Day 3 - rest, reset, rehearse

The entire choir, singers and chaperones, got a much needed good night’s sleep last night and a chance to start their day out with leisure time. Singers spent a pleasant morning with their homestays: eating delicious yoghurt, fresh local berries, and toast, or exploring the areas they’re staying. Bebe and Taryn went for a walk on their homestay’s property with the son, who caught a fish out of a small river, which they ate for lunch. Bebe says that she doesn’t really like fish but was willing to try it just for the experience—a perfect example of our choir credo, “that’s just the way I like it!” Other singers were happy to report that their homestays have saunas in their homes, and they got to try them today.

After lunch with our homestays, we met up at the church for our first rehearsal with our host choir, Vox Aurea, and the choreographer, Daniel, for an intensive rehearsal. The singers worked diligently together for four hours, learning a lot of impactful new choreography for Echoes of Eureka.

The church we’re performing in this week is the first in Finland ever to be designed by a woman, almost 100 years ago. Michael and Felix agreed that it looked like the place to have a final boss battle in a video game.

Done with rehearsal for the day, we walked to a nearby school for a delicious potluck dinner provided by Vox Aurea families. After the meal, our Enscora (Ensemble+Ancora) singers kicked off the evening’s social time by singing a Finnish song from their 2024-25 repertoire called Aalloilla, and the older Vox Aurea singers who knew it joined in. We moved to the school gymnasium where Vox Aurea’s director Sanna led Finnish contra dancing with live music provided by parents of their singers! Both choirs taught one another more group games—including of course, PEBCC tour favorite “Pony.”

Feeling accomplished, tired, and happy, our singers headed home with their homestays for another night of good rest.