So, waking-up in Salamanca, knowing that our entire group (at least who we expected to have at this point) are here… That felt fantastic. We woke-up at 7-something to get cleaned-up and have breakfast before a 9am rehearsal at the Palacio Figueroa, which is a place often-used for concerts and other fine and performing arts. Rehearsal went until noon, which was good, since we hadn’t sung together since being in the US. Rehearsal went very well, and the space was nice, not super-live, but not dead, either. After rehearsal, Daniel and I wandered a little bit, found a couple of shops where we got some new scarves, a sweater, and some gloves. It’s kinda cold here, so the scarves are particularly nice to have. After some shopping, we walked around a little bit, got a touch ... read more

OK, folks. In the continuing adventures of The Choral Project, there are now ten people from our tour actually IN Spain at the moment. We have four coming in this afternoon and three (?) more coming in this evening. The largest part of the group is due to arrive Monday afternoon. The good thing is that we're starting. That there are some people here. The four of us that flew together left SFO at 7:50am to Washington, DC, then from there to Madrid. We arrived in Madrid at 6:45am (local time). The flights were OK. We were on United to DC, then Aer Lingus for the transatlantic flight. Now, the bad things are... 1) we had to cancel our performance in Madrid, which is a damn shame. We were supposed to sing at El Escorial, which ... read more

Just finished getting all of my stuff packed. Sitting here with what, I assume, everyone thinks going through my head: "What did I forget?" Underwear? Check Socks? Check Concert Attire? Check (and it's in the carry-on just to be safe) Camera? Check Music? Check Reading Material... etc... We take off from SFO at 9:05pm this evening. We'll land in Munich, then transfer to a flight to Madrid. We arrive in Madrid around 10pm tomorrow, which is about 1pm here, in California. My legs are twitchy, my heart is pounding, and I feel like I'm not moving fast enough... Hmmm... Ya think I'm excited? I will try to keep this blog current throughout the trip. It may not always be super-engaging, so please bear with me. No matter what, I hope that you enjoy what I have ... read more

Yay! We set-down in Madrid on 10/22/2011. Our first concert will be in El Escorial on 10/23/2011. The things that I am most looking forward to are: 1) the concerts in Madrid, Salamanca, and Burgos; 2) the music festival in Tolosa; 3) Seeing Urueña, an International Book Town; 4) Checking out the Alhambra in Granada; and 5) Visiting the Dali Museum and Theater in Figueres. So, keep an eye out for my upcoming experiences. We'll see how they stack-up to the expectations! ;-)... read more