If it's Monday, this must be Wellesley

After a moving performance of the Fauré Requiem on Sunday afternoon with the Smith College Glee Club and conductor Jonathan Hirsh, we headed for Boston this morning and a walk on the Freedom Trail. We went to Faneuil Hall and some of dined on traditional New England fare at the legendary Durgin-Park Restaurant. A gaggle of us then walked the Freedom Trail, visiting the graves of Paul Revere and John Hancock, the Statehouse, King's Chapel and the bar from Cheers (outside only). The weather was astonishingly warm for early March--60 degrees. It must be that global warming. :-)

After wandering in downtown Boston and absorbing a little history, we headed to Wellesley College for the evening's performance. This is the third visit to Wellesley we've made in the past seven years, and we were glad to be singing in Houghton Memorial Chapel with our Wellesley colleagues and their conductor, Lisa Graham. Lisa and Frank modeled their new headgear in a post-concert photo taken by Tim Jarrett, UVa '94 and official Glee Club Alumni Association Historian.

We collaborated with the Wellesley College Choir in a moving performance of Franz Biebl's Ave Maria, using an unusual format: The Wellesley women sang verse one, the Virginia men sang verse two, and then we sang verse three and the finale together, in octaves.

We also collaborated with the Boston Saengerfest Men's Chorus and their conductor, Mike Driscoll, who did a set that included a Gershwin medley and an hysterical arrangement of Lydia, the Tattooed Lady. Together, we sang The Pasture by Randall Thompson and Promised Land. It was a fun evening and we're grateful to both groups for taking the time and going to the trouble to host us and collaborate with us on tour. Onward to New York City for our Tuesday night concert.