Today has been cold. Seriously cold. The snow that fell last night was still there this morning, so Anne and I wandered down to take some more photos. The snow is so light and fluffy here - very different to snow on Donna Buang - and was beautiful to see on chairs, tables, fences, and very beautiful on the trees.
If I try to describe what the day felt like, it is best to use a Ballarat description. Blue skies, bright sun, and a light wind cold enough to cut through whatever you are wearing and quickly make you wish you had your gloves on. I loved it!
This morning we took some time to visit Tom in his place. It was great to see where he has been living for the last eight months. The views from some of the rooms, like so many places in Chicago, are amazing. Particularly the old library room. This room is beautiful with a rounded ceiling, interesting panelling and, as noted, the view. It must have been a difficult place to work in back then, but a great place to perform in now.
Tom took us for a tour around the building and introduced us to a few of his colleagues as well. Now when we speak with him we will be better able to picture where he is talking about.
After lunch we followed the recommendation of a local bloke and visited Navy Pier. It gets real cold here! The view of the city from here is terrific, and having a tall ship on the dock added something special too. The size of some of the ships had me wondering how they got here in the first place! Did they build the boats in Chicago? I don't know. The best part of this expidition was the walk through Millenium Park, over BP Bridge and along Lake Shore Drive to get there - although that also had a detour up some stairs and across a busy bridge.
But, let's be honest, today was all about what happened tonight.
Tonight we had the chance to see Tom sing with the Roosevelt College Choir. They were performing with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra doing Schuberts Mass number 5 in A Flat. We really enjoyed the pieces the orchestra performed first, especially the work from the double bass crew I the second piece, Night of the Flying Horses. And one of them had a five string bass! Who knew they existed?
Back to the choir. They were solid, professional, proficient, enthusiastic, and simply wonderful. Everything was in tune. The entries were spot on, even very quiet entries were precise, and when it was time for silence, this group of young singers stood silent and still. There are a lot of "Kyrie Eleison" and "Christi Eleison" and "Osanna" and "Amen" to be heard in this piece, and we heard them all.
When the piece ended, the conductor stood still, absolutely still for quite some time, before nodding his approval to the choir and putting his baton on his stand. Then the crowd erupted into applause, a sound which magnified when the choir stood up to bow. Everyone was on their feet and I have no doubt that it was a great encouragement to the choir and to the orchestra.
As an extra blessing, we were invited to travel back into town on the bus with the choir. Not only did this save us a lot of time and money catching a taxi, but we were given a good cheer by the choir for coming to see Tom (and the rest of the choir too).
It has been a good day, but more than that, it has been a wonderful night. We are delight to see how Tom has developed as a singer and as a young man. We hope to have the chance to say this to some of his tutors during the week.
My final word today doesn't come from me. Instead I'll quote a friend of ours who posted this comment on Anne's Facebook page tonight:
Well done to Tom. So exciting to see that young chap from St Andrews CC in Melbourne now performing on the stage in Chicago. Just brilliant!!
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