19.2. - Philadelphia + Pennsbury

Punctually at 9:30 a.m., the bus picked us up from the hotel. Tired faces suggest that the night in the hotel was well used?!? It will be another exhausting day. And as it is now certain, our last 'concert' day. The weather forecast has a complete grip on the East Coast. The schools and universities canceled all classes and other events for Wednesday and Thursday, including our final concert at Pennsbury High School on Wednesday evening, as well as the planned course at the nearby Central Bucks High School East. However, in order to meet our friends from Pennsbury High School at all, we had to rearrange at short notice. So everything shifted to the dress rehearsal day, namely today. This also reduced our travel buffer, which was supposed to bring us to Philadelphia this morning (and it did). Just a few hours less.

The bus quickly took us to Philadelphia. Some of the 'amici' were not in 'Philly' for the first time, so it was easy to visit the most important and beautiful corners of Philadelphia in a short time. Many took advantage of the opportunity to listen to the largest organ in the world, which is located in the old Wanamaker department store - now Macy's - and was performed by the in-house organist at 12 o'clock. So shopping can be combined quite well with music, impressive and unusual at the same time.

Some strolled through China Town and took the time to buy some souvenirs, others tried to explore the history of America at the foot of the 'Liberty Bell'. Shortly before departure, everyone met again at the 'Reading Terminal Market', a market hall converted from a train station in the heart of Philadelphia. The way to Pennsbury was not far anymore, after an hour we reached the campus, which was still well known to some of us from past projects.

When you enter the school building, you are greeted by life-size posters from joint projects at the Thomaskirche, the Gewandhaus, and the Smetana Hall in Prague, concert posters complement concert venues such as Oberammergau and Karlovy Vary. As always, we were warmly welcomed, the choir was 'well-prepared' and everything was perfectly prepared for the joint rehearsals. The dress rehearsal, which no longer led to a concert, was made public, so that the last performance of Mendelssohn Bartholdy's orchestral psalm 42 'Like the deer that cries out' could be perceived with great applause by the student parents, the teaching staff, and the homestays.

Despite the density of time, the shrunk rehearsal schedule, and the improvised concert, it was once again a beautiful exchange and a great continuation of this transatlantic connection. After the concert, we were warmly welcomed by our host families, who can now accommodate us for only one more day, as the ensemble will spend the next night in the hotel for safety reasons, due to the flights.

And here's the video diary:

Day 5: Rehearsal and 'concert' at Pennsbury: https://youtu.be/1luJf4KVMn4