LCC NYC 2017

Our final day in New York City began by packing up the suitcases and loading them on the buses (and picking up our Vera Bradley gifts from LCC alum - and current choir aunt, Leah). After a quick song for MCP representative, Oliver, we sent our luggage on to our pick up location in New Jersey with our drivers and boarded the subway one last time and to head for Battery Park and the ferry to the Statue of Liberty.

We passed through security and then boarded the ferry to Liberty Island. The statue is certainly an awesome sight! Upon arrival, a few brave (and in shape) souls trekked up the 215 steps to the pedestal, while the rest of us took the elevator. We got to walk around the pedestal level that provided us with great views of the New York and New Jersey skylines. Descending from the narrow pedestal, we posed for some group pictures and then sang God Bless America for the appreciative crowd before splitting up into our chaperone groups to enjoy the rest of the afternoon.

We all had enough time to explore Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty museum and then take another ferry to Ellis Island. Some of us were even able to find the names of our ancestors who passed through the Great Hall on their way to their new life in America.

One more ferry ride took us to Liberty State Park in New Jersey where we said goodbye to the family members and friends who had joined us for just the New York portion of the tour. We boarded our buses (no need to swipe a MetroCard to enter!) and headed for Philadelphia. As we approached Philly, the torrential rain that seems to be following us on our tour showed up once again (as did tremendous amounts of traffic) but luckily, we were dry inside the bus and the rain had moved on by the time we arrived at our hotel. It was a quick check-in and then we were off to Citizens Bank Park to see the Phillies take on the St. Louis Cardinals.

Enormous amounts of in- bound traffic slowed our progress, but we finally made it to the game and to our seats by the middle of the first inning. It was an entertaining game with lots of hits, a couple of home runs (by the Cardinals) and copious amounts of hot dogs, cheesesteaks, chicken fingers, fries, popcorn, ice cream, and Rita’s Italian Ice. It was also Star Wars night, so lots of Storm Troopers, Darth Vaders, and the Philly Phanatic dressed as Obi Wan Kenobi entertained the crowd between innings. They even recognized the choir with our name on one of the stadium marquees during the fifth inning!

The Cardinals tied the game in the ninth inning, but we needed to get back to the hotel, so we headed out before the game was over. (It ultimately lasted 10 innings with the Cardinals prevailing over the Phillies 7-6.) We ran into more traffic due to nighttime-only construction, but we finally made it back to the hotel and stumbled off to bed.

Looking forward to visiting historic Philadelphia tomorrow!

The weather forecast has improved and the rain has moved on! We set off early from the hotel to catch the subway downtown to the World Trade Center and the 9/11 Memorial. Amazingly, we were able to get all 98 of us on the same subway line. It was just a short walk past St. Paul’s Chapel (which was used as a center for the rescue and recovery efforts for nine months after 9/11) and Trinity Church (now famous as the burial place of Alexander Hamilton and family thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda) until we reached the 9/11 Tribute Center. There we met up with our three docents - including Steve Kern who is married to the former Rosemary Barnes, LHS class of 1972.

The guides at the Tribute Center are all connected to the events of 9/11 in one of three ways: they are survivors, they lost a loved one that day, or they were part of the first responders/rescue effort. The father of one of our guides was a firefighter who lost his life that day. Another guide was a survivor of the 82nd floor of one of the towers and Steve was a Port Authority lawyer who made it down from his office on the 62nd floor. On our walking tour of the World Trade Center site, we were able to see the firefighters memorial, the survivor tree (the remnants of which were rescued from the site and nursed back to life) and, of course, the hauntingly beautiful reflecting pools with the names of the victims of the 1993 WTC bombing and all the attacked sites on 9/11 - in New York, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. As we walked around the memorial, we noticed white roses placed in some of the names. Those roses are placed in each victim’s name on their birthday by 9/11 Memorial staff. We were also blessed to hear the stories from our docents of their own memories and experiences of that awful day.

Following the walking tour, we were able to take a few minutes to see the exhibits at the new home of the Tribute Center. The video footage from September 11, audio stories from survivors and family members, artifacts found at the site, and a wall of photos of the victims were all poignant reminders of the tragic events of that day. But the fact that the Tribute Center guides have the courage to relive their memories as a tribute to their family members, co-workers and friends who died that day is an incredibly humbling and moving experience.

Speaking of moving experiences, we were also fortunate to be able to sing for the staff and guests at the Tribute Center at the end of our visit. Much of our tour repertoire is based on the themes of peace, hope, and remembrance, so by the time we were finished with our short concert, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. We were especially moved by one of the survivors who told the students how touched she was by our music. It was an emotional and extremely memorable morning.

We then travelled back to midtown Manhattan and enjoyed a group meal at the Hard Rock Café on Times Square after which we returned to the hotel to change into our concert uniforms and make our way to St. Patrick’s Cathedral for our concert. What an incredibly beautiful church! With such a large number of chaperones with us on tour, we always have a ready-made audience, but it was rewarding to see so many tourists who just came in to look at the church, sit down and stay to hear us sing. (And Susan had a fun time playing the five keyboard organ!)

Following the concert, the rest of the evening was free to enjoy our final night in NYC with our chaperones and friends. Some enjoyed a nice meal or went souvenir shopping, but the majority of the group took the opportunity to attend another Broadway show - Phantom, Wicked, Dear Evan Hansen, Hello Dolly, Anastasia, Lion King - you name it, someone in the group probably saw it. (Okay, not Hamilton. No one can get tickets to Hamilton.) What better way to spend our final evening in New York City than enjoying more great musical performances!

The tour is halfway through! On to Day 6 and Philadelphia tomorrow!

Day 4 of our tour dawned bright and early as we set off to be part of the crowd at the Today Show (along with an awesome LCC tour banner thanks to choir parent, Heather). We had a great time making signs, singing for the crowd and waving at the cameras. Some of us were lucky enough to be spotted on TV by family and friends watching at home! And the highlight of the morning was our choir selfie with Hoda Kotb! It may have been an early start to our day, but it was sure a lot of fun!

After grabbing breakfast on our way back to the hotel, we had our final rehearsal before our concert. The afternoon free time allowed some of us to see a few more sights of the city while others relaxed at the hotel.

And then it was time to put on our concert outfits and head to Carnegie Hall! We had originally planned to walk there, but the impending weather forced us to modify those plans, so we piled our entire group onto the subway and set off. We actually did arrive before the monsoon season set in once again, but we didn’t quite make it inside before rain began to fall - sideways.

After a soggy slog up six flights of stairs to our warm up (or dry off) room, we made our way back down to the stage for our sound check (and a lot of pictures by our entourage). What a beautiful hall with incredible acoustics! Following the sound check, we got back on the subway and returned to the hotel for a (really) quick bite of supper before another wild ride on the New York subway system.

Returning to the hall, it was yet another trip up the six flights of stairs for our warm up and then before we knew it, we were singing in the National Children’s Choir Festival in Carnegie Hall! One performance highlight was the piece - Stars Tonight - written especially for the festival by Judith Herrington. The composer worked with the festival choir earlier in the day and attended the concert as well. And in the category of “life’s most embarrassing moments” one of the girls from another choir was part of the group of singers acting out one of the songs. She was running around the stage when her skirt fell off to her ankles. Now there’s a performance she’ll never forget! (Nor will we!)

The festival choir was just one of three performances on the evening which included the Masterworks Chorale presenting the Durufle Requiem (featuring incredible soloists - did we mention the acoustics are amazing?), followed by a fabulous wind ensemble from San Antonio. We were able to watch these performances from the balcony of the hall (waaaaay above the stage).

Following the concert, those in the choir who were still awake stopped at Planet Hollywood in Times Square for the after-concert party. We enjoyed great food and lots of jumping up and down on the dance floor (which seems to be the way everyone dances these days…). And to end our day, it rained on us once again as we made our way back to the hotel.

It seems that pesky precipitation won’t give us a moment’s peace on this trip!
But ultimately, the weather doesn’t really matter (you can’t do anything about it anyway). What does matter is that 41 students from Logansport, Indiana stepped onto the stage of the most famous concert hall in the world and made their Carnegie Hall debut. And no amount of rain, gale force winds, or damp uniforms was going to diminish that fact. What an incredible (and incredibly long) day!