Hello California!

Since returning from Finland a week or so ago, I had a couple of days back home in the UK, before traveling to the USA. Last Thursday I flew from Heathrow to San Francisco - a ten hour flight, although the plane remained on the tarmac for two hours once we'd boarded. This was frustrating as there wasn't much legroom - and I was basically sat down for almost 13 hours! I managed to pass the time by watching some films and listening to music (with the odd nap too!).

California is eight hours behind the UK, so it's taken a couple of days to really adjust to the new time zone. When I arrived at my host's house on Thursday evening, I'd been up for nearly 24 hours by that point!

I'm very much looking forward to my stay here. I'm so grateful to Cheryl Keller, who I met a couple of years ago at the Piedmont Choirs' Camp, for putting together an amazing itinerary for the week, including home stays at her house and a colleague's.

My week includes visiting the wonderful Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir, which our own choirs met up with in June 2017 as they toured the UK. I shall also be visiting several other choirs and school music classes, in both state and private sectors. I've already had the pleasure of witnessing some high school choirs at a weekend choral retreat which was brilliant!  The sun has been shining, and the forecast is good, so here's to a great week.

I'll leave you with a profound statement that one of the young singers conveyed to me on visiting the camp:
'Being able to connect with what you’re singing about, and being able to spill your soul to an audience, is such a personal & intimate thing. It helps you listen to each other, love each other and make each other laugh.'