Our first day! At three o’clock Saturday afternoon, the 4th Annual Girl Chorister Course officially began. The girls are living on three dormitory floors, with two older, experienced girls leading each floor. The staggered arrival times helped the staff and Leadership team give a warm welcome to each girl. After settling in, course participants sang for Ms. MacDonald and Ms. Haynes; met with the school nurse and received their official ‘Girl Chorister T-Shirt’. Danny led us in some fun & helpful ‘name games’ before we settled into one of the classrooms for some serious orientation to the course, the building, and yes, Manhattan. A scavenger hunt, created by Leader, Maura, complete with rhyming clues helped everyone feel at home in the beautiful building designed and made for choristers.
After a snack of fresh fruit and homemade banana bread (thank you, Heidi!), the girls checked their watches and noted they had 72 hours until they sang Evensong at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue. Ms. MacDonald set the pace which would take them to a professional standard very quickly. A break for dinner – fajitas – and quick house meetings after with a single agenda item: how will 9 to 12 girls get through two showers in the allotted time? They worked together on some quick problem-solving and back to another rehearsal.
At 9:00 PM, we ended our first day in the candle-lit chapel, singing Compline.
A combination of nervousness and anxiousness overwhelmed me as I approached the school building. My mom had to circle a few times before realizing that we had to go to ninth avenue in order to be able to drive down and park in front of the school. Inside, Avery, Jess, Maura, and Sarah greeted me with smiles and hugs and from there, I knew that there were eight fun days were ahead. As each girl came in I smiled and sighed, partially because of familiar returning faces and also because I saw new girls that were about to embark on an adventure. We had our first rehearsal and dinner was our first meal as a group together. Later that night, we had our first compline service on the 14th floor of the building. The lit candles and the fact that a small beautiful chapel like this was in a building was just remarkable. After we sang the chants and hymns, I felt like a sudden calm had been washed over me. - Beatrice
When I arrived my fellow choristers and I from Rhode Island were an hour late because of traffic. I have a job here as the Assistant to the Director so I was required to arrive at the school at 10:00. It was really great to be able to see my friends from last year as I learned about what I would be doing to help out during the week. As the other Choristers arrived it was great being able to see other people who I have known from other years and slowly get to know people who were new to the course. We had lunch, and it was amazing as I remembered. I was excited to get unpacked and ready for the week ahead. After everyone was settled in, we played “Get to know you” games that helped me meet other people and know more about the people who I already knew. After meeting the people I would be spending my week with, I was able to see that I would be having a very fun week. Throughout the first two rehearsals I slowly remembered the difficulty of the course and I was prepared to work hard with Ms. McDonald and the other girls. - Hope
Signing up for the choir school was an absolute YES! After coming here for two years so far, I couldn’t wait to come back to sing at Saint Thomas. Once I arrived on Saturday, I took all of my stuff up to my room. During the day we had the chance to meet everybody. Once we warmed up to each other, we all ran upstairs to unpack our bags. I met everyone on my floor, and ran back down and went to our first practice. We sang a couple of songs and then headed up to the dining area. The food was great the year before, so I was so excited to try it again! Heidi our chef gave us our own buffet to make wraps. It was so good! The rest of the day we had more practices and got to know each other more. At ten o’clock we all went to bed...well some people did. I was too excited! But I eventually fell asleep.
- Liz
Hi my name is Krystal. I’m having fun at Saint Thomas Choir School in New York. I’ve met lots of new friends and have learned lots of different music. Some are challenging but after studying it becomes very easy. I love my floor and my roommate, Amanda, is pretty cool. The food is great and healthy. I have one of my friends from my home choir, her name is Mitchelle. My friends at my dinning table are AWESOME and hilarious. I’m going to be really sad when the week is over. Also our gym teacher is really cool his name is Danny, he’s also a chaplain. Our blogging teacher is from Scotland! And we have a voice teacher named Princess, she’s SO MUCH FUN, WE LOVE HER. Ms. MacDonald is hard but she’s really a softie. Mrs. Cobb is really nice but we don’t see her that much. Well that’s what I done so far and it’s only been the third day. - Krystal
My name is Amanda. I am a first-year participant in the girls summer choir group here at St. Thomas in New York City. First of all, the city as many people know is amazing. There are so many unique sights and smells and feelings that overcome oneself when you enter the streets. Right off the back the city is sensationally inspirational.
- Amanda
I arrived at about 1:30 on Saturday eager to begin the course. I went up to my room with my dad and brother, looked around my dorm and after about 5 minuets, my dad and brother left. This is not my first year at the course, it is my third year returning and I absolutely adore it. After I completed the checklist of thing we needed to do at the course and met my room mate, Andie, we just chilled for a while. When that was over we went back up to our floors and all the girls had a scavenger hunt. We were in teams of four. And if you were wondering, yes, I lost. =( After that we had a couple of rehearsals, we played some name games them we ate, and went to bed.
- Gabby
I look up at the yellow flag waving above my head. “This is the school, Cait.” My mom says again. I can’t believe that this is where I’m going to be staying for a week. As I make my way up in the elevator, family straggling behind, my mind hosts a slide show of the week to come, in a picturesque and perfect way. I meet my first friend, we become inseparable and have the best voices ever. Everyone loves us and on the last day we hug and walk into the sunset for one last good time. Sometimes I forget that life isn’t a movie.
“Are you nervous?” My mom asks just before the elevator hits our destination. “No, of course not!”, I answer with just the right amount of laugh to conceal my nervous voice. Of course I was nervous! I had the right to be nervous! No, it wasn’t the first time I’d been away from home but about half of the girls here had come here in previous years! What if they didn’t want anyone else in they’re little group of friends? If something could possibly go wrong, I was thinking about it.
I soon calmed down. Once I got up into my room, one of my roommates was there, Mariead. She seemed nice enough.
After unpacking I went downstairs for my vocal evaluation. On the line I meet Gabby and Andie. They were on my floor and they seemed really nice.
I walked up to my room after the vocal evaluation, and along the way I meet my other roommate, Hannah. Everyone who I’ve meet seemed really nice so far!
- Caitlin
“Can I have a sparkling water with lemon?” Were Claire’s words when the flight attendant asked her what she would like to drink.
“Um, we don’t have any lemons, but we have lemon juice,” he said. Claire just wanted sparkling water. I wanted orange soda, but they didn’t have any, so I asked for orange juice. The thing is, I don’t like orange juice, so I made Claire drink it. That was the highlight of Claire’s, Ana’s, and my flight to New York.
Caroline
I arrived here at St. Thomas and was pleased to find that the school was right across from the parking garage we parked in. I checked in, and then got a great tuna melt at some restaurant around the corner from the school. I then entered the building again and began my day of orientation. I found I was roomed on the seventh floor, the highest dorm floor, and was glad. Of course until I learned that the elevator is disallowed to campers. Then I was BUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMED oooooooooooouuuuut. But then I realized what great exercise it was going to be. In fact my calves and thighs are feeling sore right this second. I was surprised to find that the food was kind of a big deal. It astoundingly lived up to my standards of my mother’s fine home cooking. The people I met were pretty rad, ESPECIALLY Fiona. Sarah’s pretty cool too, but not quite rad yet. - Eliza
Saturday was our first day here and we arrived fine if only an hour and a half late for Lindsey and Hope’s meeting! So Anna and I were supposed to go out for lunch with our director, but we had lunch at the school instead. Yum! Then we all just hung out and got to know each other while everyone else was arriving. As most first days are, it was a getting-to-know-each-other-and-our-teachers day and two practices together. The girls on my floor are amazing; I thought it was going to be hard to beat last year’s group. We all just…flow. None of us fight and none of us despise each other. I absolutely love my room mates. I was so worried that I would get mates that were mean or hard to talk to; but when we all first met, Jane, Amanda and I were all talking non stop for an hour! The other thing that’s different this year is that I’ve grown as a person from being here 2 years before. I remember when I was always shy and scared before the first year, but after that first year, I’m such an open and energetic person! The course really brings out the best in you. I haven’t thought about it until now, but I just realized I’m one of the youngest people on my floor. Not that it matters or anything but I remember I was a bit intimidated by the older girls the first year, but this year it doesn’t matter.
- Kelsey
After the heat of our van ride, the choristers from Rhode Island let out a sigh of relief to enter the air-conditioned building. But it was also a sigh of relief! For all of us, this year is a return trip to a highlight of our summer. Kelsey and I ran up to the dining hall to greet anyone who had already arrived. While the leaders got their orientation, we sat in the Rec Room and found our old ping-pong table and set into an intense game.
Lunch was grilled chicken and zucchini, and absolutely delicious! We had a quick orientation and then went to settle into our rooms and meet our roommates. My roomie Emma really nice and luckily we both go to bed early! After another scrumptious meal we had rehearsal in the gym. It was so great to be back. This is the room I like best. Our voices echo off the walls, and I think everyone is excited on the first practice. We held compline in the chapel and went to bed. I had feared that this year might be like my first, when I got homesick my first night, but I fell asleep content and happy to be back!
- Anna
I got to the school at about 2:30, after taking the subway (a new experience in New York!), and I went down to the gym where all of the other girls were playing a get-to-know game. It was a bit overwhelming at first, because I barely knew anyone out of the forty or so girls that came for the camp. But, it turned out that I knew one person from a former Royal School of Church Music Course, so I wasn’t completely alone. I’ve made some friends, too. After the games, we went to the math room and had an orientation and met the staff. Our first rehearsal was very fast paced, but I didn’t have much trouble following along with the director. After rehearsal, we had dinner, which was delicious! Then we had another rehearsal, and headed to the 14th floor chapel for Compline. Bedtime was well timed—right when I was getting sleepy. I fell asleep with no problem, and set my alarm early for the next morning.
- Kaethe
Hi my name is Mitchelle and being here is a lot of fun. I’ve made a lot new friends through out the days that I’ve been here. Everyone here is really friendly and fun to hang out with. I feel like my singing has improved more. Going out to central park and to the Saint Thomas church was really fun. I can’t wait until we get to sing at the church, we’ve been working really hard singing the songs.
- Mitchelle
Today I arrived at the Saint Thomas Girls Choir Course in New York City. I have already started to make some friends and we have had a few rehearsals already. I really enjoy the music selection that they have put together for us. After I got fully unpacked I had lunch with the rest of the girls. The food is really delicious and our cook is really nice. There are also vegetarian alternatives to all of the food here, which I think is really cool. So far I think that this camp is going to really be a blast.
- Andie
To be honest, the first day was a little nerve racking. Every girl had to sing individually for voice placement, which was a little scary for a new person. Additionally, the orientation described the rehearsals as very intense. However, as the day went on, the atmosphere was a lot more relaxed. We had our first rehearsal, which turned out to be intense, but only enough to make us give the most effort. We still have plenty of time to laugh and have fun- after all, we are musicians, so for most of us rehearsal is something to look forward to even if we don’t have a few laughs! By the end of the day our diction had already improved. We were all exhausted come night time, but the following week had a lot of great promises.
- Jane
Having made an arduous 25-block pilgrimage from Penn Station, I arrived at the school and gladly deposited my luggage. (Maybe next year we’ll take a cab. 25 blocks in 88-degree weather – phew!) I checked in on the first floor, received a T-shirt and list of tasks, and got to experience the incredible joy of riding the elevator. We had some name games in the gym which broke the ice very well, followed by rehearsal. The acoustics in the gym were truly incredible; who knew that forty girls singing together could make that kind of sound? After this came dinner, more rehearsal, and compline – a beautiful evening prayer service. I turned my light out very gratefully.
- Angharad
We arrived today. I am one of the girls participating in the Leadership Program this year. It was interesting and nerve-wracking on this day. We played games as we waited for the various other girls to arrive. We had a rehearsal the first night and were excited to get the ball rolling. Putting the rest of the girls on my floor to sleep was very easy. I was thrilled to meet all these new girls and get to know who they are as individuals. I am nervous, however, about how they will respond to me as a leader and what the staff expects of the 6 of us. I am confident that I will show my personality in all my activities and be sure to include all the girls in everything that we will participate in.
- Maura
St. Thomas Girl’s Chorister Course was definitely not what I expected. I guess I wasn’t really thinking of an NYC-type school. I was imagining more of an open campus, a few buildings, sort of like a college. What I got was a building like any other in New York, with the works Saint Thomas Choir School inscribed above the door. But I soon found out that this building was not like other NYC buildings at all. With crosses on the walls and 38 musical girls wandering around, how could it be? The inside of the building was one thing, but being in a room with 37 girls whop have one of the same interests as you is another entirely.
I first met the girls in a game in which we did not wear shoes. In this way, and in a few other games, we learned a bit about each other. It was interesting to be around choir girls from all around the country and yet feel as if we came from the same place because of our musical backgrounds.
The first rehearsal was amazing. The Gym amplified our voices so that they sounded like wind on the air. We were many voices combined in one perfect harmony, and it was beautiful. I remembered thinking that if this was the first day, I couldn’t wait to see how we heard in the church.
The meals here are exceptionally wonderful thanks to our chef, Heidi. Her food is delicious and her desserts always combine great taste with help. After our first dinner, we had some personal time in which to get to our room and floor-mates, and then it was back downstairs for another hour of rehearsal. I live on the seventh floor and we are not permitted to use the elevators, so I had a feeling that I was going to get my exercise on this trip.
Just before bed, we went up to the 14th floor- in the elevators, thank goodness- and had a service in the small but beautiful chapel of this building. The combination of our voices and the glow of the candles made the perfect end to the day.
- Lindsey P.
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