2019 MAYO INTERNATIONAL CHORAL FESTIVAL PREMIER COMPETITION WINNERS!!!!

Hello friends! If you are reading this, it's probably a safe bet you already know the good news of the day (May 25, 2019). The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Madrigals are the 2019 winners of the Mayo International Choral Festival! Still, I want to explain a little bit about what that means and provide an insider's view of our day.

Presented with the Four Part Choirs First Place Award

The Mayo International Choral Festival is held once a year, typically in May. There are several places in Ireland that hold such events, spread throughout the year. The Festival in Mayo has two parts: Community performances and the Competition. The aim is to bring many choirs together in celebration of choral music, spread them throughout the region performing, and provide opportunities for growth and learning from each other. Some choirs may participate in the community performances, but not the competition; and, some participate in the competition, but not the community concerts. We did all of it! In fact, in our 5 days, we will have performed 11 times. The festival included participation by 35 choirs, 23 of which competed.

Here is how the competition is structured:
1.) A choir can compete in two categories. They have 10 or 11 and they include categories such as 'Sacred Music,' 'Choirs from Ireland,' 'Four Part Choirs,' etc. We selected 'Sacred Music' and 'Women's Choir.' However, we learned a few weeks ago that no other choirs chose 'Women's Choir' so we needed to change to another category. The most logical category given our repertoire and the requirements was 'Four Part Choirs.'

2.) Today was competition day, so all competing choirs sang for judges. A winner and runner-up was determined for each of the eight categories. The winner from each category was then allowed to move on to the 'Premier Competition' where judges would select an overall winner and runner-up for the entire competition. In short, it all works exactly like a dog show...

So, today our first competition was in 'Sacred Music.' We sang really well, and felt going in to the day that it would be our best shot at advancing to the premiere competition. So naturally we were disappointed when we learned we were neither the winner nor the runner-up. We did discover that we were only 1 point behind the runner-up and only 2 points behind the winner, according to the reported scores.

Four Part Choirs Award

We went to lunch and then returned to prepare for our second competition, which was "Four Part Choirs". I think we knew we had the potential to do well on the repertoire, but we had also performed it less and knew where potential pitfalls existed. We sang our first selection - 'Ecce Maria' by Michael Praetorius (This category requires an early music piece). It went very well, though we were aware of a slight intonation issue toward the end. Then we sang our second piece, 'Nocturne' by Eric Tuan. It's a complex piece with lots of Spanish, lots of divisi (it splits into 8 parts at one point, and we only have 9 singers!), mixed meter, and a great deal of emotional depth. And our students nailed it. It was truly incredible. At the end, you could hear a pin drop. Then we sat and waited for the results. Given our morning results, having heard other good choirs in our category, and knowing we had a slight issue on the first piece, we really didn't know what to expect. But, we won! This accomplished two things: One, we had a title to take home as a category winner, which was nice as we really felt we grew through the course of the festival. Second, it meant we could move on to compete in the premier competition.

We grabbed a quick dinner, and returned to participate in the premier competition with the other seven winners. It was wonderful to hear the high quality of the variety of ensembles. The rules specified that choirs had to sing one piece from a category you won, and one piece not sung in any other aspect of the competition. So, we selected 'Nocturne' again and 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken,' a raucous favorite of ours. Both went very well, but as choir after choir came up, we wondered how things would go, and what the judges were looking for in the performances.

After the competition, the judges left to discuss the results. We had been previously asked by the festival committee to sing a few selections to cover their deliberation time. So we did and even received a standing ovation after one of our pieces, "Be Like the Bird".

The judges returned and the runner-up was announced. Not us. But then they read the name of the premiere competition champions and the long name of "The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Madrigals" never sounded so good!

Premier Competition First Place Award

Even if the result had not been in our favor what a lovely experience our participation in this festival has been! The trophies are nice, but the learning and camaraderie that has occurred cannot be replaced. Thank you to everyone for your support!

Peace Park, Ireland National Museum of Country Life, Westport Concert

The County Mayo memorial at Peace Park

Outside Church of the Holy Trinity.
When you see a picture of yourself, of course, you take a picture of yourself beside it!

Today was filled with a variety of performances and experiences...

First we walked to the Peace Park and Garden of Remembrance just down the road from our inn. It is a memorial to those from County Mayo who lost their lives in war, beginning with World War I. It is an impressive and touching monument. The main feature is a large wall etched with the names of people who were killed in war, but on either side of the walkway to the large wall, there are smaller ones which contain the names of men from County Mayo who fought under the flags of other nations. We were asked to attend, alongside the choir from Canada, because many immigrants would wind up in the United States and Canada. Each choir sang their national anthem, a few selections on the topic of peace and remembrance, and had the honor of raising our respective country's flag and lay wreaths at the monuments of our country. They asked for two for each task, so having three seniors, it only seemed fitting to have them take part. So Shea Davis and Kristin Foster raised the American flag, while Michael and Sara Langenberger placed the wreaths at the memorials.

The USA Memorial at Peace Park

Then we were off to Turlough Village to visit a high tower, have lunch, and tour and perform at the Ireland National Museum of Country Life. The museum is very nice and very informative. The building itself is very neat, having won various architectural awards.You can find out more about it here. We sang 8 selections for a nice-sized crowd who gathered to hear us. These more informal concerts have started to become some of our favorites. Folks immediately come up to speak with you, find out about you, and almost always we learn that we have something in common. One gentleman that heard us at Peace Park actually made the drive to hear us again, and gave us a book he recently wrote as a gift.

Afterwards, we went back to the inn and relaxed for almost an hour and a half, and picked up dresses for the concert tonight in Westport. First though, we stopped and had dinner at a restaurant on the coast called 'The Helm.' Being so close to Clew Bay, most of us had seafood. It was all very good!

Church of the Holy Trinity - Westport.
Down the road from where we stayed
last year when we learned about this festival!

This concert was amazing. All the choirs were very good, and we found the two all-girl high school choirs to be exceptionally fine. We also sang really well - the stronger bond we have forged on this journey is evident on our music-making. We were surprised when we received a standing ovation after our third piece! Including another one at the end, we had two!

It feels that the local audiences really like us, and I think it's because we remind them of themselves. I think that like Ireland, and especially the western part of the country, we are small but can do great things. All the choirs here are bigger than us, often substantially. But when they see this small group rise and sing with skill and full-throated passion, they appreciate it. Their responses have been nothing but filled with love, respect, and appreciation.

Post-concert at Turlough.

Tomorrow is the competition day. This will be a new thing for us and we can't fully know what to expect. As previously mentioned, we are substantially the smallest ensemble competing in our two categories. And many of our competitors have won other competitions before. So we don't really have an idea of how things will go when the judges cast their votes. But we do know this; we have already won the hearts of many local Irish and many touring Americans. And we will win more tomorrow regardless of the results. #SmallChoirBigHearts

Inside the Church of the Holy Trinity

Ireland National Museum of Country Life.
Very Interesting!

Blog Post Author: Michael Boswell, Director of SMWC Madrigals

Blog Editor: Sharon R. Boyle, Associate Professor of Undergraduate Music Therapy

For more information about the SMWC music and theatre programs, please visit our website!

Day 4 of SMWC Choir Tour: Rehearsal, Remembrance, and Reconnecting

We are making the most of our moments here in New York City. Because of the time change, we ended up getting on the bus by 8:00 a.m. (which felt like 7:00 a.m. due to the time change) to make sure the choir was a few minutes early for their morning rehearsal. While the students rehearsed at Park Central Hotel, the rest of the group dispersed to different areas of Manhattan (some went to the top of the Empire State Building, while others returned to Central Park to try out the Boathouse Restaurant for appetizers and coffee). Because rehearsal went to 12:30 p.m., the group ate various snacks and food which were provided on the bus (Thanks also goes to Jessica Schmidt of SMWC who helped contribute to the food holdings!) as they headed down to the 9/11 Memorial, arriving ahead of their 2:00 reserved time. The security was high, as one would expect, but very efficient and fast. Michael was constantly counting and recounting everyone to make sure the group stayed together!

South Tower Memorial

The Survivor Tree

The 9/11 Memorial is outside, and occupies 8 of the 16 acres of the World Trade Center (source). There are identical reflecting pools with waterfall features flanking the entire expanse of the pool. In the center is a smaller square in each pool, through which the waterfalls continue to cascade down. The names of each victim from both the 1993 WTC bombing and those from the 9/11/01 attack are engraved around the perimeter of each pool. There are spaces where the names are engraved, providing a place for loved ones to leave flowers in remembrance of those lost, often on their birthdays and other important holidays. The sense of loss can be felt as one watches the water flow swiftly down the sides of the pool and into the smaller hole...possibly symbolizing the falling which occurred in those places, as the towers fell. The somber feeling of the place impacted the students, and it was evident on many faces. It is hard to believe that most of the students on the trip were in elementary school (1st through 5th grade) when this event occurred.

Freedom Tower 

Hope was evident, though, in the rainbows which were seen as the sun reflected on each pool of water. The mist that rose up and blew in the wind was akin to a release of pain and sadness giving way to an optimistic future. And, standing between the the site of where the two towers stood was a tree, called The Survivor Tree. While all other trees in the vicinity were completely demolished during the event, the Survivor Tree lost its top portion. The stump that remained was salvaged from the rubble, nursed back to health, and new limbs sprouted from the stump. The limbs are smooth and markedly different from the rest of the tree, and is a visible reminder of the events of that day. The tree is now a symbol of resilience and hope, of survival and the circle of life. As the guide who was present described the destruction and how the towers fell, he also spoke of the tree which was blown over in the blast at St. Paul's Church, not far from building 5 of the WTC. The tree root was large and many believe it protected the church from destruction and, in effect, allowed it to become a major center for rescue workers and first responders. All of these stories and symbols do not take away the atrocities of that day (and the aftermath), but they do provide comfort and a sense of peace that hope can sustain through even the worst experiences.

Subway adventures!

Following the Memorial visit, the group took the subway back up to Times Square where several managed to secure discounted tickets at the Tickets Booth located there for Broadway (such as Chicago and Avenue Q) and off Broadway shows. There was a little free time and then everyone headed to John's Pizzeria on West 44th Street in the Theatre District for dinner with alumnae, President King, the SMWC Student Life-Sponsored Trip, and several SMWC staff and Cabinet members. The New York style pizza as a buffet provided everyone an opportunity to sample a variety of different kinds of pizza before heading off to various entertainment planned for the evening. For those without specific plans, some chose to find areas out of the windy and cold evening (such as the lower level of Rockefeller Center) to sit and relax (a few have discussed the fact that we all should have worn pedometers to measure the actual distance walked in just three days!).

A highlight of the dinner was the presence of Sister Marie Brendan, who is a former Director of Choirs (she started the Madrigals!) and truly solidified the legacy and choral traditions upon which Michael Boswell (and of course Sr. Sue Pietrus, his predecessor) continues to build today.

Architecture abounds: The roof of our pizzeria!

The Choral Tradition of SMWC continues...

Teachers and students: Such a special bond

More photos from the trip to enjoy:

Many hours on a bus together =
a level of goofiness which is hard to define

Returning from seeing Chicago, the Musical!

Photo Credit: Aleah Wieland (from Day 3!)