Two weeks and counting...

Well, I am two weeks away from my trip to Prague. Hard to believe. I have been so busy with everything else in my life that the trip has snuck up on me. Now I have to shift gears and start preparing for when I leave.

To bring everyone up to speed, here are some common questions I am asked:

When DO you leave?

I fly out Monday July 10th and will return the following Monday July 17th.

Why ARE you going to Prague?

I have been singing with the Spartanburg Festival Chorus for over a year now. It has been one of the best things I have done of late. I have gotten back into the singing I've missed and I have had numerous opportunities along the short way. The best part though are the incredible people I have had the good fortune to meet and sing with.

My conductor is Dr. Keith Jones, who is an Associate Professor of Voice and Choirs at Converse College. He directed our choir in a local production of Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, collaborating with the Spartanburg Philharmonic and Spartanburg Ballet. It was an amazing event to be part of. SC ETV will be broadcasting the concert sometime in November.

A colleague of Dr. Jones, named Dr. Jirka Kratochvil, is the director of Hartwick College Choral Festival and Institute in Oneta, New York. It was serendipitous that Dr. Kratochvil was himself conducting Carmina Burana with a group, as well as coordinating a trip to Prague to perform the same piece. He asked Dr. Jones would he be interested in the Tenor Solo of Carmina, and would he have anyone interested from his group who would like to participate in Prague.

That's how we got involved. A group of about 30 of us from SFC will be joining some 150+ voices from other choirs to perform with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Prague is RICH in musical history, much of which I have only just learned of. I cannot wait to share with you all that I am learning along the way!

I will be posting more in the next few days to answer other questions that have been asked so that everyone can understand the who, what, when, where, why and how of this once in a lifetime trip for me.

I hope you will enjoy this blog as it will be updated as I am on the trip! :-)

Love,

Renee