HHS FOOTNOTES SING AT NOTRE DAME AND IN JOIGNY

Chorus Director Jane Woods writes: Over April vacation the HHS Footnotes completed a fabulous weeklong vocal-performance tour in France. We were based in Joigny, Burgundy, a twin city with Hanover, and we stayed with local families. Twenty-eight sophomores, juniors and seniors were accompanied by four chaperones.

We performed several different types of concerts: first, a cafe evening in Joigny featuring our solos, duets and trios; second, a concert-hall performance in Joigny including classical, multi-cultural, Broadway and jazz tunes; and third, cathedral concerts of sacred and classical acappella music in Joigny; in Auxerre; and in Paris at Notre-Dame de Paris (definitely a wonderful experience!) Our songs at Notre Dame ranged from 13th-century polyphony through contemporary pieces. We also had permission to sing informally in two other cathedrals just for fun, to try out the acoustics.

We received overwhelming enthusiasm for all our performances. The students had a great time singing in places with such historical significance and amazing acoustics.

The photos show a sacred-acappella performance at Notre Dame; the weekly Saturday market in Joigny; and Bekah Schweitzer, Rebecca Whittington and Marc Whittington rehearsing their acappella trio in Pontigny Abbey.