Canada Tour 2014 - First Blog Post! Setting off, Hood River, Seattle and Marysville

Photo by Dustin Willets

Hi everyone - Jason Sabino here. I'm a tenor and assistant conductor in the PSU Chamber Choir and I'm excited to start off the blog for our Canada Tour! This is also my first choir tour EVER and I couldn't have gone with a better group of people for my first time. 

The Chamber Choir is on our way to Powell River, Canada, where we'll be competing at the International Choral Kathaumixw along with 30 other choirs from all over the country. We'll be seeing choirs from the US and Canada, as well as New Zealand, Russia and even Africa! The grand prize winner gets a totem pole. WE WANT THAT TOTEM POLE.

Our first stop was in Hood River, performing at Riverside Community Church. We set off from Portland along I-84, which is always an absolutely gorgeous drive once you approach Multnomah Falls and the Columbia Gorge. The weather was absolutely gorgeous too - check out these pictures of Hood River that I took:

Our Hood River performance also marked the debut of the Chamber Chamber Chamber Choir, the sextet which consists of Lisa, Emily Sellin, Megan, Ben, our director Ethan, and myself. I've been having a great time singing with these people in a one-on-a-part setting and it's great that we finally got to share the fruits of our labor in public. 

Our next stop the next morning was Seattle (Seattle First Baptist Church) and then Marysville (Mountain View Presbyterian Church) before going on to Vancouver, BC tomorrow. Despite some delays on the way, lots of driving (250 miles) and very little rehearsal time, I was super proud of Chamber Choir for bringing their "A" game and singing their hearts out. 

It's definitely been a busy weekend, but I think it's a perfect way to get into the right mindset going on the Powell River and the start of the International Choral Kathaumixw. Other choir members will be making blog posts along the way, so stay tuned and keep checking back! Stay tuned and see if we make it past the Canadian border tomorrow! Oh, the suspense. Thanks for reading!