If you would like to really experience our day as we did, turn your shower on full blast, block the drain, and stand under the water fully dressed. Today’s weather: monsoon. This was the day we had two hours to walk around the shopping area of Shanghai. The shopping was great; the weather dampened us a bit if not our spirits. It was a fun area, though all of the shopkeepers and “personal shoppers” who kept trying to get us into their stores were a little intense. Those who enjoy bargaining had a lot of fun. I would be inserting lots of photos at this point, but having read the forecast, I chose not to sacrifice another camera to rain. As the heavens opened up, my decision was ratified.
We left the city center to drive to the Shanghai City Theatre to rehearse on stage for tonight’s performance. We will never be an “8-second choir” as we heard the other night, but tonight we were a “7-minute choir”—the time limit for our participation in the Shanghai International Spring Music Festival Opening Concert. The stage was beautifully decorated with flowers, and it had a very good sound. It’s always a pleasure to run into a good shell.
Shanghai traffic on a rainy Friday is pretty spectacular, especially with the driving skills evidenced here. By the time we got back to our hotel, there wasn’t too much time for a late lunch and changing into concert attire before we loaded the buses and headed back to the theater.
In rehearsal.
Dr. Staheli ran a tight rehearsal, and further polished their three pieces for the night: “Wade in the Water”, the last verse of “Colorado Trail”, and a “Mayila”, a Chinese piece I love that Dr. Staheli arranged.
“Wade in the Water” not only was appropriate for the day, it was the best performance yet of the piece. It is a rare choir and conductor who are still working hard to polish pieces this close to the end of tour.
12 choirs were slated to perform that night, but we left after our performance as we were told there were no seats in the hall for us. I don’t think anyone was sad to have an earlier evening, especially as we must pack to checkout tomorrow morning. We are hoping for a bit drier weather the last few days we are here.
