April Showers have begun to fall and the lawn is developing this beautiful emerald color, trees are beginning to pop and the buds on my daffodils are swelling.  I’m hoping this year that they will actually bloom.  Last Spring was not kind – we had a warm spell and then a freeze – darn near killed most growing things that felt safe to come out again.

So far, so good this year.  My husband and I did some serious Read more

The last of the summer European tours is behind us. The Rose Ensemble headed out to Paris and Tours for a whirlwind 4 days in France with 2 concerts in different cities. We had a blast. The first concert, part of the Festival d’Ile de France, was in an ancient cathedral (not surprising) in the village of Larchant near famous Fontainbleu, about an hour’s drive from Paris.

The church building has attracted pilgrims from the 12th century onwards and was witness to the religious turmoil that characterised medieval French history. Evidence of this is found in the ruins of part of the building that has been preserved for us to see today.

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Well, our last European tour of the summer is rapidly approaching.  On September 12th The Rose Ensemble will board a plane and fly to Paris where we have been invited to perform our Hawaiian program at the Festival d’Ile de France in the Eglise Saint-Mathurin de Larchant on Sunday, September 14th.

The Festival d’Ile de France welcomes between 20,000 and 25,000 spectators for each season. For each show, the Festival d’Ile de France makes both musical discovery and the discovery of regional heritage coincide. This relationship is, from the beginnings of the festival, an essential element of its identity. Music and locations are selected in close relation, so that the container and the contents mutually provide meaning and emotion.

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A wonderful three weeks in France has come and gone and we have so many great memories from this tour.  It’s hard to describe the experience of singing music written for churches of the medieval period when you sing them in the buildings they were designed for.

These buildings have amazing natural acoustics, something that is somehow forgotten in this age of technology and mechanical amplification.  One amazing experience I had was while seated behind the alter of the cathedral in Vaison.

During the concert it is our custom to try to sit off stage while a smaller group is performing.  In this case, the seating available to us was in a sunken area behind the alter in the cathedral.  This area is shaped in a U formation out of stone with stone benches all resembling a small amphitheater.  The sound was incredible.  Even though our colleagues were singing with their backs to us, it was as if they were being electronically amplified (I kept checking for speakers!).  This will definitely remain as one of my more remarkable memories.

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This is just stunning.  After an 8 hour drive from Autun thru ever changing landscape and vast vineyards and a brief stop in Cluny, we  reached the ancient city of Vaison la Romaine.

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It’s Wednesday, and that means Market Day in Autun. After coffee with my friend Ginna, I wandered over to see what was for sale.

Every Wednesday and Friday until about 1pm lots of vendors displaying their (uhm) wares.  You can find everything from cheap jewelry to shoes to clothing and even French underwear. Yes, brassieres on display in all their frilly french glory. Only in France.

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Welcome to Brion, France.  A small village with an estimated population of about 200 in the Morvan outside of Autun.  The Rose Ensemble had an extraordinary concert there last evening.

Our bus arrived at this lovely little church for our pre-concert rehearsal.  The priest is very conservative, so we were asked not to perform our Hawaiian chants and hula.  The women were also to cover any bare shoulders while in the church.

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I love France.  I love the people, the villages, the churches we sing in, and oh yeah, can’t forget to give homage to the baguette.  That lovely soft, slightly salty soft center with the golden brown crispy crust.

Today is Sunday, a free day forus, and I just had coffees with Linda, Kris, Ginna and her friends from Canada that have joined us on this leg of the trip.  We sat at a lovely cafe near the carousel just outside of the church were Napoleon & Joseph Bonaparte attended while they lived in Autun for a few months.

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