Mastersingers USA in Central Eur

Mastersingers USA in Central Europe – 2007

Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Concert in Mikulov with Virtuosi di Mikulov

Wednesday, July 4 began with a rehearsal (capped with singing "The Star Spangled Banner") and then a walking tour of downtown Brno. This tour included visiting a couple of churches, and as usual, we sang in them to mark the occasion. This time it was one of our favorites when visiting a new church: "Locus Iste," whose Latin text begins "This place was created by God." We don't typically ask permission for this kind of thing: really nothing could be more appropriate in such a space, and it's a good bet that the gesture is appreciated by anyone who happens to hear our singing.

The main event of the day was another joint concert: this time in the small town of Mikulov (pop. 7,600), about an hour's drive from Brno. It was another joint concert, this time with a mixed adult choir of about 30 people from Mikulov and the surrounding area. Appropriately, the choir's name is "Virtuosi di Mikulov," and to our delight, their director was our new friend, Zuzana Pirnerová, co-director of Kantiléna. The concert was to be held in the Church of St. John the Baptist, an old (aren't they all?) small stone structure with loads of charm and no doubt a long history. After both our groups had brief rehearsals, the concert started at 7 with Virtuosi di Mikulov going first. They performed sacred and folk songs with the same accuracy and artistry that we had seen in Kantiléna the day before, expertly directed by Zuzana .


St. John the Baptist Church - Mikulov (source: JD Vogt)	Virtuosi di Mikulov	Zuzana Pirnerová

Because the church had so little space (only about 200 seats) and because it was packed with a local audience, the Mastersingers stood at the back while Virtuosi di Mikulov sang. Once again, we were impressed with the host chorus and wondered how we would fare.

For the first time on the tour, we processed into the church singing the canon "Sing dem Herrn," first in two parts, then in five parts after we had reached our final positions. The audience really responded to this presentation, and their enthusiasm seemed to grow with each piece we per-formed. And when we sang "Aj, Lucka, Lucka," there was just an explosion of goodwill, joy, and appreciation from the audience. We could see people singing along and clapping in time to the music. Perhaps the magic of the moment came from their surprise and appreciation that an American group would make the effort to sing one of their songs in their own language — and take such pleasure in it. We sang the other two folk songs in our repertoire with similar effect, and then
Bruce decided to do an encore: "Switzer Boy." Predictably, this yodeling song brought smiles
and cheers, especially when Bruce turned to identify himself as the third yodeler

Mastersingers USA assembling for rehearsal (source: JD Vogt)

We left the church, but Bruce was slow in following. It turned out that he was shaking hands with each member of the audience. He could have run for mayor of Mikulov and won handily.

Later, we learned from our tour guide, Marco, that he had been sitting next to an elderly man who was crying while we sang these folk songs. When asked what was the matter, he said that it was just too much: an American chorus singing Slavic folk songs in this church. Not that many years ago, it would have been unimaginable.

We then walked a short distance to a building with numerous rooms, the central one of which felt like a brick Quonset hut. There were benches around the sides of the room and tables in the center spread with food. In attendance, there was not only our party of nearly 100 but also the members of Virtuosi di Mikulov, who served as our hosts. We learned earlier that Mikulov is the center of a wine-growing region, and not surprisingly, there was local wine in abundance. Music was provided by a combo that consisted of a violin (played by the lead singer), a double bass, a clarinet and a hammered dulcimer. The sound was something between kletzmer and mariachi music, but it fit the occasion, as they performed what appeared to be one folk song after another. Eventually, two female folk dancers appeared, and in time many of our group took a turn dancing, though all were eclipsed by folk dance teacher, John Bendix.


Post-concert reception in Mikulov (source: JD Vogt)	Entertainment at Mikulov reception (source: JD Vogt)

Eventually, conversation and folk music performance gave way to our own singing: first college songs, then several pieces from Virtuosi di Mikulov, then "Ride the Chariot." (Amazingly, here was another group that knew our arrangement.) Then more spirituals from our repertoire.

Geoff Piper had formed an idea to top off the evening. After getting everyone's attention, he explained through an interpreter that today was a special day for us — the anniversary of our nation's independence. And in recognition of the day, we would like to sing our national anthem. And then we would like to hear them sing their national anthem. Who could question such an idea? So we sang our arrangement of "The Star Spangled Banner" with our usual gusto, and then listened as our new Czech friends proudly and soberly sang their own anthem. The most touching part of this was that many of our guys tried to harmonize as they sang. The good feeling created by this exchange of national anthems was palpable, and we parted shortly thereafter with both groups in high spirits.

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