Competition - Day two

Success!

A Cappella Choir sang two very strong sets today.  We found out a few hours ago that we were in the "GRAND PRIX" of this competition.  That is a big deal - it means we have sung four very difficult sets of unaccompanied choral music and survived four rounds of adjudication.

Other thoughts as they hit me:

• We are in the top three choirs at the competition.  The other two choirs are from Sweden and Argentina.
• We are very friendly to the other choirs - we have applauded them and wished them luck - I've been very proud of our students and their attitude.
• We were VERY strong today.  I think we are singing the most difficult literature and singing with the most nuance.

Tomorrow, each choir will sing their final set of music.  It has to last from 18-22 minutes and we are allowed to repeat two numbers from our previous literature.

Samford A Cappella will only repeat one:  Cantus Gloriosus.

We have strong music and a tremendous performance ahead of us.  We have worked hard enough this year to get to this point.  The 18-22 minute concert will put us to a real test - and it will do the same thing to the other choirs.

I think we are ready.

IN OTHER NEWS:

A sub-set of the A Cappella Choir sang in the "Renaissance Competition" today.  It has been very difficult to pull together this group of singers in the last part of the semester to learn additional music.

But they did.

AND THEY SANG SO WELL!  We were thrilled with our performance today.  That performance had it all:  nuance, passion, blend, connection with the audience.  We don't know if we will win, but we know we did our best and even rose above our own expectations.

It was an exceptional day for Samford A Cappella.  We are much more than a choir - we are a group of musicians that just earned a right to sing in the final stage of an international choral competition.  I am thrilled.