Member News & Updates
Jun 27, 2010 - Vilnius to Riga
In what would be perfect summer weather anywhere in the world, Mastersingers USA assembled this morning to participate in the Sunday morning mass at St. Ann's church in Vilnius. 
The church is tiny in our experience, with normal seating for only about 80. But this morning, counting those in folding chairs and standees, there were about 120 people in attendance. (That's “standing room only” for both of our first two concerts.)
We sang pieces from our repertoire at appropriate places during the mass, and the congregation and the priest were very appreciative. They even presented Bruce with a bouquet, and there were many expressions of thanks and good wishes, as we lingered for a few minutes outside the church after the service.
Back at the hotel we loaded onto two buses (with sack lunches) for what was to be a 6½-hour trip to Riga, Latvia. Before reaching Latvia, though, we stopped at Lithuania's Hill of Crosses. 
This remarkable site, not apparently close to anything else, contains something like 100,000 crosses placed by ordinary Lithuanians. It is more of a political than a religious statement, especially since the Soviets tried many times to eradicate the site. The densely-packed crosses are arresting, and for many of us, troubling, as well.
We had a group dinner on arriving at the Monika Hotel in Riga, followed immediately by a rehearsal to prepare for tomorrow's concert.
You can access Mastersingers USA's Facebook page by clicking on the Facebook icon at the top left of this page. Here is the direct address: www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17610982763 So far, there are no reports from participants on the tour, but you can expect them to appear soon after the end of the tour, if not before.