Ensemble Touring Blog

Tag: Music Tour

  • Vatican Museum, St. Peter’s, and Sistine Chapel

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    stacia

    The best way to approach the Vatican Museum is to not let it exhaust you, by not trying to exhaust it. The knowledgeable local museum guides Ilaria and Carmela (the same ones who led Saturday’s excursions to the Colosseum and the Forum) deserve appreciation for sharing that philosophy and making it happen. Ilaria and Carmelo …

  • Two Sunday Masses in Rome

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    stacia

    The Gustavus Choir participated in two Sunday masses while in Rome. One at noon at Santa Maria in Montesanto and one later at none-other-than St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. The first mass was in the same space as the previous night’s concert. The all-Italian, Catholic mass was attended by a few hundred people, primarily…

  • Gustavus Choir Tradition Continues in Italy

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    stacia

    The Gustavus Choir has a unique tradition. Following each performance, the choir swiftly exits the venue, forms a large circle (typically outside because that’s the most suitable space for nearly 60 people to form a circle), and performs a finale for themselves called the “Circle Song.” Well, this tradition continues abroad. See for yourself by…

  • Singing at Santa Maria in Montesanto

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    stacia

    On Saturday evening the Gustavus Choir performed its first concert of the tour in the Basilica Di Santa Maria in Montesanto, Rome and received a standing ovation. The concert was in a historic church located in a large outdoor plaza, Piazza del Popolo, located in the northern part of the city. About 200 people attended…

  • Colosseum, Forum, First Concert

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    stacia

    Saturday was a busy day in Roma. There’s so much to see and do in this ancient metropolis, but the reason this post comes a day later is not due to too much sight seeing but because the local Internet was down for at least 16 hours. (You see, Italy has a different sense of…

  • When in Rome

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    stacia

    After 26 and 1/2 hours of travel, the Gustavus Choir and Companion Tour contingent, totaling 77, is in Rome! The route to this 2,700-year-old capital city included a bus ride from the scenic Minnesota River Valley to the Twin Cities, a flight into the Windy City, a 7.5-hour ride on a Lufthansa 747 (with more…

  • First Travel Leg: Waiting in MSP

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    stacia

    This morning the travel journey began . . . at 4 a.m. when the students boarded the bus outside of the music building. The bus ride went off without a hitch and check in began at 6 a.m. at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. The 57-member choir and the 15-member companion tour gathered at Gate E10,…

  • Gustavus Choir on Local TV

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    stacia

    In the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 7, a broadcast journalist with KEYC-TV (Mankato, Ch. 12) came to campus to catch the choir in rehearsal for its Italy tour and also interviewed Conductor Greg Aune and Gustavus Choir President Sam Grace.  The produced story, below, aired on the 6 p.m. news tonight, Saturday, Jan. 8. http://www.keyc.tv/node/45890

  • The Interplay of Art and Music

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    stacia

    In true liberal arts fashion, the Gustavus Choir students are learning how different subjects interrelate. In class on Thursday, Jan. 6, Chaplain Brian Johnson showed art and music timelines leading up to and into the Renaissance. Looking at the artistic creations of the time in political, social, and religious context shows the interconnectedness. Learn more…

  • Aesthetic Theory: What’s Art?

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    stacia

    The Gustavus Choir members are learning some “heady” stuff — all in preparation for spending time in the Italian culture. Yesterday, aesthetic theory, the practice of seeing, and perception were discussed. Referring to sections from aesthetic theorist James Elkins’ book The Object Stares Back, the class contemplated philosophical questions, such as “What is Beauty?” and…