Mastersingers USA in Central Europe – 2007

Preparations for the Tour

The first Mastersingers USA tour since 2003 took us to the Central European countries of Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.  As was the case with our participation in the men's choral festival in Barcelona in 2005, we each arranged our own travel, meeting for the first time in Budapest at the Radisson SAS Béke hotel on Thursday evening, June 28.  We had received the music for our tour in February, with the understanding that we would have it learned by the time we assembled in Budapest.  Of the 36 pieces, most were works that we had sung before, if only at last year's reunion in Southern California.  Some were completely new repertoire.  Beyond this, a half-dozen men were joining our group for the first time, and they really had a challenge to get up to speed.

To help us learn the music, MP3 files of performances or computer-generated versions of every piece were posted in the "members-only" section of our website.  Perhaps the greatest challenge were the Slovakian folksongs that had been sent to our director, Bruce McInnes, by the American embassy in Bratislava only a few weeks before our first rehearsal in Budapest.  Bruce sent copies of each of four songs to us, and directed us to a website where one of our newest members, Kevin Moss, a professor in the Russian department at Middlebury College, had posted MP3 files of pronunciations, along with transliterations.

Although not everyone arrived by our first rehearsal and the rash of lost luggage was of epidemic proportions, 67 of us were eventually present to start the tour, accompanied by 30 wives and other family members (a half-dozen others joined us en route).  Significantly, this was the first tour in which there was not a "men only" week before family members were included.  Amazingly, our chorus, which was drawn from a loose membership of over 100, was almost perfectly balanced among the four voice parts.

First rehearsal in Budapest	Our director, Prof. Bruce McInnes, in a familiar pose

After rehearsal Thursday evening, three rehearsal periods on Friday, and two on Saturday, we were ready for our first concert on Saturday evening.  But for this group, it's never all work and no play.  Our rehearsal schedule was rearranged slightly to make most of Friday evening free, and our group scattered to sample the pleasures of Budapest by night.

One large group booked a guided bus tour, which showed us the highlights of the "Pest" side of the Danube, and then, crossing the Chain Bridge to the "Buda" side of the city, dropped us off to explore the environs of Castle Hill.  We ended by going to the "Citadel" — a park at the highest point overlooking the city.  From there we got a panoramic view of Budapest that we will never forget:  the Danube flowing north and south as far as the eye could see, the lights of the city as dusk set in, and a full moon.

View of the "Pest" side of the Danube from Budapest's Castle Hill	Looking north from The Citadel (imagine this at dusk with a full moon) Source:  www.citadella.hu