Pictures
Chicago Trip 2008
Use this link to view pictures from the Chicago trip. Pictures will be added to this link daily. You will find updates from one of our trip chaperones below.
*In the gallery you can click on the enlarged photo on the right and select the O at the top to see it in the original size. That will enable you to zoom in to find your child in large group shots.
Day 1
My name is Carolyn Barth and I am one of the photographers for the CCGD Chicago trip. We had a great day today! The travel went very smoothly and our tour guides are great. We had lunch at the
Day 2
What a day! We began with breakfast at the Corner Bakery; each group going individually between 6 – 8 am. On the bus at 8:45am for a fact-filled tour of
Chicago Day 3: Grab and go breakfast at Corner Bakery, then on to our first clinic with Dr. Emily Ellsworth. She was fabulous, grabbing the attention of our choristers immediately with her interpretation of “Barbara Allen”. CCGD received high praise from Dr. Ellsworth, and she got them singing at an even higher level. The youth chorus received direction from Dr. Rollo Dilworth, who had them marching and reaching out to their audience. Then we were off to Navy Pier and a cruise on the Spirit of Chicago. What fun! It was a gorgeous day; the boat was filled with choirs from Alaska, Illinois, Arkansas, and Texas. The kids had a great time together, dancing and singing. Everyone had fun, but our kids from Dallas were the life of the party! From the ship, it was a short bus trip to the Chicago Art Institute, famous for “American Gothic” and their many Picassos. The kids enjoyed some interactive art: a pile of candy in one corner disappearing slowly as the kids each sampled a sweet in an unexpected space to mimic the life of an Aids patient which was the artist’s inspiration for the piece. Nearby a curtain of beads hung in a doorway. As we were leaving, Mandy’s knee gave out and she fell on the stairs. Mr. Harley and Mr. Mahurin carried her back to the bus, and Nurse Pauletti found a brace and crutches to help her manage while the knee is healing. We had dinner at the Water Tower Food Court, an amazing array of restaurants in a mall near the original water tower and pump station of the city. These 2 old buildings were among the only ones south of the river to survive the Great Fire. Back at the hotel, the choirs met for a three hour long rehearsal while the directors caught up with CCGD founding member Isabel Colora. In bed at 11pm.
Day 4: Up early again to beat the rush at Corner Bakery which is trying to feed eleven choirs between 6 and 8 am. We met at the bus at 8:15am for our excursion to the Shedd Aquarium. Starting with the lizard exhibit, we saw everything from the Komodo dragon to chameleons and anoles. In the center of the aquarium is a cylindrical tank three floors tall that holds almost every creature found in a classic reef setting. In other exhibits, the penguins were very perky and the sea otters were swimming somersaults! It was impossible to see everything before time to meet at the Oceanairium for the dolphin show, where trainer Cole separated fact from fictitious dolphin stories while the dolphins performed their acrobatics. We had pre-ordered our entrees for lunch at Hop Haus, so when we arrived for lunch, there was little time or confusion before we were served our salads and wraps. Turns out the owner, Ed, is a big Cowboy’s fan. I hope we didn’t disappoint him too severely when no one wanted to talk about the Boys! The restaurant is a microbrewery, but we only sampled the water and lemonade. Bus driver Bob got us back to the hotel with just enough time for the kids to run up to their rooms to collect their music before rehearsal at 1:30pm. We met immediately after rehearsal for dinner at ESPN Zone, a noisy sports bar with multiple TVs on every wall. The buffet provided Cesear salad, tater tots, pasta, chicken tenders, mini burgers, brownies and cookies. After they had eaten their fill, the kids were given game cards to play in the video arcade upstairs. Back at the hotel, we encouraged the kids to start the packing process as tomorrow will be very busy and we leave the hotel early on Sunday. A concert featuring all the choirs sans ours was held in the Empire Room of the hotel at 8pm. Our kids were wowed by the soloists in the Alaska chorus, the precision of the New Jersey choir, and the animation of the Glen Ellen chorus from the Chicago suburbs. Time for bed was 11:30pm. Lots of tired bodies today!
Day 5: Rehearsal didn’t start until 9am this morning, so we got to sleep in a bit. With all the choirs staying at the hotel, Corner Bakery was packed! Some groups walked a couple blocks down to another Corner Bakery so they would have time for breakfast. We met right after rehearsal at noon to walk to a bar next door to the hotel for a quick lunch of salads or sandwiches. It was only a short walk to the Symphony Center for the afternoon rehearsal. The kids were not allowed to take anything with them when they rehearsed on stage, so the chaperones became bag ladies for the afternoon, loaded down with purses and backpacks. Back at the hotel, we were served a light dinner of salad and pasta with peas and mushrooms in the elegant Empire Room. The halls of the hotel were decorated with photos of famous entertainers who had played in the Empire Room, so it was fun to think that here, where the choirs had rehearsed and we were eating our dinner, artists such as Sonny and Cher, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Bob Newhart had performed. The kids had about an hour to get ready for their performance and start packing up. The choir met at 6:30pm to walk the short distance to the Symphony Center and prepare to sing. The Orchestra Hall at the Symphony Center is a beautiful room, smaller than the Meyerson but with excellent acoustics and elaborate ornate decorations. All in their individual performance outfits, the combined choruses were a milieu of color. We gave the Alaska Children’s Choir the best dressed award; they had cute outfits for each day of the tour and their performance dresses were a deep scarlet with black velvet bodices. And the music was fantastic! It was a special treat to hear pieces directed by the composer. After a standing ovation, the choirs performed “Walk into Jerusalem” as an encore. We were all so proud of our choristers! Back at the hotel, the kids changed into their dressy outfits for the dance. They partied hard until midnight, then lights out at 12:30am.
Day 6: Up a little later, but packed and ready to go by 9:30am. We loaded up the buses and drove a few blocks to Millennium Park, where we saw the Pavilion designed by Frank Gehry that seats 4,000 and has a great lawn behind it that accommodates another 7,000. We took lots of photos at the Cloud Gate sculpture, a great shiny bean-shaped structure that mirrors the skyline as well as all the passers-by. Some had enough time to explore the Lurie Garden or some of the other interesting sculptures in the park. Walking back to the buses, we passed by the Crown Fountain, a shallow pool guarded by two tall glass block towers that project faces of Chicago citizens. Every 20 minutes or so, water shoots out of the mouth of the faces onto the crowd of children waiting below. What fun! Then it was on to Navy Pier for lunch at one of the many eateries and Ferris Wheel or other carnival rides. Some of us viewed the stained glass exhibit, others the tattoo exhibit, and still others took advantage of last minute shopping opportunities. Back on the bus at 1:30 to get to the airport, only to find that the 2nd flight had been cancelled! It was a tense few moments while Mr. Harley determined which choristers absolutely had to get home and found flights for them. The rest were able to get hotel and meal vouchers for their extra night in Chicago. I was on the first flight, so you will need to find someone else to tell of their adventures. We should all be home now. It was a fabulous trip, an incredible experience for our choir. I can’t wait for the next one!
