Our first tour to the USA under Graham Ross’ direction took us on a snow-bound adventure across the East of the country.  Armed with our music and personalised tour jackets, the Choir departed from Heathrow airport for the Land of Opportunity!

 

Travelling north from New York, our tour took us through Princeton and Boston all the way to a small town in Vermont, before flying West for concerts in Cincinatti and Cleveland.  The concert programme centered on the Choir’s latest CD release - Veni Emmanuel: Music for Advent – featuring music by Howells, Tavener and Rachmaninov, amongst others.  Each concert was met with an enthusiastic reception from the locals, who generously hosted us all in the great tradition of American hospitality: welcoming homes, sizeable meals and a love of all things British!

Spirits were high throughout the week despite the early morning coach journeys, on account of sightseeing, snowball fights and - in Cincinnati - spontaneous late night ice-skating and gym sessions in our hotel.

 

In all, a successful first tour of the year for us, and at the very least we were able to experience a proper White Christmas (unlike the rest of the UK)!