Like (I assume) the majority of you reading this post, I am a wholehearted, certified, 100% choir nerd. And for us self-professed, dedicated dweebs, nothing rivals choir tour. Not only do these trips allow you to show off your latest musical tips and tricks to a fresh audience, but you also get to “bond” (*party*) with your choir BFFs. Think “Pitch Perfect,” but dorkier. And then think dorkier than that.
Fun and games aside, there’s something profoundly special that inevitably appears during tour, and that’s why I was beyond excited when the Young New Yorkers’ Chorus (YNYC) made the decision to embark on the adventure this year. Like our fantastic DC hosts the 18th Street Singers (ed: aw shucks), we’re a volunteer choir made up young professionals; amazing, exciting people including full-time musicians, computer whizzes, wolves of Wall Street, teachers, students, and more. These members already give a great deal of themselves to the choir, so their desire to commit further time and energy to the ensemble demonstrates their love of the music and the group. The theme for our 2013-14 New York season has been RE (our winter concert was RE/Mix, a selection of classic Christmas songs done in new ways by our young composer friends), and sticking with that, I think there are a range of RE words that capture our thoughts behind this tour:
- REset: Tour always serves as a great way to get your bearings. As an ensemble, you’re able to put so much focus into your traveling repertoire, and since we're hoping to REcord a CD within the next year, having an opportunity to reset ourselves and approach all our music with renewed dedication is an invaluable one.
- REinvent: Another benefit of tour is the exposure you get to the rest of the ensemble. YNYC is already a tight-knit group, but spending a nonstop weekend together is bound to increase that connection even further. This deeper level of friendship allows you to transform and reinvent your music-making because you’re so in tune with your fellow singers. We also can’t wait to hear the incredible 18th Street Singers, and I know that their musical mastery will inspire us to reinvent parts of our music, too.
- REsonate: Perhaps most of all, we’re thrilled at the prospect of sharing our music with a new audience and seeing what resonates with them. The beauty of music is its ability to touch every person and place differently, and we can’t wait to see what DC has to offer us.
This invader guest post was written by Young New Yorkers’ Chorus marketing/social media manager and parallel-universe-Mike-Rowan Lucy Mathias.
P.S. What’s this DC performance that Lucy speaks of? Well, since you asked, here are the deets:
The Young & the Freshest: Young New Yorkers’ Chorus + 18th Street Singers
Saturday, March 8 | 7:30 PM
The Church of the Ascension and Saint Agnes
1217 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington, DC 20005