Big 9

Well I had an absolutely fantastic day! Big 9 was all that it was cracked up to be, and then some more. I am so glad that I decided to take the day off work. And I'm glad that I was able to be there to help Connie out. It was really, a lot of fun!

Laura says my title was cool and sounds way important. I was the Clinician's Assistant. Basically, I did anything that Dr. Peter needed me to. I made sure he had sharpened pencils (he went through about one per choir), cold water to drink, and I was in charge of getting the music for each choir so he could look at it during their performance. He is a really nice guy and it was a lot of fun to work with him.

Alright, on to the choir performances of the day. I would venture to guess that not a whole lot of people actually saw all 10 choirs. It was definitely a cool experience to get to do that. The following review of the day is simply my opinion. Keep in mind that I am not a music expert, not by any stretch of the imagination.

The choirs that performed this morning were Mayo, JM, Mankato West, Mankato East, Winona, and Faribault. I thought that Mankato West blended pretty well. I was kind of disappointed that they didn't do harder songs. I think they really could have showcased their choir better had they done so.

Mankato East wasn't all that impressive to me. However, I really liked Past Life Melodies. I kind of wish they would have saved that for their last song though because they did it the best. Winona was okay. I really liked their last song, which was He Never Failed Me Yet.

Faribault was definitely the surprise of the morning for me. I was so nervous for them to sing Water Night. I couldn't figure out how they were going to do an 18-part song. Well they did it with 14 parts, but they did a really good job with it. I was very impressed with them and give them the best choir of the morning award :)

After lunch, we had some very strong choirs. Albert Lea was first. I thought they were pretty strong. Kind of up there with Faribault for me. I knew quite a few people in their choir, so that was cool. Century came next, but I'm going to save talking about them till the end.

Owatonna was after Century. Owatonna clearly has the reputation of being the best in the Big 9. They are really quite impressive. They blend gorgeously and I love their dynamics. I liked I'm a Train, especially Mr. Harris' hat. Ha! The afternoon finished out with Austin. Austin was pretty good. I was entertained by the William Tell Overture. I'd put them with Mankato West.

Alright, now I get to brag about Century. Holy wow! They were so amazing today. I cannot even tell you how proud of them I am. I couldn't stop smiling through their entire performance. It was, by far, the best I have ever heard them sing. Voice Dance II was the perfect song to open with. I got chills (and tears) when they sang Kyrie by Rene Clausen.

And oh my goodness, they nailed Elijah Rock. I haven't been the biggest fan of that song this spring. I liked it alright, but it always sounded a bit off to me. Well, that was not the case today. Wow, wow, wow! They got a standing ovation for it even though it was in the middle of their performance. Leon directed it and he did a fantastic job! They finished with How Can I Keep From Singing? and then Alleluia. This was probably my favorite song of the day. I absolutely loved it.

I applaud Century and what they did today. They sing with an energy that no one else even comes close to. Rumor has it that Dr. Peter even told the Select Choir to be more like Century with their energy. Yay! It was so exciting to see them and hear them. I still can't stop smiling just thinking about it. It was definitely the highlight of my day.

I knew at least one person in 7 out of the 10 choirs. So that was pretty cool. It was super fun to hang-out with Laura and Matt and Rebecca and Amanda today too. I'm glad they came and sat with me. I also got to talk to Sara and Alyssia, yay!

I was able to come home for a few hours before the Select concert tonight. When I got up to Century, I ran into Brittany and Armando, so I sat with them for the concert. Honestly, it was a little on the boring side. Okay, that's polite. The highlights from the concert were watching the incredibly bored choir kids during the orchestra and band performances (especially Lucy and Mary dancing!) and *SILENCE*! Good times to be had by all :)

So basically, today was nothing short of amazing. Congratulations to all of the choirs that sang. I was very, very impressed. And to my favorite choir in the entire world... You guys rocked today! I will hopefully see you all soon.

Today's Tidbit:

Here's who I knew in all the choirs.
* Mayo: Sarah
* JM: Mike & Greg
* Mankato West: No one
* Mankato East: No one
* Winona: Alyssia
* Faribault: Sara
* Albert Lea: Merissa, Jenessa, Levi, Christine, & Kirsten
* Century: Um, the whole choir?
* Owatonna: Laura, Matt, Rebecca, Anna, Amanda, & Travis
* Austin: No one

Here's who got standing ovations (if I remember right):
* Faribault
* Albert Lea
* Century (twice!)
* Owatonna
* Austin