Chattanooga Boys Choir

Canada - Day Three

2011-06-16T05:10:00.000-07:00

Day Three!

We packed up all of our belongings and headed to the beautiful Church of St. Mary Magdalene in a charming section of downtown Toronto. We warmed up in the beautiful space of the Anglican cathedral that was the long time home of famous composer Healey Willan. his strong musical influence was clearly evident with the impressive musical traditions observed in the space. It was a "high church" liturgical service that included a baptism and all elements of the the full Eucharistic mass. Following the service, the church members provided a generous lunch.

We then made our way to Kingston - a city that is often overlooked, but is full of history and heritage. We had a very entertaining step-on guide who led us through the city's impressive collection of churches, prisons, museums, and historical societies. Kingston, Canada's first capital city, is nestled at the junction of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. The boys were most impressed with the Royal Military College of Canada. Cannons, tanks, jets, and guns lined this campus that is the home to all of Canada's armed forces training.

After our guided tour, we had dinner at the Lone Star Texas Grill...Canada has some of the BEST Tex-Mex! After the evening's fare of chicken, steak, and veggie fajitas - and an impressive offering of local desserts - we headed to a local park along e St. Lawrence where games of tag, picture-taking, and running around preceded our travels to our accommodations for the evening. This night, we stayed in the dorms of Queens College. These kids enjoyed being college students for the evening on this impressive campus.

Canada - Day Two

2011-06-12T05:50:00.000-07:00

"This has to be the best breakfast ever served at a Holiday Inn" - Mr. Davis

After a WONDERFUL breakfast at our hotel - endless pastries, fruits, cheeses, eggs, bacon, sausage, etc. - we boarded our bus pleasantly stuffed. We made our way to the famed Casa Lorma, the historic estate of Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, a prominent Canadian financier, industrialist, and military man. The impressive structure, started in 1911, is patterned after Medieval castles, and is now an impressive and beautiful historic site. A wedding was actually taking place as we left ( we offered to sing for some more sending money, but no luck!). One "highlight" included AJ losing a tooth when he bit into a maple candy...we'll see if the tooth fairy leaves behind money in American or Canadian currency tonight!

We then made our way to the Queen's Quay (pronounced "Key") - a nice collection of shops, restaurants, and the like in an impressive structure along the water. Around 1:30, we boarded the Kajama ("Kay-yah-mah"), a 164-foot three-masted gaff-rigged schooner. Before departing, the boys serenaded a young lady celebrating her birthday! Several of the boys were recruited to help raise and lower the sails - a very impressive feat! We had a wonderful cruise of the Toronto harbor, taking in views of an island aiport, the Ontario center, and plenty of birds. After we returned to shore, we made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner, where we were also able to watch the Indian Culture Film Festival Awards taking place outside our window in Canada's version of New York's Times Square. An impressive celebration!

We then made our way to our first concert at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church. It was a BEAUTIFUL room with vibrant acoustics, and the boys sang superbly. We were all impressed with Mark's accompaniment (he didn't know he was coming on this trip five days ago!), as he did an awesome job. This was a great first concert, capped by several folks in the audience singing along when the boys sang "Un Canadien Errant" for an encore.

Exhausted, we all headed back for a good and well-deserved night's sleep (after some donuts generously provided by the host church)!

Canada - Day One

2011-06-12T05:48:00.000-07:00

June 10 - Chattanooga/Atlanta to Toronto

What a first day! We actually left from our meeting place 10 minutes EARLY, making it easily into the Atlanta airport. We made it through AirCanada's check- in procedures and the airport's security lines easily, all the while making the straightest lines! While waiting at the airplane's gate, we actually met someone from Toronto who promised to come to out concert on Sunday morning! Once we made it to the Toronto airport, we boarded our tour bus and had a wonderful tour of Toronto with Maureen, our step-on guide Maureen. We took a quick tour of the national hockey hall of fame before making our way to the famed CN Tower. Reminiscent of Seattle's space needle, the boys were enthralled with the impressive structure. Admittedly, though, many of us became a bit squeamish with the glass elevator ride up the 1,815 foot (553 meters) structure, but recalling that we had just gotten off of an airplane that was thousands of feet above the ground seemed to help! After some time in the gift shop and making our way through the crowd of Red Sox fans that were in town to watch the Sox play the Blue Jays, we went for a nice dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. While there, we celebrated Cody's birthday...candles, cake, and Cody's conducting of one of the best restaurant "Happy Birthday" renditions ever performed in an Italian restaurant made for the perfect evening. We then made our way to a very nice Holiday Inn in downtown Toronto, just blocks from the parliament building. What a great first day!

Canada, here we come!

2011-06-08T21:16:00.000-07:00

This summer's tour takes us north! We're excited about touring and performing through Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec. We will board a bus in Chattanooga before making our way to the Atlanta airport.

Washington D.C.

2010-06-09T04:06:00.001-07:00

Have you missed us? We've been so busy with our activities that we've barely had a moment to reflect. Hopefully, you've caught some of our journey through our Tweets. As we get ready for our second day in Washington D.C., here's what we've been up to.

Sunday the choir participated in the worship services of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in downtown Richmond. It was a large church with a very warm and welcoming congregation. They were thrilled to have the boys participating in the services and were very appreciative. The boys enjoyed pizza, salad, and brownies provided by St. Paul's Youth Choir.

The afternoon found the boys exploring maps, electricity, physics, biology, and space at the Virginia Museum of Science. The day wrapped up with dinner at Red Robin (YUM!!) and a sundae bar back at the hotel.

Monday morning the group traveled about an hour to Colonial Williamsburg, the location of our second performance at Bruton Parish. We started the morning off with guided tours of the colonial era, getting a hands on idea of how life was different - getting water from a well, making your own bricks. We learned about skilled trades such as coopers, printers, and blacksmiths. We had a brief time for exploring and shopping on our own before gathering in Merchants Square for an informal performance. Lots of passersby inquired about our performance as they saw us gathering, and a large crowd formed to watch them sing.

If that wasn't a busy enough day, following a pizza buffet for lunch, the choir traveled a few hours north to Herndon, Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C. for another concert. After warming up and adjusting to the space, the group was provided a delicious meal of fried chicken, potato salad, coleslaw, dinner rolls, watermelon, and chocolate cake. A little rest and a full belly gave everyone the needed energy for a terrific concert. Needless to say, the boys fell asleep quickly in anticipation of an early, and busy day in Washington D.C.

Day 2 - Lots of Traveling

2010-06-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

Today was another long day of traveling. We left our hotel at 8:30 this morning and made our way to our hotel in Richmond with a leisurely lunch stop and rest stop. We had a little bit of time to freshen up and change before boarding the bus to our performance location at historic Bruton Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg. Check out this link to learn more about the history of this church.

We arrived in Colonial Williamsburg and had a quick dinner of sandwiches at the famed "Cheese Shop" yummy! While there wasn't much time to walk around and enjoy the sights of Merchant Square tonight, we are certainly looking forward to our tour and performance there on Monday morning.

The performance tonight was part of a series of Candlelight Concerts that are held at Bruton Parish in the summer for members as well as for Colonial Williamsburg visitors. The boys did a fantastic job and received LOTS of praise from attendees.

Tomorrow we begin our day bright and early, participating in the church services at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond. In the afternoon we'll head to the Virginia Science Museum and end our day with dinner at Red Robin...and there's a rumor going around that we might be getting ice cream after dinner...Bruster's, Friendly's, Cold Stone are all nearby!

We'll be putting up some pictures shortly, so check back. Don't forget...we Tweet too! The link can be found on the left side of our home page at www.chattanoogaboyschoir.org.

We're on Our Way!

2010-06-05T03:40:00.000-07:00

Day 1 of Summer Tour 2010 got the Chattanooga Boys Choir off to a great start. We had one of our longest traveling days, driving for about 6 hours to Charlotte, North Carolina. We arrived ahead of schedule and checked into our hotel before heading out for our first performances. Upon arriving at historic St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Charlotte, the boys warmed up and enjoyed a delicious lasagna dinner. The performance followed at 7pm and Mr. Oakes said that it was "easily one of our BEST first concerts!" The performance was very well attended and appreciated, and was in such a beautiful space. Following a snack of ice cream sandwiches, the boys got a good night's rest to prepare for another day of traveling.

Next we'll be heading to Bruton Parish Episcopal Church in Williamsburg, Virginia

Fun Depot

2010-02-13T12:31:00.000-08:00

Wow! What a cool place! We pulled into the Fun Depot in Ashville close to noon today where we were met by Roy who hopped onto the bus and told us about all the fun that was ahead. Upon entering the Fun Depot we were ushered to the food area where we were served pizza and sodas. After enjoying a delicious lunch we were given Fun Cards that allowed 3 hours of fun on bumper cars, laser tag, indoor go-carts, indoor mini-golf, mini bowling, rock climbing and arcade games! Everyone had a GREAT time!

We're making our way east from Ashville to Morganton, North Carolina for our performance tonight. The drive through the beautiful, snow covered mountains of North Carolina has been smooth, with a brief stop for a few wild turkeys in the road!

Knoxville - Day 1

2010-02-12T18:01:00.000-08:00

Whew! What a busy day we have had! We left Second Presbyterian Church right on time at 7:30am and made our way to the UT-Knoxville campus, where Dr. Sousa met us for a brief walking tour. The tour ended at the music building where Mr. Oakes and the CBC choir presented a workshop to music education students, teaching them about working with the adolescent voice.

Following the workshop the group walked to the University Center and experienced the wide variety of choices while dining at college - pizza, subs, Chick-Fil-A, and just about any other food a middle school boy could want! The afternoon found the group on a walking tour of the campus, ending at the McClung Museum, where the boys explored collections in anthropology, archeology, decorative arts, local and natural history. Before heading onto the bus we paused for a picture in front of Neyland Stadium.

The late afternoon was spent resting at the hotel before the evening performance. The evening performance was at Graystone Presbyterian Church, as part of the John Ribble Concert Series, named for the gentleman who served as the choir director at Graystone for over 40 years. It was the first full concert of the tour, and the boys did a fantastic job, and were very warmly received by the audience.

After an evening snack and a good night's sleep, we're looking forward to a very full day tomorrow!

2010 Mini-Tour Approaching!

2010-02-10T10:48:00.000-08:00

On February 12-14 the Chattanooga Boys Choir will be traveling through Tennessee and North Carolina on a mini-tour. The first stop will be Knoxville, where the boys are presenting a workshop for music education students at UT-Knoxville. Following some sight-seeing on the campus, we'll be presenting a concert at Graystone Presbyterian Church in Knoxville. On Saturday, February 13 the CBC will be performing at Salem United Methodist Church in Morganton, North Carolina. On Sunday, February 14, the boys will make their way back to Knoxville to participate in the worship services at Faragut Presbyterian Church before heading back to Chattanooga to join the Chattanooga Choral Society for the Preservation of African American Song for their annual Simmons-O'Neal Memorial Concert.

Join us along the way! We'll be posting updates and pictures as we travel.

St. Louis to Chicago

2009-06-08T18:17:00.001-07:00

We have been fortunate that all of the rain we've had has been on the traveling days while we are on the bus. We arrived at our hotel in Chicago shortly after 2pm and had a few hours to get settled and rested before heading out for dinner at Red Robin. After dinner we drove to downtown Chicago to see Blue Man Group, and what a show it was! Here are some quotes from the boys:

"It's not easy being blue, but is sure is fun!" - Graham

"Blue Man Group is a source of mindboggeling entertainment and comedy so funny you'll get sick from laughing." - Austin K.

"It was an exhilerating performance of percussion and comedy. You will never see another mix of show business like this." - Monte C

"The Blue Ban Group was the most totally awesome performers I have seen in my small awesome life span so you should watch them every chance you get." - Sam

Think they liked it?

Updated Pictures

2009-06-07T17:07:00.001-07:00

We've added some pictures to the previous posts. Enjoy!

St. Louis - Day Two

2009-06-06T19:52:00.000-07:00

Whew! What a day! Our day's activities began in downtown St. Louis at the Riverfront / Arch with a tram ride up to the top of the arch. For those of you who have not been, we do not mean the Disney-parking lot kind of tram; this was more like a pod for 5 small people! The cramped, creaking ride up to the top was very much worth it, as the view at the top was spectacular! Look at this great picture of the shadow of the arch that Mr. Randall took from the top.

Next, we had a little bit of time to explore the museum, which centered on the Lewis & Clark Expedition, as well as the gift shop before watching a movie about the Lewis & Clark Expedition. Once the movie was over we boarded our bus and headed to the Old Courthouse, for a short performance. Not only was the Old Courthouse a historical building (the Dred Scott cases were argued here), but it was also a beautiful space to sing in. Next we boarded our bus to go back to the Riverfront to enjoy a one hour lunch cruise.

The late afternoon found us back in the hotel for a brief bit of rest before returning to downtown St. Louis for the Cardinals game. While not the most exciting game, nor a win for the home team, members of the Chattanooga Boys Choir had a fun time cheering them on.

We're off to bed so that we can be ready for our early start tomorrow as we head to Chicago - we'll be seeing the Blue Man Group tomorrow night!

St. Louis Day One

2009-06-05T18:30:00.000-07:00

The second day of our tour began with a hearty breakfast and a four hour ride into St. Louis, where we visited the St. Louis Science Center, one of several museums and activities in Forrest Park. At the Science Center the boys explored exhibits about the environment & ecology, the human body, cyberspace, space, dinosaurs, architecture, and more. We made a quick stop at the hotel to check in, freshen up and change before making our way to the mall for a quick bite, and to St. Charles Community College for a performance with the St. Charles County Youth Choir.

We're looking forward to a busy day tomorrow - visiting the arch, singing at the Old Courthouse, a boat cruise, and a Cardinals game. Time to get some sleep!

Away We Go!

2009-06-04T18:08:00.000-07:00

Bright eyes, excited smiles, and anxious laughter met at 7:30am this morning to embark on Summer Tour 2009. Our favorite bus driver, Shelton, welcomed us onto his bus - luggage, garment bags, water, snacks, movies, programs, pillows - you name it, we packed it! Once it was all, miraculously loaded onto the bus, the boys paused for a few pictures before waving goodbye. Three hours into the trip brought a quick rest-stop, followed by lunch shortly thereafter.

Perfectly on schedule, the bus pulled into the lot of the Louisville Slugger Muesum at 2pm. Recently renovated, updated, and expanded, the boys roamed the museum, watched a breif movie, and toured the working factory where bats for amateurs to major-leaguers are produced. They learned about the process from tree to billet to bat, and even got to swing a Babe Ruth bat!

A short drive down the road brought the boys to the Cathedral of the Assumption, a truly amazing space in which to sing. Following a short rehearsal the boys gathered downstairs for pizza and some quiet time before the 7:30 performance. Warmly received in Louisville, the boys are ready for a full day of travel, museum and performance in St. Louis tomorrow!

Ambassadors of Goodwill

2009-06-03T13:07:00.000-07:00

Last night was the final night of rehearsal and send-off party for the Touring Choir. Following a full run of the entire program, the boys joined their families in the fellowship hall for a brief program and pizza party. Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield offered the boys words of encouragement and praise for representing the city of Chattanooga well. He presented each of them with certificates naming them "Ambassadors of Goodwill," and gave them pins of the City Seal to give away to friends they make along during the journey. With the aroma of pizza in the air, the boys previewed for their families a few pieces they will be singing while in Louisville, St. Louis and Chicago. In honor of their stop in Chicago, the pizza was Vinny & Tony's Chicago style!

The boys with Mayor Littlefield

Summer Tour 2009

2009-05-24T18:42:00.000-07:00

Summer Tour 2009 Itenerary:

June 4 - Chattanooga to Louisville, KY
Cathedral of the Assumption
433 S. 5th Street, Louisville, KY
7:30pm

June 5 - Louisville to St. Louis, MO
performance with St. Charles County Youth Choir
Social Sciences Building Auditorium
St. Charles Community College
4601 Mid Rivers Mall Drive, St. Peters, MO

June 6 -Mid-day performance at Old Courthouse

June 7 - St. Louis to Chicago

June 8 - Chicago, IL
St. Joseph's Catholic Church
1747 Lake Avenue
Wilmette, IL

June 9 - Chicago - Indianapolis, IN

June 10 - Indianapolis to Chattanooga

Welcome!

2009-05-24T18:40:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the Chattanooga Boys Choir blog! We'll be using it to update you on our travels. You'll find information about where we've been, what we've seen, and where we have performed.