UK Tour Day 4

By Nikki Lefort, Premier Choir

Nikki has been in BCC for two years. She is fifteen years old. This is her first BCC tour!

Today, June 30th, we made our way to Glasgow, Scotland. Our bus left around 9 AM and arrived at the Kelvingrove Museum by around 11:30. We spent the next hour and a half touring the beautiful museum (that resembled a red stone castle on the outside). It wasn't quite as grand as the MFA, but that's very hard to beat. It was a gorgeous museum filled with interesting exhibits ranging from french impressionist paintings to natural history (many stuffed animals and bones). After that some of us grabbed quick lunch at the cafe before a short rehearsal in the middle of the stunning foyer of the museum. At 1:00 we had an informal concert with James Hunter, a wonderful organist who played songs in between our numbers. We got tons of compliments while roaming the museum for the next hour after the concert.

The view of our performance from the balcony at the Kelvingrove Museum!

We left the museum around 3:30 and took a short ride to the the St. Bride's Episcopal Church. It was a very pretty, very cold stone cathedral. The reverend was very welcoming and happy to have us sing there! We had a workshop with about six students who are apart of the Ignition Depot Arts group. This group has a similar mission as BCC, seeing as they also use music and other arts to bring together different communities. It was really awesome to coordinate a combined rendition of Rolling in the Deep by Adele, merging their version with our own (improvised) BCC harmonies and backup touches. We had dinner and were all super pumped up come concert time because we got to jam backstage with our new friends (a small dance party ensued).

Me (Nikki) all bundled up at St. Brides Episcopal Church. It was EXTREMELY freezing!! 

Our performance was full of music we hadn't sung in a bit or were performing for the first time, yet we managed to pull it together to make a terrific concert. The audience showered us with compliments, one man even telling TK that we truly inspired and effected him and others. By 8:00 we were leaving the chilly but lovely town of Glasgow and headed towards home. I'd say it was a great ride home seeing as I was knocked out until the moment Ben Hires woke me up with the words "stopping for snacks". I was the second person off the bus, with pounds in hand ready to storm the grocery store for the only produce I'd seen in days. Personally, I bought bags of carrots, apples, cauliflower, and strawberries. It was a completely successful stop for a number of us. The store even asked us to sing when they heard the prestigious Boston Children's Chorus was there. Tomorrow, we head out for Washington, England bright and early. Chip chip, cheerio!

Collaborating with Depot Arts. They're awesome!

Also, I'm making a shout out to me mum and dad. Love you both so much and want you to know I'm having a great time and can't wait to see and talk to you guys! :) 

UK Tour Day 3

By: Emma Kromm, Premier Choir

Emma has been in BCC for four years. She is fifteen years old. 

Hello everyone, from all of us in Edinburgh! We're having a wonderful beginning to our tour, with everything going smoothly, even after our approximately 30 hour long day yesterday.

YME rehearsing in St. Giles Cathedral

Today was Wednesday, the 29th; our third day of tour, although it felt like the second. Yesterday felt like one long, long day, and today was the first day where we began and finished our day in a hotel, making it feel like the first official day of tour. We woke up, still jet lagged but enthusiastic, and had a substantial continental breakfast in the Travelodge we are staying at. By 9:30 we were on the bus, off to rehearse at St. Giles Cathedral. The cathedral was breathtakingly beautiful, and everyone was in awe of the space as soon as we walked in. I heard some people around me exclaiming, "I can't believe we get to sing here!" and I felt just as lucky to have the chance to sing in this extraordinary building. I was wondering how large and ornate buildings built in the middle ages before modern machinery architects were able to create them! We sang songs like Ave Maria, Alleluia, and Lauda Sion which sounded wonderful in the cathedral, like they were meant to be sung in one (which they were!). After the concert we had some more time for an independent lunch and sightseeing around the Royal Mile. 

Some singers outside of St. Giles after our performance!

Next we departed for Loch Leven, one of Scotland's most famous lochs which doubles as a nature reserve.  We had to hours to explore and take in the beautiful sights of the loch, which included a castle on an island in the middle of the loch where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned -- she had to sneak out dressed as a Lady in Waiting in a boat! Some singers and staff chose to take a boat to that island to look around the castle. Some people walked along the side of the loch where we discovered a really cool playground with some things we had never seen before, including a four-person rope type swing that even Mr. Victoria tried out -- I have never seen him so genuinely happy and excited, he laughed the whole time! Some people made daisy chains and we got to see some sheep, too! 

Me (Emma) and friends at Loch Leven

After a relaxing drive through the gorgeous Scottish countryside we arrived back in Edinburgh where we did some more shopping and ended up at the Renada Hotel for dinner. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and I am amazed to report that right now, at 9:40pm, it is still light out! I have never seen the sun go down here, I don't think it ever does. Now it's time to go to sleep so that tomorrow we can begin another day well-rested! Goodnight!

The whole gang! 

P.S. Hi Mom and Dad! I love and miss you, and am really sorry I haven't been able to e-mail, there's no free wifi here, keep reading the blog and I'll send you an e-mail as soon as I can! Also, please put more money on my card, if that is possible.  

UK Tour Day 1 (...and 2)

By: Casey Accardi, Premier Choir
Casey has been in BCC for six years. She is 18 years old. 
(Apologies for the lateness of this post, we had some technical difficulties. But everyone is alive and well!) 


Good Morning! Casey Accardi, BCC Blog founder, here! It is my pleasure to give you the scoop on the first day of our UK tour, and I am even more pleased to share that a different BCC singer will be writing a blog post each day while we're here. I hope you enjoy this series of posts -- feel free to use the comment box to say hello, we'll respond!

On June 27th, after plenty of last minute packing, I arrived at Logan Airport in the late afternoon ready to depart on a flight to London with BCC! While I was expecting to see my fellow singers, I was not expecting to see Xana, Liz, and Rabiah, alumnae of the chorus, who came bearing UK themed posters and a lot of BCC spirit. It was so great to see them and have them there to send us off on our trip! 

Liz, Xana, and Rabiah! Best alumni ever!

After saying our goodbyes to friends and family, check in, security, and finding our gate went smoothly. After a bit of a wait we boarded our 7pm flight: a six hour flight to London Heathrow Airport. For the first few hours the flight went wonderfully for me -- I read, socialized with other members of the chorus, flipped through my options on the TV screen implanted in the seat in front of me, etc. However, when the third hour of the flight (10pm Boston time, 3am UK time) rolled around I attempted to get some rest, things stopped going so smoothly! Sleeping on planes is not my forte, and when we landed in London I found that most of my peers were also unsuccessful!

Fettes College!

We had a quick layover in London and were soon on our way to Edinburgh -- this time a much shorter, 50 minute  flight. After landing began part two of what I'd call the longest day ever, meaning it was officially June 28th in Edinburgh, but I hadn't slept the night of the 27th! We boarded our tour bus -- a double decker bus!!! -- and headed off for some sight seeing with our courier David, tour guide, Kirstie, and bus driver, Frank. Kirstie told us everything about everywhere, including Fettes College, an elite private high school in Edinburgh that follows the English schooling system, therefore preparing students to apply to English schools like Oxford and St. Andrews. Fettes College is the school that J. K. Rowling based Hogwarts on, and I must say it looked pretty similar! 

My view from a bench at Edinburgh Castle... yes I took a quick nap.

After getting Lunch independently (many of my fellow chorus members ate at The Elephant Cafe, the coffee shop in which J.K. Rowling began writing the novel) we proceeded to Edinburgh Castle for our last sight-seeing stop of the day. Although I am pretty sure I fell asleep standing up more than once, it was an awesome sight to see! We then headed to the Travelodge and checked into our rooms, only to leave less than an hour later for dinner and rehearsal. At this point I'd been awake for nearly 30 hours so I apologize for the lack of detail! We ate dinner at the Three Sisters (a three course meal!) and our first rehearsal in the UK, although we were quite tired, sounded pretty good! I'm hoping our performance on the 29th at St. Giles goes wonderfully. 

P.S. I caught up with my friend and fellow chorus member, Gabi, about our trip here, because it was her first time on an airplane! She says, "It was like a roller coaster! I had fun! The food was good!" -- I'd say that's a pretty good review! Lets hope our trip home is just as lovely.

What We're Up To: TOUR!!!

This is the last blog post you will read before our Premier Choir and Young Men's Ensemble singers take over the blog entirely for about two weeks with their pictures, news and musings from tour. Tonight, 59 singers and 12 adults will board a British Airways flight to the United Kingdom for BCC's 4^th international cultural exchange tour. The itinerary is available on our website. We hope you will support our community by following along on the journey! There are 3 ways you can do that: 

1. Read our blog (you're one step ahead - keep it up!). A different singer will post to the blog each day! They will be excited to share their photos and thoughts on their day, and how it relates to their experience at BCC as a whole. We encourage you to comment on their postings - it's the best way of communicating with them while they are away. 
2. Follow us on Twitter.  For all you tweeps, our handle is @BCChorus. Please use the hashtag #BCCtour for your tweets! If you're not on Twitter yet, it might be a good time to get "attwicted!"
3. Find us on Facebook. We hope you will visit our page before the end of the tour on July 8th. During the tour, we are trying to raise the equivalent of one student's scholarship for the trip. You can find information about that Fundraising Project on our page, on the Support BCC tab. If a financial contribution is not possible at this time, we hope you will Join Our Cause, and share the information with your network of Facebook friends.

Thank you for the rich and vibrant community you've helped us to create here at BCC. We look forward to growing our reputation around the world with your support!

What BCC Means to Me - One Part of My Normal Life

By: Precious Perez, Central Intermediate

Precious has been in BCC for two years.  She is 13 years old.

It was a Thursday rehearsal when I presented a video of a day in my life with a visual impairment to Central Intermediate.  I was quite nervous, unsure of whether or not it would be beneficial, or would make a difference in the way the rest of the choir thought of me.

My video presentation entitled Precious Perez: A Day In the Life contained scenes of walking outside using my cane, adapted card games, and other significant and valuable information that would guide the rest of the choir and staff to better understand my disability, capability, and accommodations which allow me to live a perfectly normal and regular life.  Everyone was welcoming and honest, and I felt that my goal was achieved, that my goal of feeling that I am part of the choir as opposed to feeling special or different, which I am not.

All I am is visually impaired, and all that means is that my eyes do not work, but that does not keep me from doing the things that everyone else does and more, and as this presentation and its outcome show, all everyone needs is a little bit of education to surpass the assumption and misconception, and to expand their horizons with truth and reality.

Editor's Note: Because of technical problems, we are not able to share Precious' video presentation here, as she would have liked. However, we do have some footage of the follow-up Q&A that she had with her fellow singers.