of the best performances we've had in ages. I realize that this sounds a bit self serving, but I'll be honest with you when we don't do our best, also. The problem is that this group is so gifted, and the more we sing together, the better we sound. We learn to listen to each other. Tonight, in a room that echoed with every sound, we had to listen to each other intently. It was hard to "just sing". We had to work hard to make a beautiful sound, because the sound bounced around the room. At the end, we were given 3 different standing ovations, and treated to a dinner unlike any other I've ever had. It. Was. Awesome.

I believe that, should tonight be the last night I ever get to make music, I would be a happy man after the intensity and beauty of the evening. The choir was absolutely fantastic, and I got to reprise my solo on the piece, Give Me Jesus. Our final encore was, fittingly, the Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen (the same one we work on!). I spent the reception talking about you guys, telling the Borja city council how proud I was of you. One day, some of you will do this, too. 

On the road again

As I write this, I'm sitting on a bus, headed to Borja, Spain. We arrived last night...more about that in a bit. Right now, we are heading to our first concert on this tour. My choir mates have a variety of ways to pass the time on long bus rides. Some of them use it to go over the music multiple times. Others sleep or read a book. Personally, I enjoy plugging in my earbuds and putting some ocean noises on, while I tune out the world and simply enjoy the drive. While it may make me a bit of an isolationist, I tend to think that the solitude is healthy for me. It allows me to have the energy to spend the time with everyone when I really need to, and not get frustrated. When you are on tour with people, even people you love and respect, tension can get high simply because of the close proximity you all live in. I have developed ways of maintaining my personal space while still being part of the group. 

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So, as I said earlier, we arrived last night. We didn't realize that this was the last day of summer here, and the plaza we sleep in became party central. The hotel we are in overlooks Musika Plaza. It has a bandstand, and there were bands playing until 4am. Loudly. Lol. I have an interior room, so it didn't bother me as much as those people whose rooms are on the outside. We were all up until about midnight, trying to get our internal clocks adjusted to the time zone, but then the loud music made it hard to sleep. There were families with small children out on the plaza until that time. Down by the beach, 300 meters away, there was a techno party of some kind, with dancers enjoying the end of summer all night long. Also, a raucous soccer game had ended with a victory for the local team, and people were quite excited. It meant a sleepless night for many of my choir. I, however, got some rest, and woke up early to go get coffee. I wandered around the mostly asleep town until I found a tiny kafègia (coffee cafè). It was off the beaten path, where tourists don't go. I sat at the counter, saying very little, lest my Mexican American accent give me away when I speak Spanish. I listened to the conversations, sipped my glorious cafè con lleche, and watched people. It was fantastic. 

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Rehearsal today was amazing. I took some video for you. Here's the link. 

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We just drove by Pamplona, where they do the annual Running of the Bulls. Outside town is an ancient roman aqueduct. A sturdy thing, it has been here for over 1500 years!  

We're headed to Borja, which is famous for an event that happened a couple of years ago. There is a church in town that had a picture of Jesus on the wall in poor shape. The painting had degraded over time, but was over 1000 years old. Some person in the church decided to try and restore the painting herself, rather than take it to a restoration service. So...she got out her oil paints...and ruined the painting. Her work made Jesus look like the Cookie Monster. It. Was. Horrid. Lol. The event brought international attention to this tiny church, however, and now they keep the painting on the wall, as a tourist attraction. I'm hoping I have time to see it. I'll keep you posted. 

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I enjoy writing to you guys. It makes me smile, knowing that you're reading my words and living through my adventures. Know that, if I could, I'd have each of you along with us, so you could gain the experience that I am fortunate to have. My hope is that each of you continue to make music a priority in your lives, so that you can know what it is like to be a part of something like this. 

Finally in Spain!

So, I'm writing this from a cafè on the highway to San Sebastián, Spain. We stopped here for lunch, but I don't have wi-fi yet, so it'll get published later in the day. So far, Spain is amazing. The weather is a wonderful 75 degrees, and sunny. A far cry from the thunderstorms I left behind in Oregon, for sure. The choir is exhausted. Personally, I've slept a total of about 5 hours since Thursday night. (It's Saturday afternoon right now.) We don't get to nap, though, since we need to adjust to the time zone quickly. Our first concert is tomorrow night, and we need to be on top of our game. We arrive at our hotel around 6 tonight, check in, grab some food, and relax for the evening. Our hotel is about 300 meters from the ocean, so I may go for a walk on the beach to simply decompress after spending 18 hours in the cramped confines of planes and busses. I need to stretch my legs. What better place to do that, than on a beach, where the only thing confining me is my imagination?!  I brought a songwriting tablet with me, too, so if the mood strikes, I plan on writing some music while I'm here. (Thanks to my family for getting it for me!) Oh, I should post a pic of my food. I had a chorizo sandwich and an espresso. Mmmm. Food here in Spain is rather inexpensive, in general. I can't wait to eat the seafood that our resort town is famous for!  One last thought - our choir rehearsed at the gate of the Newark airport last night. We sat there, singing, working through music, while pilots, attendants, and travelers stopped to listen. I watched a man break down in tears of joy after hearing us sing - not because we are great singers, but because the music touched him so deeply. I saw pilots break out their cell phone cameras to record us, because live music like this brightened their day, and was a rare find in a dreary airport. We touched lives yesterday without even having a concert. I want that for our choir, Fowler friends. I want you to experience music in such a way that touches the lives of people around you. More soon!

Sitting across from NYC

Hey everyone!  We are stuck in the Newark, NJ airport, until our international flight leaves at 8 or so. Until then, the view across the Tarmac is pretty cool. What you're looking at is downtown Manhattan. The big building is the Freedom Tower, which replaced the Twin Towers, taken from us on 9/11/01. I won't be in the city today, as we don't have an overnight layover. But I'll be back here for Christmas, as my wife's family lives out here. Can't wait to visit the city again!  Ok...next post is from Spain!

Leaving now!

Heading to the airport, Mrs. Stearns is driving. My daughter, Rebekah, is in the backseat. Gracie isn't with us, as she's on a retreat in Lincoln City with Synergy, her dance team. Man, it is EARLY. Had to get up at 2:55. Some of you are just getting to bed (as we found out at conferences!). I'm excited and nervous, as it's a long day of traveling, and I've had less than 3 hours of sleep. I'll sleep on the plane, I'm sure. Spain beckons!  I'll be there in just a few hours, flying into Madrid's Barajas airport. Barajas means "deck of cards". Random, right?  It's also a common last name in Spanish. I promise to post some pictures as I take them. I want you to meet my choir, also!  We are an eclectic group, ranging in age from 18 to 61. Most of the members are in their 20's, though, in the prime of their singing careers. I'll introduce you to several of them over the course of this week. Ok, gotta run!  More later today from New Jersey and then Spain!

Prepping for Spain!

Hey class! It's crazy, thinking that I will be in Spain in just a few short days! Tonight is filled with last minute responsibilities - packing, setting up the plans for my substitute teacher (who you will treat with the utmost of respect, right?!), and making sure my family has everything they need to be successful in my absence. Leaving behind your life to travel for two weeks is a lot more work than you might think! I'm excited about the time I'll get to spend, singing in Europe, but I'm also looking forward to my free time, when I plan on catching a train to somewhere. I don't have a clue where I'd go. I speak Spanish, well, I speak Mexican Spanish. In Spain, they speak Castilian Spanish, and in the Basque region I'll be in, they speak Catalán. That's more like French than it is Spanish. For example, in Spanish, the word "please" is "por favor". In Catalan, it's "si us plau". That's like French, where "please" is "s'il vous plaît". See the differences? I'll be relying on some serious Google Translate while I'm there. I'll be posting regularly on this website for you. Some days it'll just be text, but I'll try and post some videos, also. We are going to be singing in some amazing locations, so I'll post video of some of it as I can. I'll also try and continue to relate my experiences to what we are learning in the classroom, ok? Your job will be to continue to work hard in class, work on the holiday music, and continue to check my blog. You'll get some time in class each day to read/watch the latest video/post, so don't worry if you can't do it from home. Ok. Enough for a first posting. See you soon!