It was our second day in Europe, and we definitely hit the ground running. There was a morning service all in dutch that we were invited to perform at. Still completely jet lagged, I woke up at 4 in the morning and spent the next few hours slowly getting ready and appreciating how lucky I was to be able to sing at Europe.
It was a twenty-minute walk to St. Andrew's Church, but a wash of rain hit us about halfway through. Desperately, we all rushed, trying to get there as fast as we could! When we arrived, we had to quickly change into our heels and rush up to our gallery. There was a long, almost endless concrete spiral staircase that proved to be a challenge to almost all of us. The satisfaction of finally making it up there in our smooth, worn out heels was priceless.
I really enjoyed listening to the priest talk in dutch for so long and the church was gorgeous. The people from St. Andrews were amazingly kind as well. After we performed, they laid out a display of various juices and allowed us to enjoy some snacks. I was so impressed by their unexpected generousness. Usually, we go in quietly, sing, and get out, but in this case, they wanted us to stay longer than everyone else!
Later in the afternoon, we had a rehearsal with the Berkely community orchestra and the Brugges Chorus. Everyone was very professional, yet I still felt welcomed and like I had already spent years with them. I was left a seat on the very edge of the second row, right next to the bass drum. Everything was going so smoothly, until the second movement of Requiem. The big bass drum pounded right next to my ear during dies irae. I did not know that was going to happen and it made me jump, right as the soprano two soloist was looking at me. We both laughed and afterwards, I made sure to brace myself before singing the movement.
Afterwards, we joined the orchestra for a bonding dinner at the felixpakhuis restaurant back in Antwerp. There was so much food and so many decadent desserts there! I finally tried creme brulé (which I unfortunately didn't like), but I loved the traditional rijsttaart, a Belgium rice cake. I even went back for thirds! We decided to have an impromptu performance for the Berkeley chorus and orchestra, and after our meal, we all sang a song into the sunset on the pier.
It was a twenty-minute walk to St. Andrew's Church, but a wash of rain hit us about halfway through. Desperately, we all rushed, trying to get there as fast as we could! When we arrived, we had to quickly change into our heels and rush up to our gallery. There was a long, almost endless concrete spiral staircase that proved to be a challenge to almost all of us. The satisfaction of finally making it up there in our smooth, worn out heels was priceless.
I really enjoyed listening to the priest talk in dutch for so long and the church was gorgeous. The people from St. Andrews were amazingly kind as well. After we performed, they laid out a display of various juices and allowed us to enjoy some snacks. I was so impressed by their unexpected generousness. Usually, we go in quietly, sing, and get out, but in this case, they wanted us to stay longer than everyone else!
Later in the afternoon, we had a rehearsal with the Berkely community orchestra and the Brugges Chorus. Everyone was very professional, yet I still felt welcomed and like I had already spent years with them. I was left a seat on the very edge of the second row, right next to the bass drum. Everything was going so smoothly, until the second movement of Requiem. The big bass drum pounded right next to my ear during dies irae. I did not know that was going to happen and it made me jump, right as the soprano two soloist was looking at me. We both laughed and afterwards, I made sure to brace myself before singing the movement.
Afterwards, we joined the orchestra for a bonding dinner at the felixpakhuis restaurant back in Antwerp. There was so much food and so many decadent desserts there! I finally tried creme brulé (which I unfortunately didn't like), but I loved the traditional rijsttaart, a Belgium rice cake. I even went back for thirds! We decided to have an impromptu performance for the Berkeley chorus and orchestra, and after our meal, we all sang a song into the sunset on the pier.
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