Minneapolis to Milan

Rose Ensemble bass Mark Dietrich writes:

After an unexpected delay in New Jersey (not really all that bad), we made it in on Saturday morning. The downside of course is that we were all pretty well wrecked, and we had to keep it together long enough to sing here Saturday night. We took part in "Choral Marathons" Saturday and Sunday night. I'm glad they just went ahead and called them that, since it would have been the case in any event. There are two groups of five choirs at the festival, one for the first week, and one for the second. For these few days we all overlap. So both of these events featured ten groups, theoretically limited to fifteen minutes a piece, although this seems to have been interpreted very broadly. All went well though, and we've already made new friends here.

I know it's a bit hackneyed to talk about music being the universal language (I'm still holding out hope for Esperanto, but that's another story), but it really is true here. Most of these choirs cannot speak with us poor monoglots very well, but we can sing for each other, and we all know what that means. With such a foundation, and a liberal sprinkling of pidgin and pantomime, we manage to communicate well enough, and our respect for these performers is clearly mutual. It's a great setting for us. We're looking forward to getting started on our own shows tomorrow. I'll send more news when we have some. And maybe get Jordan to send some pictures... -Mark