June 29, 2009 Choir and Orchestra Performed
June 29, 2009 in Carnegie Hall,
NYC - Conductor: Shulamit Hoffmann
Viva la Musica was pleased to
announce that they were returning
to New York City in 2009 to sing
at Carnegie Hall, again, this time
under their own director, Shulamit
Hoffmann, who had been invited to
conduct.
New York, New York-what a wonderful
town! This was a once-in-a- lifetime
experience for me!
Jane Goold-Caulfield
It was an awesome trip--three
Broadway shows, several wonderful
dinners! Who could ask for anything
more?
Doris and Wendell Lehr
You cannot imagine what Carnegie is
like until you actually sing in it!
Deirdre Lobo-D'Cunha
I am so happy to have had the
opportunity to join Viva la Musica!
... on stage at Carnegie Hall – a
magical, nearly surreal 37 minutes
complemented by all the fun I had
traveling with my new friends for a
memorable New York experience!
Christine Niccoli
What made our NYC experience near
perfect was the balance between
rehearsing, performing, planned
outings, and free time. I found the
locals to be polite, friendly,
helpful, kind, and thoughtful. And
wasn't our location and the weather
ideal?
Jill Opperud
June 29, 2008 Choir and Orchestra Performed
June 29, 2008 in Carnegie Hall,
NYC - Conductor: John Rutter
Singing Rutter's Mass of the
Children in Carnegie Hall was as
close to the heavenly chorus as I
expect to come in my lifetime. A
wonderful experience..
Susan Besser
I believe singing in Carnegie Hall
ranks as one of the 1000 (or so)
things you must do before you
die--if you're a singer!
Carole Cameron
Singing under John Rutter was a
wonderful experience, but Shu
actually worked us harder and more
thoroughly!
Don Cameron
The two things I take from our
Carnegie experience are the
"Carnegie Crescendo" and the way
John Rutter explained to the
children where to cut off the note
-- his "penguin wing" demonstration.
Terri Cook
The Carnegie experience for me was
magical, magnificent, and memorable!
The music, prayer like!
Therese Curotto
What a wonderful time we
had! I felt so well prepared (thank
you). It was indeed a nice
experience, and though it will be my
third trip to Manhattan in four
years, I will be on the list next
year, "the Good Lord willin' and the
creek don't rise!"
Ruth Evans
New York, New York-what a wonderful
town! This was a once-in-a- lifetime
experience for me! A birthday
present not to be equaled. Dr.
Rutter was able and gracious as only
a person in his position could be,
his music all the more beautiful
when he conducted it. I'm grateful
to him for the opportunity and to
everyone who made it happen.
Jane Goold-Caulfield
It was thrilling and inspiring to
sing John Rutter’s music, under his
direction, at Carnegie Hall, with
our choir!
Jan Grady
Our trip highlights: Meeting and
working with John Rutter…singing
with twenty strong tenors…the
Metropolitan Museum Of Art which had
a special exhibit of Turner's Sea
Disaster paintings…the Frick
Collection…the convenient location
of the Hyatt…the Carnegie Hall
experience…using the New York Subway
system…the wide variety of Broadway
plays… visiting Ellis Island…touring
the Lower East Side Tenement
NHS…viewing the special waterfall
exhibits…walking and carriage ride
in Central Park.
Jim and Janet Holl
I had a great time. Wow, Shulamit,
music, Shulamit, good friends,
Shulamit, good fun, Shulamit, good
food, Carnegie Hall, Columbia
Teachers College, Shulamit, cruise
ship, parties, dancing, great
friends, Shulamit! It was a great
privilege to travel with such
inspiring people. I had a wonderful
time and can’t wait for next year.
As you can tell I love to travel
with Shulamit.
Stanley Hutchinson
(Shulamit’s husband!)
It was thrilling to hear the depth
of the full adult chorus sing at the
beginning of the first rehearsal
with John Rutter and to know that I
was a part of it. Later, the sweet
pure sound of the children's chorus
was very moving.
Sharon Jenks
Loved our trip to NYC! Faves were
John Rutter's generous, exuberant
spirit; an after-dark, open-air,
double-decker bus tour of the city
lights; a Tony-Award-winning,
Pulitzer-prize-winning play; ballet
at the Metropolitan Opera with
gorgeous sets; Cafe Metro and Grand
Central Station cheap eats; and
running into our fellow travelers
frequently in the Big City. Sign us
up for Part ll with Shu!
Ann Keiffer
I could not have imagined in my
wildest dreams singing a John Rutter
composition in Carnegie Hall under
the baton of John Rutter. It was
GRAND!
Darlyne Lamb
It was an awesome trip--three
Broadway shows, several wonderful
dinners, plus singing with John
Rutter conducting! Who could ask for
anything more?
Doris and Wendell Lehr
You cannot imagine what Carnegie is
like until you actually sing in it!
Deirdre Lobo-D'Cunha
I am so happy to have had the
opportunity to join Viva la Musica!,
Los Altos United Methodist Church
Chancel Choir, and others in singing
what may be my most favorite piece,
the beautiful Mass of the Children,
conducted by the composer himself,
John Rutter, on stage at Carnegie
Hall – a magical, nearly surreal 37
minutes complemented by all the fun
I had traveling with my new friends
for a memorable New York experience!
Christine Niccoli
What made our NYC experience near
perfect was the balance between
rehearsing, performing, planned
outings, and free time. The city
itself and John Rutter's music and
conducting were absolutely vibrant
and inspiring. I found the locals to
be polite, friendly, helpful, kind,
and thoughtful. They gave credit to
Mayor Bloomberg and 9/11. And wasn't
our location and the weather ideal?
Jill Opperud
I loved the experience of singing in
a hall that I have seen on TV and in
pictures. Mr. Rutter did not
exaggerate the beauty of the hall's
acoustics. Also, I had a chance to
take a picture with Meredith Vieira
from the TODAY SHOW during my free
time, of course -- a big thrill for
me.
Michael John Ruybalid
Well-organized, inspiring,
adventurous, and unforgettable!
Thanks to all the leaders and
organizers who made this trip one of
the best experiences for me!
Janice Sheng
A huge thank you for an awesome
experience! As I was hiking the
Appalachian Trail in the days after
Carnegie, I kept hearing the Mass!!
Becky Snedigar
To imagine that I have performed
beautiful music in a world famous
music hall with 250 others under a
renowned director AT MY AGE is still
being realized slowly ---but it's
coming!!
Mary Ann Weisberg
Carnegie Hall, what an honor to sing
there! All the months of rehearsal,
the anticipation, the hurry and
scurry of just getting there. So
magical a moment when you first walk
on stage. The nerves fluttering, not
wanting to be the one to make a
mistake. The awe you have seeing the
audience out there waiting with
anticipation. The great joy in
completing the music and not making
a fool of yourself. How proud I was
at the look on John Rutter’s face as
he bowed to us! The overwhelming
emotions as I stood there watching
everyone file out of the hall. Being
one of the last to leave the hall,
empty but still so full of history,
and now to be a part of that, oh how
it makes me smile.
Karen Willard
Our New York City/Carnegie Hall tour
offered a terrific balance of
serious choral preparation and
performance with the freedom to
immerse myself in the excitement and
fast-paced glamour that only New
York City can offer. Each day was an
invitation to enjoy, explore,
adventure-seek and challenge myself
in innumerable, unforgettable ways.
Pat Velarde
December 4-12, 2006 An account of Viva's trip
Salzburg through Vienna by Ann
Keiffer, Vivan Soprano and Writer
Extraordinaire!
On December 4, 2006, the day
after Viva’s two sold-out holiday
concerts, 38 members of Viva la
Musica! and 26 of our beloved
groupies (spouses, partners,
friends) flew out of San Francisco,
winging our way to Munich. There we
boarded a double-decker bus so bulky
it looked like it had been pumping
iron with Guv Arnold. The driver of
our Vivamobile for the entire trip
was the ever-stern-faced Ewald.
While it was hard to coax a smile
out of Ewald, the guy could parallel
park that monster bus…with a trailer
of luggage attached! That first
afternoon, evening, morning—what
time is it?—Ewald drove us from
Munich over the Alps to spend our
first three days in Salzburg and
then four in Vienna. This was a
“working” tour in that Viva
performed, trekked and oggled the
sights on a very busy timetable. And
our groupies kept right up with us.
This reporter is sharing with you
something of our experiences
…because you might want to start
planning now to join us on our next
European tour in 2009.
Your reporter must preface any
further remarks and observations by
acknowledging that she and probably
a number of the other travelers are
still recovering from jet-lag and at
the same time suffering the
withdrawal of European drinking
chocolate (hot chocolate from a
parallel universe.) But I’ll
struggle on not under the influence
of Viennese hot chocolate, first
speaking of the weather…
There was no snow in Austria! All we
Californians had geared up as if for
Artic exploration. The UPS truck
delivered packages from Lands End
and other fine purveyors of outdoor
gear all over the Belmont-San
Mateo-Foster City area until we
Vivans and friends were finally
fully outfitted in long underwear,
weather-proof boots, gloves, coats,
scarves, hats, sock-liners, and
180’s (those nifty earmuffs that go
around the back of your head and hug
your ears from behind). But it
turned out we’d stuffed our
suitcases with a lot of stuff we
didn’t end up needing. It poured a
cold rain one night. Otherwise, the
harshest thing about the weather
during our stay was the nip in the
air—near the end, a nip biting
enough to leave teeth marks.
Memorable sights, sounds, aromas,
and tastes: Horse-drawn carriages
decked with holiday garlands.
Cobblestone streets…maybe I should
say “hobblestone!” Church bells,
really big authoritative,
get-yourself-to-Mass bells, chiming
throughout the day. Very cheerful
and flamboyantly elegant deep gold
paint, the favored color inside and
out, even on public buildings. Gilt
woodwork, trim, edging, statuary.
Artistry of architecture everywhere.
Great cathedrals with massive
altarpieces, pillars, and arches in
proportions that would have you
remember how big God is. Also tiny
little pews that seem to forget how
big the human backside is! Ceilings
painted with cherubs, angels, battle
scenes, Biblical characters…giving
beauty-gawkers actual pains in the
neck. Long, long, long drapes of
Christmas lights cascading down
public buildings and swaying in the
wind.. More swags of lights trailing
down from the buildings then
sweeping up over the center of the
street and shaping into outdoor
“chandeliers.”
The park in front of the “Town
Hall” of Vienna, where the trees
were festooned with huge lighted
bell ornaments of many colors,
shining star ornaments, and red
thingamajiggies of like proportions,
all above a little carnival of
sweet, time-gone-by amusement rides.
Palaces and castles with dainty
little furniture, extravagant
woodwork, sumptuous fabrics, even a
bed-cover be-decked with jewels.
Cafés where the Viennese stop each
afternoon for a coffee and “a little
cake” (apfelstrudel, sachertorte,
all sorts of perfect little pastries
lined up in the lighted glass
showcases like frothy unmentionables
from Victoria’s Secret.) And oh, the
hot chocolate. Forget cocoa, this is
shaved chocolate melted with steamed
milk and a dollop of divine whipped
cream on the top. Open-air Christmas
markets, sturdy little wooden
buildings chock-a-block in areas of
town, rather like an artist/crafts
faire specific to the season:
ornaments, glass creations, candles,
toys, mittens, soap, perfumes,
scarves, mulled wine and hot punch,
confections and so much more. Old,
young, families with babies in
strollers and little ones by the
hand, plying the crowd in the joyful
spirit of tradition, family and
celebration. And, of course, music,
music, music!
Especially memorable moments with
Viva: Our Director Shulamit’s gift
for demanding the best out of
whomever she’s got standing in front
of her, watching her go from tense
and just a teensy bit crazed in the
ramp-up to every concert into a
state of grace during each concert,
letting go of anything that wasn’t
perfect and always making eyes at
us, coaxing us, loving us into our
best singing selves. Singing in the
cavernous university church in
Salzburg. No comforts such as heat,
only cold, cold stone and beautiful
proportions. And such acoustics! We
sounded like a choir twice our size!
Singing on a stage in front of a
giant, lighted Christmas tree at
Schönbrunn Palace at the Christmas
market. Shulamit admitting to the
cold just a bit by directing with an
elegant shawl thrown around her
shoulders. Hundreds of people
enjoying their neighbors, holiday
goodies, shopping, hot mulled wine,
the starry night, and our music. A
woman standing in front of the stage
with her children, her smile as she
sang along with a traditional
Austrian Christmas song Viva sang in
German (or at least an approximation
of German.) A little boy and girl
who walked up the steps and stood
stage-right, their eyes wide, taking
in all these grown-ups with
egg-shakers, drums, hand bells,
alleluias and music you wanted to
move to.
And most of all, singing our biggest
concert in Karlskirche (St. Charles
cathedral) in Vienna. So soaring the
ceiling, so extravagant and glorious
the altarpiece, so freezing,
bone-aching cold the sanctuary. We
wore concert dress, no coats, but
many of us had donned so many layers
of clothing underneath we waddled as
we walked. When we sang, our breath
came out white. The concert-goers
crowded the pews in their thick
winter coats, swathed in scarves and
hats, their breath white, too. In a
very small solo, in one song, this
reporter sang “rejoice, rejoice,
rejoice,” and I felt my rejoice as a
part of my heart I was sending out
to every person in the pews. Our
closing song was a Cameroon chant
“Praise, Praise, Praise the Lord.”
As we walked down the aisle of the
church singing, I looked down every
row, making eye contact with people,
feeling the absolute wonder and
magic and joy of connecting with
people from such a long way across
the world. Love and connection is
all. Love and connection among the
choir members, with Shu, with our
groupies, with the people of
Austria. May we always and ever be
ambassadors of music and love. And
may you come with us next time!
June 16-19, 2005
Viva was selected by audition to
participate in the Vermont Chior
Festival along with five other
choirs. They performed in a mass
choir concert as well as in three
other venues.
The program featured the Misa
Criolla, a passionate folk-mass
based on indigenous music of South
America; African-American
spirituals; folk songs made famous
by Peter, Paul & Mary, Peter
Seeger, and the Weavers; songs of
Jewish life; and vintage favorites
of the Von Trapp Family of "The
Sound of Music" fame. The Von
Trapp Family is intimately
connected to the Festival, as the
concert itself is presented in a
voluminous white amphitheater in a
meadow on the grounds of the Von
Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, a
renowned skiing and vacation
paradise.
All participating choirs came
together for intensive daily
rehearsals under the direction of
Robert De Cormier, renowned music
arranger for such music-scene
luminaries as Peter, Paul &
Mary and Harry Belafonte. In
addition, Viva la Musica!
performed on its own in three
different venues; on-stage at the
opening of the mass concert, in
the Festival's concert series, and
at a Sunday morning worship
service in a white-steepled,
quintessentially New England
church in Stowe.
Tenor Roman Saenz says, "This
was the experience of a lifetime
for us singers. Performing en
masse with other choirs was
uplifting and we realized afresh
what a quality experience Viva la
Musica! is." In addition to their
musical endeavors, Vivans also
enjoyed the picturesque village of
Stowe, a dinner-dance cruise on
Lake Champlain, a gondola ride to
the expansive vistas atop Mt.
Mandsfield, a tour of Ben &
Jerry's Ice-Cream factory,
shopping in vibrant Burlington,
and a final candlelit celebration
dinner in an elegant English Inn.
