day one: cedar rapids

Spring tour 2012 has officially begun. At approximately 1:35 p.m., we were sent forth by President of Grand View Kent Henning and Pastor Russ Lackey from Luther Memorial Church on campus.
 President Henning stepped on the bus and gave the choir an eloquent send off, utilizing the in-bus microphone system. He spoke about the choir's power to impact everyone we come in contact with, and what's in store for these choir kids over spring break.
"There will be a lot of joy, a lot of time together, a lot of silliness," he said with a laugh.

silliness - exhibit a.
Constance Jones and Monica Bollenbough just before warming up for the concert.

Speaking on our concerts, he said, "You make a real impact on your audiences,"
Henning's send off made me remember something I often forget -- that choir is so much bigger than the individual self. It's about the group of people you share the music with -- fellow choir members and the audience.
The mic was passed to Pastor Lackey, who spoke some comforting words to the choir.
"I know when you go, in God's name, God goes with you."
He lead the choir in the lord's prayer, benediction, and a spirited "go vikings!" -- with that, we were officially seen on our way.

Lizzy Feilmeier and Ali Hook are pretty stoked to be on this bus.

In the experienced hands of our driver, Arnie Mills, who's been taking the GV choir all around the country for years (even before Dr. Duffy, our choir director, has been conducting the choir), we made it to First Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids around 3:30 p.m.  Everyone was impressed upon walking into the sanctuary -- and the acoustics of the space were equally as impressive as the church itself.
After practicing in the sanctuary and getting used to the space, members of the church had prepared a super delicious dinner for the choir to enjoy.
At 7:30 p.m., we had our first concert of the week. With a set-list comprised of about twenty songs, the choir sang to a modest audience of over forty people.

Overall, everyone was pretty satisfied with our performance for the first night.  Of course, first performances are never as perfectly perfect as we'd like -- room for improvement is a given.
Monica Bollenbough, soprano senior member of the choir has some previous tour experience to compare. "This may be the most prepared we've been for a first performance on tour," she said.
The Grand View Choir will be hitting up Cedar Rapid's Museum of Art tomorrow, then making their way to Clinton, Iowa for a concert at 7 p.m.
Keep checking back for more updates on the journey.