I haven’t been on here in a while, (TWO MONTHS, I KNOW,) I know, I’ve been busy, that’s the usual response, but HEY! I’m here and I’ve got some exciting stuff! About a month and a half ago, I had the opportunity of traveling to Nashville, Tennessee with Trabuco Hills’ Chamber Choir. We competed in a Festival of Gold, which is a competition against others within the top 10% of the nation’s choral programs. I’m here to chat a little bit about that experience!
First off, I love Nashville. I love the environment. I love the trees and all of the blossoms and greenery. It’s so green there. California is so dry compared to the bright green fields of Tennessee. It was beautiful. Also- THE FOOD. AH! So good. If I could just eat that Southern food for the rest of my life, I would never be upset again. That food was beyond delicious. (Shoutout to the sweet tea for being even better than ChickFilA’s sweet tea!) Gosh- if I could just life there for the rest of my life, I’d never complain again. (IF YOU CAN’T TELL, I LOVE NASHVILLE.)
Next, their accents? Wonderful. Gosh I love accents. It was so fun to just listen to people talk. And ALSO I didn’t have to pay extra for any plastic bags while I was there! I LOVE LOWER TAXES! Super sweet when I had to buy things hehe.
A part of what made this experience extra special was being able to be apart of the Honor Choir there with Worldstrides. That was sick. I met so many people from places like Washington, South Dakota, Florida, Massachusetts, and more. It was pretty awesome to be able to sing and make new relationships with those kiddos. My favorite part of Honor Choir was being able to chat with the kids there about California. I busted so many CA myths. It was honestly hilarious. I was asked very often about Hollywood and if I went there often and they all LOST IT when I said I’m normally there about twice a month or so. It was really funny. They all seemed to be under the impression that Hollywood was saved for the richest of the rich and that you just see people when you walk down the streets. I mean, yeah, we see people, but it’s not like I’m walking around and I casually walk into Cole Sprouse on the daily. But to explain to them that Los Angeles is kinda dirty in some parts was really crazy. I felt bad crushing some of their dreams of what it looks like in the movies, but it was fun for me to hear about how Seattle isn’t all it’s cracked up to be too. About how not everything is “hipster” and how Florida isn’t all bright and sunny all the time. Sharing experiences like that with the folks I met was a blast.
Sharing this whole choir tour with my Chamber Choir was the most special thing about the whole trip. I had the privilege of sharing a room with three of my best friends and my mom (MOMMA KELLEY!) Even went on this trip. It was rad to share those fun moments on tour with them, and the group I hung out with (GAYLORDS THIS IS YOUR SHOUTOUT MOMENT) are some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. I’m so glad that we spent this trip having fun and growing closer. (ALSO- shoutout to Kaitlyn for cutting my hair in the hotel bathroom hehehe.) We had the best time as a group, because honestly if it wasn’t for the people I surrounded myself with, this trip could have been the worst (lol hehehehe).
So with that all said, we placed SECOND at this festival because there were two schools tied for first. I’m very proud of our choir though because although this wasn’t the very best we’ve ever performed, we grew the most this year from this experience. The biggest growing moment on tour was when we had our workshop at Vanderbilt University. We worked with John Bittlecomb and it was arguably the coolest person we’ve ever worked with as an ensemble. I felt so honored to not only get singing advice from him, but also for our choir to be able to work with him and grow our festival set just two days before we were scheduled to perform. Awesome things.
TENNESSEE brought awesome things. I’m so grateful for my choir team and for the people I get to travel around America with. These kiddos are awesome, and I wouldn’t wanna compete with anybody else.
Much Love,
Del