A morning free in Santa Fe is completely different from one in Phoenix: they are so different in style and size! This morning we were able to explore much of downtown with its old churches and chapels, art galleries, history museums, arts and crafts traditions, all the while admiring the pueblo architecture.
The bus picked us up at half past noon to bring us to the Santa Fe high school for a choral workshop with one of their choirs. Our conductor Harris led a warm up session and a short interactive rehearsal. Then they sung us their favorite songs, and we sung some of ours songs. Both groups had a lot of fun sharing the music.
We all had a shot at eating the traditional Santa Fe food with red or green chile sauce that former member Tag Murphy so eloquently described to us in a pamphlet for the tour. It was indeed quite a culinary experience. About half of the group decided to go out of their way at Tomasita’s. We sung to the restaurant as a thanks. However our time was short and we had to run across all downtown to get back to the Scottish Rite temple in time for rehearsal.
What a beautiful hall! With its moorish architecture, the velvety and finely decorated room has a great acoustic. We had a very rewarding rehearsal.
We finally performed in what I think was our best performance so far. The audience was fantastic, and during our singing there were moments where I felt the magic just happen.
After the concert our hosts drove us to a warm reception in a small art gallery. We had a fun time talking with our hosts and enjoyed coming out of our “musical high”.
