Waltzing into the New Year

Frohes neues Jahr!  Happy New Year! I think I speak for each member of the group in saying our trip to Austria together was a highlight of 2018.  The friendships that formed, the experience of performing and traveling together was amazing.  And although we were not in Vienna for New Year's Eve, a piece of our hearts were. 

And, had we been there, we would have been (barely) qualified to dance the Viennese Waltz at one of the city's many holiday balls thanks to the teaching of two instructors at Tanzschule Rueff (Dancing School Rueff).  Each of us received a certificate from the school confirming we successfully completed a Viennese Waltz class at the school.  We are a pretty classy bunch.

Here are the instructors in action:

And here we are learning, and most importantly having a blast!

According to a Vienna information website, each year more than 450 balls take place in the city.  On New Year's Eve, guests dance in the New Year at the Hofburg Vienna (Imperial Palace) during the annual New Year's Eve Ball, according to the site.  Waltz music was made famous by Johann Strauss more than 150 years ago, and at midnight during many balls his "Fledermaus Quadrille" is often played.  Balls usually kick off between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. with a debutante dance before the Master of Ceremonies announces the ball open and end around 5 a.m. with Strauss's "Radetzkymarsch".  A brief history of the Waltz tradition (in 2017 it was added to the UNESCO list of "Austrian intangible cultural heritage" can be found here.

According to another site, the events require elegant evening attire, including long ball gowns for the ladies and tuxedos, tailcoats or black suits for the gents. Ladies also don't need to go solo, as dance partner escorts called "taxi dancers" can be hired.  The traditions are fascinating.  Check out the sites above for more information and start planning your trip for Ball Season!  I know I am.

We didn't need fancy attire for our lesson - just open-minds and joyful spirits which we certainly brought!

Elba-Gloria and Carole also had fun learning together!

Lucy and Christian learn the waltz

Again, happy new year and thank you for reading! Off to practice my Waltz ...

Performance Videos from Vienna

But first an important update!  Yesterday, Bev Lauer was not far from our minds and in all of our prayers as she underwent surgery at Lahey Clinic for a brain aneurysm.  In the afternoon, we heard from her husband Scott that all had gone well and she was in recovery and in the evening we heard from Bev herself:  "Good thing I sang when I did, my throat is so sore ... Praise God for bringing me through!!! So thankful. And Scott told everyone, everyone about our trip!".  She said bringing the doctor gifts from Germany also may have helped.   We are so happy for the good news and will continue to pray for her recovery.

Now we would like to share with you some more performance clips from our time in Vienna, including the incredibly talented Philip Pampreen on organ at Peterskirche and the choir singing a lovely rendition of Night of Silence/Silent Night ... hard to believe this all happened one week ago today ...

New England Voices Singing "Night of Silence/Silent Night" at Peterskirche

Philip Pampreen performing on the organ at Peterskirche, Vienna

Voices of New England performing "Run Shepherds" during the Advent Sing Festival at Vienna City Hall on Dec. 21, 2018.

Stay tuned for more video clips, photos and anecdotes!

Willkommen in Salzburg

Close your eyes (have someone read this to you) and imagine this.  You walk through a stone tunnel, under a fortress mountain from which the city of Salzburg was literally carved.  You enter the old city - the whole place an UNESCO World Heritage site.  Steeples and domes rise above you, cobblestones at your feet, medieval signs hanging  from above the businesses on Getreidegasse, the most famous street in the city.  The streets are nearly empty, for it is Christmas Eve.

You arrive at the Dom zu Salzburg, or Salzburg Cathedral, first constructed in 774 (that is not a typo), the Bishop's church.  The lights are dim, a choir is singing, the pews are full and quiet.  High Mass begins.  It doesn't matter that it is delivered in German, if you are Catholic the lilt and format is recognizable in any language, and the beauty of the music, of the Baroque around you is breathtaking.  The sermon ends, the Bishop and his attendants start down the center of the church, and the lights dim again.  From a balcony above a lone singer and guitarist emerge and sing the six stanzas of Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht.  The lights return and everyone exits.  Outside, the Christmas markets darkened, bells ring out from over 40 churches in the city of 150,000 residents filling hearts with joy and love.  It is Christmas Day.

This was our introduction to Salzburg, Austria - a place with a history so long it is almost hard to comprehend.  The history of the Dom is tied into this.  Three gates lead into the Dom, the first dated 774, the year the cathedral was first constructed, the second dated 1668 and the third dated 1959 - but we will get to that.

Salzburg was a church state from 800 to 1800, which is why there are so many Catholic churches in the old town, according to our local tour guide, Kristina. In 1815, Salzburg officially became part of Austria.  In 1816, the poem Stille Nacht was written in Salzburg (also a county).  This was during one of the poorest times in Salzburg's history.

Back to 774 - this is when the first church was built, a wooden one, on the same spot the Dom sits today.   It burned down several times until 1668 with the inauguration of the current High Baroque style church.


The first definition of Baroque in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary is "of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a style of artistic expression prevalent, especially in the 17th century, that is marked generally by use of complex forms, bold ornamentation, and the juxtaposition of contrasting elements often conveying a sense of drama, movement, and tension."  Our guide explained Baroque was designed to impress, that money was not an object (Salzburg literally means Salt Fortress, and back then salt was called the white gold).  Walking into the Dom is walking from dark to light.  In a time before electricity, walking into the Dom, with windows dominating the walls behind the High Altar, this was literally the case. The whole story of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is depicted in panels of beautiful art covering the ceiling.  Every Archbishop of the church since 1668 is buried at the Cathedral. It is a wonder.

Getreidegasse on  Christmas Day

Mozart's parents were married in the Dom.  Mozart was born in Salzburg, in an apartment on Getreidegasse, and was baptized at the cathedral on 28 January 1756.  People went to church every day in those times, and Mozart became the Archbishop's organist in Salzburg at a young age.  He also began traveling, with the Archbishop's permission, unbelievable distances, to Munich, Brussels, London - He spent over 3,720 days of his 35 years traveling.  But he had a falling out with the next Archbishop, who decided he wasn't paying Mozart to travel so Mozart left Salzburg for Vienna where he would spend the next 10 years allegedly happier than he had been in his hometown.

Salzburg was spared war for most of its existence, until October 16, 1944 when bombs fell on the Dom, destroying much of the building.   Many people died that day.  Having been lulled into a sense of security due to rumors that the city could not be bombed because of its location in the mountains.  Air raid signals were ignored.  After, people would flee into the tunnels, safe from the bombs.  By 1959, repairs to the Dom were completed, including the third gate, bearing the new date of significance.  Pictures on display at the back of the Cathedral show the dome completely destroyed and the rubble that remained inside.  A powerful reminder of the physical damage done all over Europe during World War II.

Our tour continued outside where Salzburg's fortress, Hohensalzburg, dominates the view.  Building of the fortress started in 1077 and was completed 600 years later.  But it was never needed.  One archbishop hid there in 1525, but the enemy was not foreign powers but local farmers angry about imposed taxes.  The prince archbishop just waited them out until they had to return home to their farms.  He also still imposed the taxes ...  Today you can ride a tram to the top and enjoy a meal in the restaurant (we hear from the Knightlys the burgers are pretty good).

Susie @ Mirabel Gardens

Oh there is so much more, but how much space?  We visited the outside of the Felsenreitschule, literally the Rock Riding School, which since 1926 has been a Festival Hall (and the backdrop for the final singing scene in "The Sound of Music").  The Salzburg Festival sells over 260,000 tickets each summer as people pour in to hear classical music in the most acoustically perfect venues in the world.  We also saw the Mirabell Gardens, where you can see the children singing the "Do-Re-Mi" song in "The Sound of Music", we learned about Mozart's sister, known familiarly as Nannerl, who may have been more talented  than her more famous brother (times being what they were her touring and performing were cut short so she could stay home doing domestic things).   

Elisabeth & Trixie sing Austrian carols

So much to see and so little time.  Our evening concluded  at Haus Wartenberg where we had tremendous Austrian fare in a traditional  pension and restaurant, and enjoyed beautiful music and fellowship together with Elisabeth von Trapp.  Our hosts were so gracious with their time, wine and space and joined us in a final and most beautiful singing of Stille Nacht.  There are no pictures or video that could truly encapsulate what this evening meant to each of us.  A truly spectacular ending to a spectacular trip.

Tomorrow we will tell you about our Viennese Waltzing lesson and the tradition of waltzing in Vienna that continues to this day.  Danke für das Lesen (thank you for reading)!

Meet The Voices

We made it through customs!

Well, all good things must come to an end and our trip ended yesterday with most of us arriving at Logan Airport in the evening with hearts full of love and song and memories that will sustain us in the cold, coming days.  There are still many anecdotes to share - we are all certified beginning Viennese waltzers and have some video to prove it.  Now we are qualified to attend the many balls that will fill the majestic halls of Vienna on New Year's Eve.  We also want to introduce you to and give thanks for our vivacious Viennese tour guide, Trixie and our wonderful bus driver Oliver who brought us to the best rest stop restaurant ever on Christmas Eve.  An unexpected roadside surprise on a day when most everything is closed.  And tomorrow we will (belatedly) introduce you to the city of Salzburg.  We will also share our thoughts of the trip as we settle in and gain some perspective on what we experienced.  But first, let us meet the rest of our families.

The Stamas Family

Sharon and Lou Stamas were joined by their son, Glenn and daughter-in-law Tiffany in Salzburg on Christmas Eve where the two decided to begin a European vacation in order to see Lou and Sharon perform with Elisabeth von Trapp.  Sharon said, "we were so blessed to spend Christmas Day and evening with our son, Glenn, his wife, Tiffany, old friends and new."  Today she is remembering beautiful country, awe-inspiring venues, our special tour guide, voices ringing in St. Peter's and Melk and most importantly, fellowship.  Glenn and Tiffany recently signed on with an adoption agency and are hoping they will  be accompanied by a baby on their next vacation!  We are all sending them love as they go through this process.

Con  Tutti represents.

Sharon and Lou are two of five members of Portsmouth, New Hampshire based singing group Con Tutti that joined the Voices of New England choir for this trip.  Peter and Deb Kolbjornsen and Gail Licciardello also represented Con Tutti.  Peter, who has a speaking and singing voice made for radio, is of German descent.  His mother was born and raised in Germany and we benefited greatly from his ability to fluently speak the language.  Hearing him sing the Austrian National Anthem in the Vienna Rauthaus with Trixie during the Closing Ceremonies of the Advent Sing was beautiful.  Gail is continuing her European journey this week in Prague and we all wish we were with her!

From left, Ann Mae, Bruce, Lucy and Ann

Bruce and Ann H. Gordon are frequent world travelers and this was not their first time in Vienna, but it was their first time performing (in Ann's case) or groupie-ing (in Bruce's case).  Ann and their friend and travel buddy, Lucy Champion represented Exeter-based singing group Vocalocity.  Bruce's 84-year-old mother, Ann Mae, joined the trio from Pittsburgh for the adventure and bravely walked all over the city with us to enjoy the scenery and performances.  Special note, if you watch episode 48 of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, you will see one of Ann Mae's little Dachsund dogs, Neddie, featured.  She bred, showed and judged the dogs until recently.

The Knightly family and Andrew Hunt (right)

The Knightly family traveled together so sons Cameron and Christian and their friend Andrew Hunt, all high school students at Portsmouth Christian Academy, could perform abroad for the first time.  Parents Tonya and Scott provided constant laughs and entertainment for the rest of us as they are so generous of spirit and joy.  We look forward to joining them in February for a group viewing of "The Sound of Music" so we can relive our adventures together!

The Wiegand Family

As I mentioned, Bob and John Wiegand traveled from Montana to meet their son, Theo and his wife Eleanor in Austria.  John and Theo performed together. On the bus ride from Salzburg to Vienna yesterday, John thanked everyone for welcoming him after inviting himself to sing with the choir. The group could not have done without each voice, including his.  But most importantly he said he came away from this trip with new friends he did not expect to make.  A testament to the family that was built during our seven days together.  Theo and Eleanor operate Brasen Hill Farm in Barrington where we are all looking forward to getting our fresh vegetables and meat from in the future!

Carole & Gretyl Macalaster

Carole and Gretyl Macalaster (your illustrious author), hesitated to get hopes up when Carole's choral group, Rochester-based Granite State Choral Society, received the invitation to join Carroll on the trip.  Carole said, it seemed "a wishful dream" but Gretyl said, "we are going".  It turns out if we leave things in God's hands He gives us even more than we could dream of and this was true of this trip.  Sitting in Haus Wartenberg on the final night holding my Mom's hand as Elisabeth von Trapp sang "Christmas in the Trenches" for us all with all of these new friends around us is a moment we will have forever, and one of the most magical Christmases we have spent -  the very best gift I could have ever given to my Mom.  Carole said, "The many new friends I have made on this adventure will continue to be a delight for me to enjoy as we go about our lives here at home".

Joe, Susie and Carroll Stevens

And for this, all of us have Carroll and Susie Stevens to thank.  Carroll and Susie traveled to Austria with one of their five children, Joseph (Joe) Stevens who accompanied the group on piano and sang in the choir.  Carroll was contacted by Music Contact International over a year ago seeking a PCA choir to perform in Vienna and Prague.  Carroll had ignored many of these types of requests before but this one seemed just right.  Unfortunately, the time of year is difficult for many families to travel and not enough PCA students and families were able to attend so he extended the invitation to a larger audience in the hopes of building a community choir to go.  On. Jan. 23 a final meeting was held on the coldest, sleetiest, iciest day of the year and he thought the trip would not become reality, but soon after, enough people registered to make it feasible.  During this time, he also thought of Salzburg instead of Prague and having seen Elisabeth von Trapp perform locally before and knowing she still called Stowe, Vermont home he reached out randomly through her website to see if she would be interested in joining the choir in Salzburg.  Twenty minutes later her husband and manager Ed Hall called Carroll back and the rest is history.  During the trip Carroll expressed much pride in the group who rehearsed weekly for months to perfect their harmonies and came a long way from the first rehearsal to Vienna!

Thank you for spending this time with our families and join us again tomorrow as we share some more stories and videos of our adventures and introduce you to Salzburg, a city that is so much more than "The Sound of Music" ...

Christmas Day at Schloss Leopoldskron

On Christmas Day Voices of New England concluded their Austrian tour with a performance at Schloss Leopoldskron with Elisabeth von Trapp. It was another beautiful performance to cap an amazing trip. The patio overlooking the lake at the Scloss (castle) was used in many iconic scenes in the film version of “The Sound of Music”.  The interior scenes of the family were filmed on studio lots but the inside of the Schloss was no less spectacular.

In addition to songs from their Vienna repetoire, including group favorite “Still, Still, Still” the group joined Elisabeth in singing “Ding, Dong Merrily on High”, a version of “Noel” arranged by Elisabeth and a beautiful version of “Edelweiss”, a most beautiful song written by Oscar Hammerstein as he was dying of cancer. An anthem for all that is not at all the national song of Austria as some think. Unfortunately the pictures do not do justice to the venue or the performance, but we did get some beautiful shots of our families.

As I wrote last night, this trip has meant something special to each of our families - John and Bonnie Wiegand traveled from Montana to join their son Theo on this trip. John and Theo (also known as Ted) participated in the choir while Bonnie cheered them on.

The Pampreen Family

At 85, Pat Pampreen of Michigan thought she had made her last trip to Europe many years ago but did not want to miss the chance to see her grandson, Philip, play organ in two of Austria’s most iconic churches. Her son, Frank and daughter-in-law, Lisa, joined their son Philip in the choir and today celebrate their 31st wedding anniversary in the city where they post honeymooned a lifetime ago. This author and her mom, Carole, never dreamed they would have the chance to visit Salzburg. I am in fact named for the musical so it seems a fitting pilgrimage. These are just a few of our stories.

The Lauer Family

But this trip may mean the most to the Lauer family. Nick Lauer, an alumni of Portsmouth Christian Academy and now a college sophomore, jumped at the chance to sing in Austria in a choir led by Mr. Stevens. His Mom, Bev, wanted in, too, although her experience singing in public was previously limited to her church choir at home. Dad, Scott and sister, Bryn, signed up to come along for support. It would be the first time the family would be away from home for Christmas.

Then, two weeks before they were scheduled to fly out, doctors discovered an aneurysm in Bev’s brain. The family feared the dream had died, but put it up to God. Doctors cleared Bev to travel and every moment here has meant even more to the family for it. Bev said it was extra special to sing with her son in these structures built for God.

On Dec. 28, Bev will undergo surgery at Lahey Clinic in Boston and she will have the prayers and love of this group with her when she does, as well as the memories of performing with her son in this country where even their greeting, Grüß Gott, is a greeting to God. 


As I said last night, I think each of us is feeling incredibly blessed to have had this experience together. Each of us have brought joy and love to the adventure and hope our audiences felt that, too. 
Today we fly home, but will continue to post clips, photos and anecdotes from our trip in the coming days!

A family built by music

At this time of year, we cannot help but think of family - the families we are born into and the families we build. This week in Austria a family was built; a family of joyful singers with hearts and spirits full of love, a New England family that melded their voices into perfect unison in Vienna and Salzburg, a family augmented by a vivacious and loving Viennese guide, a Vermont wife and husband team that helped to cap an experience of a lifetime. Tonight, for the last time, we all joined in song - guides, professionals, singers and groupies to create magic on Christmas.

Susie Stevens said, “this trip has been one unforgettable, undeserved gift after another and after that, I don’t know what to say ... I could not have earned one of these.”  But as Julie Andrews sang, we must have done something good. We, each of us, feel incredibly blessed to have been brought together for this musical adventure of a lifetime. Vielen dank, many thanks, for sharing it with us. It is our familes at home, the ones we are born into and the ones we have built that helped to create a new family here in Austria and we will be forever grateful.

Singers

Groupies

P.S. Did I mention the group gave an incredible performance with Elisabeth von Trapp today to an esteemed audience at Schloss Leopoldskron?  Amazing!  More on that in the morning ... Merry Christmas!

200 years of Stille Nacht

Being in Obendorf for the 200th anniversary of the first singing of Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht was another once in a lifetime experience for our little group. We joined visitors from all over the world at the little chapel on the hill for a special program celebrating the song’s message of peace. It is a song that has been translated into more than 300 languages and dialects, a testament to its power to unify. All six stanzas were sung in German at the program, and three stanzas were sung in English by our little group when we returned to the bus. A beautiful night.

Here is a clip from the program in which the history and meaning of the song are described:  

Now we are in Salzburg and some of us will attend midnight Mass at Dom. Tomorrow the group performs with Elisabeth von Trapp in Schloss Leopoldskron. The outside of this venue was used in many outside shots in the famous movie “The Sound of Music”.  This will be the group’s final performance before returning to the States on the 26th. 

We are wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas from Austria!