8/7/2019 March 30 Kaleidescope: Singing in the Steps of Queens and Kings

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A tapestrys outward-facing weftside greets the viewers eye withscenes of resplendent beauty andrich, complex artistry.

The hidden side, the warp, re-veals the crafters consummatework with intricate, interwoventhreads from differing sources andskillful repairs of minute flaws.

Summarizing the nine-day UKperforming tour by the HRVHSChamber Singers is akin to dis-playing both sides of that exquisitetapestry, and fitting the room-sizedhanging into a tiny suitcase. Thereare so many sensations to relay, somany logistics to appreciate.

Take a deep breath, allow yourmind to wander to the land of KingArthurs legend, and relive a smallpart of our teen singers once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Early in the wee hours of March17, the students, with 17 adult chap-erones, flew across the Atlantic ona journey of musical and personaldiscovery.

The Chamber Singers, under theguidance of Mark Steighner,HRVHS music director, spent sixmonths preparing for the musical

exchange.English choral traditions have

shaped the way I developed as achoral conductor, said Steighner,explaining why he continues his14-year-old tradition of bringingHRV choirs to England.

On arrival March 18, studentsand chaperones boarded a double-decker bus (coach) and quickly em-barked on a jetlagged, whirlwindvisit to Windsor Castle, Queen Eliz-abeths weekend home just outsideof London.

From the castle, the chior jour-neyed to the small town of Farn-ham for a March 19 joint concertwith the Farnham Youth Choir.Tour students stayed with gener-ous host families and teens for twodays while preparing.

On March 20, the group pro-gressed out to the westernmostpoint of England on the Cornwallpeninsula. By March 24, the choirhad circled back again to London holding seven formal concertsand many impromptu ensemblesalong the way.

The singers visited Tintagel Cas-tle (legendary site of King

Arthurs birth); Glastonbury Tor(the mythical Avalon); the MerryMaidens stone circle (from Druidictimes); the Minack Theater (sitedon a dramatic Cornish sea cliff);Winchester and Truro Cathedrals;the towns and churches ofNewquay, Penzance, Marazi on,Lands End, St. Michaels Mount,Chesham and many historical sitesacross London.

Through it all a rich sensorypalette connected each diverse day.

Once outside London, each turnof the road yielded vistas of bril-liant yellow and golden daffodilfields spreading out in every direc-tion, separated by the vibrantspring green of grasses, crops andbudding trees.

At every stop, imposing stonestructures gothic churches topre-Christian standing stone cir-cles resounded with studentvoices singing medieval Christianchants, Bollywood film scores, Bud-dhist meditations, American spiri-tuals and Sufi prayers.

Long and sometimes arduouswalks led through ancient cobble-stone streets, castle ruins, sea

cliffs, high hills and pastoral fieldsfilled with grazing sheep andtrimmed hedge fences.

Each days journey echoed withlaughter and footfalls from theyoung balladeers, accompanied al-ways by an impressive array of

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 C1

Inside: C2, Maija YasuiI C3, HappeningsI C5, YesteryearsI C6, Classifieds

Arriving home at

Portland International

Airport ... the group

looked, to coin anEnglish phrase, Well

spent! a worthy

result for any spring

break adventure.

Singing in the steps of queens and kings

From London to CornwallHRVHS

Chamber Choir stirred sacred stones and hu

From London to CornwallHRVHS

Chamber Choir stirred sacred stones and hu

Story and photos byJULIE RAEFIELDGOBBO

News staff writer

Creating a success-

ful performingtour for 49 highschool choir mem-bers is much like

weaving a well-executedtapestry creativity and

painstaking work becomeinextricably linked.

ADVENTURES IN ENGLAND: Imagesare (clockwise from top) GlastonburyTor;Truro Cathedral; stained glass in St.Materianas church above Tintagel;choral busking added to charityfunds; Minack Theater in west Corn-wall; St. Michaels Mount tidal cause-way and castle and HRVHS ChamberSingers atTruro Cathedral.The map of England shows the routethe group took around the southernend of the country. Many of the stopswere at the far southwest, includingLands End and St. Michaels Mound.

Please see ADVENTURE, Page C5

LondonWindsor

Farnham

Winchester

Newquay

=

Glas

tonbury Tor

Tintagel

Truro

Chesham

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C4 Hood River News, Wednesday, March 30, 2011

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www.hoodrivernews.com Hood River News, Wednesday, March 30, 2011C5

YESTERYEARS

Fire levels Cooper Spur Inn in 1951100 YEARS AGO 1911

Early spring weather hasbrought big business to theboat lines and they are mov-ing a lot of freight as well asp a ss e ng e r s. T h e w a r mweather has made a goodstage of water, which, ac-

cording to Capt. Alden, ofThe Dalles City, had been thelowest during the winter fora n um b er o f y e ar s . T h eDalles City will run untilApril 1st, when the Gatzertwill take the run. About May1st it is expected that theGatzert will commence mak-ing round trips daily. Rivermen still keep poundingaway on Hood River getting adock near the city, and be-lieve it would be a big thingfor the town if it could bedone.

S.A. Helmer, a pioneer resi-dent of Mount Hood, is in aPortland sanatorium in a seri-ous condition brought about,

it is stated by Mrs. Helmer, bytaking a Chinese remedy ad-vertised as a cure for rheuma-tism. Mr. Helmer has almostlost hishearingand is also be-coming blind. He is said tohave become as weak as achild and grave fears are en-tertained for his life.

90 YEARS AGO 1921

The Game Protective as-sociation last week released24 pairs of valley (or crest-ed) quails at various pointsin the county. The associa-tion also plans on securingsome Bob White quail laterin the season and, on ar-rival, these will be set free

to make homes and raisefamilies in the valley. Theassociation asks ranchers totake an interest in thesebirds if they locate them, es-pecially during the winters e a s on . Q u a i l a r e w e l lp r ov en f r i en d s o f t h ef a r m er a n d s p e n d t h egreater part of their wakinghours cleaning up the bugswhich play havoc in the or-chard and garden tracts.

(Advertisement) PaintedFloors Save Housework Bare wood floors, especiallyk i t c he n f l o o rs , r e q ui r emuch back breaking work,scrubbing, to keep themclean. Acme quality floor

paint makes this unneces-

sary. It forms a smooth,hard, non-absorbent surfacefrom which dirt and grimecan be easily wiped off. Itprotects and saves the sur-face. E.A. Franz Co.

80 YEARS AGO 1931

When Crag Rats feel real

a m b i ti o u s a n d h av e n oo t h er w o rk t o d o , t h e ymotor out to their plot ofraw land west of town onthe Columbia river highwayand clear a few more squaref e e t i n a n t i c ip a t i o n o f building a Crag Rat club-house in the future. One ofthe direct results of thework is that several of themountain men are undergo-ing treatment for poisonoak, and one, at least, hasdiscovered that his boastedimmunity to this tantaliz-ing weed was mistaken.

L.M. Karstetter has re-ceived a letter from a broth-er in Pennsylvania and is

now in a state of consider-a b le e l at i on o ve r t h ep r os p e ct s o f s e c ur i n g aslice in a huge estate be-l o n g in g t o h i s p a t e r n a lgreatgrandfather. The letterstated that the courts hadcleared the way for a distri-bution of this estate, esti-mated to exceed a valuationof a hundred million dol-lars, and that heirs are nowbeing sought. The estateconsists of large tracts ofland in southeastern Penn-sylvania and in Holland,and until recently the titleswere under contest.

70 YEARS AGO 1941

The Hudson Motor compa-nys line of 1941 model carswill be distributed in theHood River area by C.J.Smith, owner of SmithsAuto Park, on the Columbiariver highway at the westedge of this city. Appoint-ment of Smith as Hudsondistributor was made thisweek, by Ray Albee, Portlanddistributor of Hudson carsand Smith already has twomodels which he is demon-strating to Hood River mo-torists. Hudson and Terra-plane cars are well known inthe Hood River area. Newmodels are economicallypriced at from $885 to $1595.

Hood River school authori-

ties have just received wordthat the training course inAviation Sheet Metal workhas been finally approved forthe Hood River area, andarrangements for gettingthis course started are beingmade as rapidly as possible.It is expected that the class

will start about April 14, andwill include lay-out work,riveting and sub-assembly.M.L. Bullard, assistant statesupervisor of National De-fense Training, has given thego-ahead signal.

60 YEARS AGO 1951

Fire of undetermined ori-gin leveled the Cooper Spurinn early Sunday evening,destroying a landmark at thejunction seven miles south ofParkdale. Mrs. Marle Ward,who had operated the caf-tavern, was reported to bevisiting in Portland at thetime. By the time the Park-dale rural fire department

force appeared on the scenethe entire one-story struc-ture was ablaze and beyondsaving.

( A d v e r t i s e m e n t )HurryHurryLast DaySaturday Hey Kids! FreeHopalong Cassidy Radio, byArvin. Nothing to Buy! Justsome in and register yourname. See Bartmess Knee-land information. Marshall-Wells Stores.Bartmess-Knee-land, Owners, 2nd & OakStreets, Phone 6877.

50 YEARS AGO 1961

Hood River countys newairport will be dedicated indramatic and comprehensive

day-long Fourth of July cere-monies according to Dan Dilullo, recently appointedHood River county juniorchamber of commerce air-port dedication committeechairman. De lullo statedthat he anticipated a largeturnout by valley residentsto enjoy the program whichwill feature a fly in break-fast, large commercial planedisplay, military displays, jetflyovers, military helicoptervisitations, special aerobat-ics, simulated bombing, andf o r m a l d e d i c a t i o n c e r e -monies.

Hood River highs verdantlawn will again be the hunt

scene for this towns annual

Sunday Easter egg hunt, an-nounces the sponsoring localeagles fraternal organiza-tion. One change in groundrules is noted by the spon-sors. Parents will not be per-m i tt e d t o h u nt wi th t h eyoungsters. As in past years,specially-marked eggs will

yield prizes for the luckyfinders, and the Eagles indi-cate a bumper crop of eggswill be waiting for all com-ers.

40 YEARS AGO 1971

(Photo caption) Ken Tamu-ra will lead students at HoodRiver Valley High schoolnext year as student bodypresident. Next to him areMike Jackson, firstvice pres-ident, and Phil Henderson,second vice president. In thesecond row are secretaryKaylene Blackburn; publici-ty manager Debbie Culbert-son; treasurer Jim Casona n d a s s i s ta n t s e c r e ta r y

Linda Wetherell. They wereelected in a ballot taken justbefore spring vacation.

(Photo caption) Savingpitchers arms, a free wheel-ing pitching machine feedsfast balls, curves and justabout any other pitch toHood River Valley High bat-ters in practice. One trouble HRV hasnt had much op-portunity to give the ma-chine a workout so far thisspring because of inclementweather. The pitching gearcan be set to vary speed andtypeof pitch being delivered.In thiscase, MasWatanabeisfeeding the machine.

30 YEARS AGO 1981It was scheduled as an all-school event when Mid Val-ley scheduled a balloon re-lease Thursday, March 26,promptly at 1 p.m. Purpose ofthe project is to determinewhere wind currents willtake the gas-filled balloons.Plans called for releasingabout 300 balloons. To each,in a plastic bag, a note was togive some basic instructionsto the finder of the balloon.The program is being car-ried out simultaneouslythroughout the country.

(Photo caption) Therewere more than 40 youngsalespeople in the 1981 Hood

River News subscription

campaign, and these fivewere the best. First placewinner was Nicole Perry;close behind in second placewas Molly Level; others areKaren Joplin, third, RobinL u c as , f o ur t h , a n d Ri c kVanover, fifth.

20 YEARS AGO 1991(Photo caption) Andrew

McElderry, owner of An-drews Pizza and Bakery at107 Oak St. in Hood River,throws pizza dough in hisnew shop. McElderry sellspizza-by-the-slice and 18-inchwhole pizzas at his business,located in the former SailAway Subs building. The 25-year-old pizza maker of Nan-tucket, Mass., opened hisshop March 8 and plans toadd to the menu baked-fresh-daily goods includingscones, breads, muffins,cookies and cinnamon bunsin late June.

( Ph o t o c a p t i o n ) Ho o d

River Police Officer JerryBrown and Deputy Chief JoeWampler Jr. pose next tonearly 100 marijuana plantsdiscovered at a Hull Streethome Wednesday. One manwas arrested at the scene,and an indictment was ex-pected Friday against a sec-ond suspect. More than 275plants were seized.

10 YEARS AGO 2001

(Photo caption) Threelocal ladies celebrated theirrecent 100th birthdays lastweek at a party thrown byDown Manor. From left areEsther Shepherd, Mabel Cal-lender and Francis Smith.

The birthday gals were pre-sented with pink roses andcake, which theysharedwitha dining room-full of cele-brants.

The International Muse-um of carousel Art in HoodRiver will offer free admis-sion during April. Carouselcollector Duane Perron saidthe promotion is a way of ac-quainting the museum to thecommunity and providingexposure to downtown busi-nesses. The museum is hometo the largest and most com-prehensive collection of an-tique carousel art in theworld, Perron said.

Compiled by Esther K.

Smith, news staff writer

sung ensemble pieces.The choirs musical expe-

riences hinged on formal,pre-publicized choral con-certs, which drew both large

and intimate audiences.Performances were heldin holy spaces constructedduring every time period from World War II back tothe dark ages and beyondinto prehistoric times.

Students experienced theacoustic perfection ofchurches built specificallyfor the medieval chants intheir repertoire along withvenues more supportive oftheir contemporary selec-tions.

The choir could finallyhear how certain music wasmeant to be performed with-in a particular church archi-tecture, said Steighner.They could understand whythe composers left spaces inthe music to accommodatethe resonance of the stonewalls.

Highlights for students in-cluded the unplannedsolemn, group sings whicherupted spontaneously inisolated early churches orancient outdoor sites of wor-

ship.As with nearly every tour,

performances of the musicbegan tentatively and grewin assurance. When the stu-dents sang William ByrdsAve verum in the ancientchapel at Tintagel, they werenot so much performing aspraying in the broadest,

most inclusive sense. That is,they were offering theirmusic as a statement ofthanks for the beautifulday and their experience ofbeing in a genuinely time-less, holy place, Steighnersaid of the students growthas musicians during thetour.

Beyond the momentstaken away by the group,some special benefits wereleft behind in their hostcountry as well. Severalcharitable organizations uti-lized the HRVHS concerts tofundraise for various causes,including a local food bankand tsunami victims in

Japan.A particularly successfulevent featured the HRVHSsingers at a national Helpfor Heroes choral concertheld at Truro Cathedral.

The March 22 fundraiserfor wounded U.K. soldiersdrew more than 1,200 peopleand was broadcast live totroops overseas.

In an emotional finale atthe event, Steighner directedseven choirs and a live bandin a united performance ofYou Raise Me Up earn-ing a boisterous standingovation.

Along with the creation ofmusical beauty, the choiralso enjoyed some local cul-tural treats from others.

While visiting Newquay,the group spent an evening

listening to Cornish storiesfrom a fiddle and harp duo.Another evening offered theteens a two-hour-longCeilidh (Celtic dance party),where students were taughttraditional country-dancesteps, accompanied by alocal Cornish-Celt band.

Behind all the splendor ofEngland in spring, the sa-cred music and the spectacu-lar vistas were the hours ofpreparation and supervisionthat went into making thetrip a possibility.

Imagine meeting theneeds of 49 teens and 17adults for meals, rooms, lug-gage, passports, tickets, elec-

tronics, music, videography,sightseeing and concert lo-gistics over nine days andtens of locations.

Yes, there were a fewsnags and challenges. But,like the tapestry mentionedbefore, these remained most-ly hidden in the warp, allow-ing the primary beauty ofthe music to shine forth.

Steighner credits his long-time tour teammates, Tom

Schaefer and Nancy Merz,for much of the preparatoryplanning and coordinationdetails. Mary Anne Parrotprovided accompaniment,and 13 additional choir par-ents paid for the opportunityto tag along and provide 24/7supervision of the teens.

Our chaperones did anamazing job of providingphysical, moral, emotional,logistical, organizational,and even medical support.What a great group ofadults! said Steighner.

Due to a bit of lucky tim-ing, at the Chamber Singersfinal concert, HRVHS Princi-pal Karen Neitzel surprised

students with a visit to heartheir performance at St.Marys Church in Chesham.

They are just wonderful!exclaimed Neitzel, as shedashed off to catch a trainback into London.

Arriving home at PortlandInternational Airport at 9p.m. March 26, the grouplooked, to coin an Englishphrase, Well spent! aworthy result for any springbreak adventure.

Oh, and in case you werewondering, the weather wasmild and sunny for all butone of the tour days, and thefood was excellent.

ADVENTUREContinued from Page C1

A CROWD of over 1,200 attended the Chamber Singers Truro Cathedral concert. While visiting aChristopher Wren church in London (below), Duncan Krummel was allowed a turn at playing Mozart(and a bit of jazz) on a working 1769 bellows organ, while Ian Baxter looked on.

Photos by Julie Raefield-Gobbo

On Video:

Steighner has posted severalof the trips performances on

YouTube: For a medley ofmultiple songs and perfor-

mance sites including astone circle gathering see:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWgDF_aHeF4

Their voices together are breathtaki

moving.