Lynnfield High School's Choral Department Visits Quebec City in Canada

This year, the Lynnfield High School choral groups trekked to Quebec, Canada for their annual spring trip. The trip lasted three days and featured three performances by the Lynnfield choral groups including one adjudication, a visit to a Huron Native American reservation, a dinner-dance, and numerous tours around the city. Three LHS Chorus students were interviewed about the trip. The students were Nelia Miller, a sophomore, Devon Ritchie, a senior, and Corey Dolbeare, another senior. While this was Miller's first chorus trip, Ritchie and Dolbeare had each been on previous ones. Reactions to the trip were mild.

The excursion began with a bus trip that seemed to have lasted "a million hours," Miller said. In fact, the time consuming New York-Quebec border crossings were "the worst part" of Miller's trip. The group rode in two buses, separated by classes with the juniors and seniors in one bus, freshman and sophomore in the other. There must have been a distinctively different atmosphere in the upperclassman bus, since the bus rides were Ritchie's favorite aspect of the trip. During these periods, she rode in the back of the bus, secluding herself with some good friends. When the group arrived in Quebec, the weather was cold, drizzly, and overcast. In this weather, the group was led on "several tours of the city, including a bus tour, a walking tour, and a ferry ride across the harbor," according to Miller. Dolbeare explained the joy he experienced from "speaking French to French people" while doing an impressive impersonation of a French woman.

The group also visited a Huron reservation, where they dined and were taught about the native culture. The group received a tour of the reservation and shown "displays of [Huron] culture, including smokehouse for smoking fish, a spirit house for heeling, and a life-size tipi," said Miller. "The dinner received mixed reactions," reported Ritchie and Dolbeare. "While some loved the meal (which included sunflower soup and buffalo meat), others wouldn't eat it." The experience concluded with a tribal dance and a peace pipe ceremony, Justin Gigliello and Tim Miller taking part in the latter. All three students agreed that the experience was "interesting."

The groups on the trip, which included Concert Choir, Women's Chorus, and Chamber Singers, sang three performances in Quebec. The first of which was at a church, the second at a private high school, and the third at Quebec High School. At the second performance, the groups were adjudicated by professionals in the music field. "The judges were really nice," said Dolbeare. This did not stop them from being critical. Dolbeare explained, "For the first two songs, they said we had no energy, but we friggen exploded!" Still, both Concert Choir and Women's Chorus were rated as "Excellent." Chamber Singers received a "Good" rating. The rating scale ranged from "Participant" to "Superior."

"We received such a poor grade," explained Mr. Hodgkins, choral director, in a Chamber Singers class, "because of our performance of 'Ave Maria'," an arrangement of a traditional hymn. "While the judges were impressed that we attempted it, they did not think we performed it well. They respected the fact, however, that we attempted a challenging piece and failed instead of using an easy piece in order to get a good rating." After the adjudications, all choral groups received pointers from the judges, especially on proper stance and breathing technique.

When asked what they would appreciate in future trips or change about this past one, the three students unanimously responded in favor of more free time to spend the city. "I wanted more time to shop and walk around the old city," said Miller. Dolbeare added that they "had no free time to roam. We didn't really get to experience the city." Also, on previous trips, Ritchie and Dolbeare explained that, unlike this trip, the students "got to see other groups perform." This, they said, would have improved their experience. When asked, overall, how this trip compares to ones past, Dolbeare and Ritchie simply answered, "This one doesn't."