Leaving the hotel ar 7.30 in the morning, HGC arrived at Highland Park ready for a quick sound check with RCS. With the first Sunday service beginning at 8:45, singers brushed up on Felices Ter (Thompson), Will the Circle Be Unbroken (Moore), and the second movement of the Poulenc Gloria. HGC and RCS led the congregation through the early morning service with more energy than was expected for such an early start. That momentum carried through the second service which began after an hour break. Throughout the morning, the congregation remained extremely engaged, a notable example being an extremely devout spin instructor who managed to attend both services (or so the homilist said).
After the last service, singers had the opportunity to rest over lunch in the youth center of the church (from which House common room designers could probably take some notes). As expected, Glee Club members immediately gravitated towards the games in the youth center including Super Smash Bros, air hockey, and table tennis. Shortly after a sound check, the choruses gathered one final time in the sanctuary for an afternoon concert. Beginning with the entirety of the Poulenc Gloria, RCD moved into their set which ended with the Radcliffe alma mater. After performances from Cliffnotes (the RCS subset) and HGC Lite, Gleeks took to the stage for their part of the concert, beginning with the Victoria and ending with Football Songs. As a finale, both choruses and alumni took the stage for one last time for a rendition of Fair Harvard.
After the concert, tired singers scarfed down a pizza dinner and then boarded buses destined for Austin (about a 3 hour ride) where they would meet their wonderful homestay hosts before going to bed (a sequence of events that resulted in this tardy update to the tour blog).
—Jay Sastry ‘22