Hershey Concert at All Saints Church - Report and photos

After a pleasant and rather quiet trip south from NYC (including a stop at Taco Bell), where they got a large amount of business over lunch (where Sergio drank about a litre and a half of soft drink!), the tour group arrived at their Hotel in 'Chocolate Ave', yes that's correct! in downtown Hershey. Tomorrow we hit the chocolate world in the afternoon, so the references to 'Willy Wonka' etc, are running fast....

After showers and a chance to do some washing (YES - washing!) - thanks to Helen Davis controlling the intake of clothes from rooms all around and allocating washers and dryers in the hotel, we headed off for All Saints, where we rehearsed and then enjoyed a meal at the church. This included some pretzels with melted cheese (a local favourite), some really nice soup, various hot dishes and salad etc, combined with a selection of chocolate based desserts and some Hershey Chocolates as well, so all members of the touring party were well and truly full before performance time.

The 7.30pm concert was well attended and the members of the parish and the visitors really embraced our students, with Jeremy Chan returning for extra bows after playing a solo of Sculthorpe's Threnody on Cello, and the mix of string and choral works, including the concerto for 4 violas and the party piece 'Plink Plank Plunk' mesmerising the audience. The choir's Hershey Premiere of 'Goodnight Moon' - by Whitacre continued to leave the audience spellbound. It was little wonder that the audience offered a standing ovation at the end of the night!

After this concert we have just returned to the hotel to enjoyed some down time and are getting ready for a lighter day tomorrow, with a much needed late wake up call of 8am. After the 6.30am call in New York this morning, it will be well received all around. Until tomorrow, enjoy photos from tonight's concert. Brad M