Switzerland: the Geneva concert

So we had what I would consider our best concert of the tour last night.

We were in some kind of lecture hall/auditorium place at a school in Geneva just across from the brand-spankin'-new meeting place of the church of Christ. The church had printed programs that included French translations for all of our repertoire, so we were able to sing everything without worrying about isolating the audience. A piece that went particularly well (and also my favorite in our repertoire) was Ich bin das brot des lebens, a German setting of a couple of verses from the Gospel of John.

We also performed the Trois chansons by Debussy last night, and there were no disasters to report. We have only performed them once before (for a German audience). This audience is the first that could theoretically understand them. The Chamber Singers do a wonderful French chanson, Chant d'osyeaux about the coming of spring and the awakening of the birds and making various bird noises. There were nine of us on the trip and we had hoped to sing it in French-speaking countries, but that's looking doubtful since Jennie left to be with her Grandfather.

Today we go into back into Geneva (we're still at that hotel in France) where we will enjoy some sightseeing time and sing at the church building tonight.

We already have one correct response to the poetry trivia question: congratulations to your (my) mother, who responded correctly over the phone. For answering the trivia question correctly, she gets her own cookies. Here's another one, just for fun. The prize for getting this right is the everlasting satisfaction of a job well done. And a nickel. Punctuate the following expression (it may be more than one sentence):

John where Mary had had had had had had had had had had had the teachers approval

Coming up: Lyon, tigers and bears, oh my! (minus the tigers)

(and probably minus the bears, too)