Accolades All Around

Sunday July 16, 2006 (continued)

After a wonderful day of shopping and independent sightseeing, our last real day in the heart of Prague, it was time to prepare for our final group event before everyone departed for home. We all met in the conference room of the hotel, where we had been holding our rehearsals. There, waiting for us was Jirka, Dr. Gutierrez, and all of the wonderful helpers we had during the week; BuBu, Lucka, Dana and many others.

Once settled in, Jirka thanked us for all of our hard work and dedication during the week. He told us again, how proud he had been of our performance the previous night, and how the response was something he had never really seen from the Czech people. Then Dr. Gutierrez spoke, giving us his own praise and thanks and saying he enjoyed working with our group immensely. He explained, too, how his passion was teaching, and how he encouraged all of us to continue learning and pass our knowledge along. And if you want to look him up, Dr. Gutierrez informed us he plans on being at TCU for a long time, doing what he loves best, teaching the love of music. It was a shame we did not have a chance to say good-bye as well to Dr. Walders, for he was also a huge part of our success. He was just wonderful!

When Jirka spoke again, he asked for responses or comments from anyone around the room, about their experiences or observations. Many people, including myself, spoke. I told them of how this was simply a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and that I would have never imagined myself working with such high caliber professionals such as the ones that surrounded me throughout this incredible week. And I thanked Jirka and his staff for just an amazingly organized and well thought-out itinerary. Everything was the perfect balance of work and play. During the course of group comments, I know I began to feel extremely emotional, and looking around the room at the other misty eyes, I knew this week had a huge effect on us, musically, physically, and emotionally. It was just not something we were EVER going to forget. Then, we were all given a certificate that read the following:

DIPLOMA OF EXCELLENCE IN MUSIC
Present to
(in this case) RENEE HILL
for your artistic achievement
in the Hartwick College Choral Festival and Institute
Carl Orff: Carmina burana; Czech National Symphony Orchestra
July 10 - 17, 2006, Smetana Hall, Prague, Czech Republic
signed
Dr. German Gutierrez, Columbia
Conductor
and
Dr. Jirka Kratochvil, Czech Republic
Artistic Director

This was just the icing on the cake! Or was it? We still had a big night planned ahead....a wild, medival blow-out!!
Coming soon,
Renee