This past month, Maria Martinez Galindo (Grade 12), Sophie Gothelf (Grade 10), and I (Grade 10) attended the AMIS International High School Choir Festival in Muscat, Oman. We recorded auditions in early October, sent them to the selection committee, and were accepted. In the months between being accepted by the selection committee and embarking on the actual trip, we rehearsed the eight performance songs, listening to piano backing tracks and reading our sheet music. To have such a beautiful and memorable outcome is so rewarding after putting in so much hard work.
Those in attendance included us three students, our wonderful choir teacher, Ms. Jennifer, and chaperone Peter Freer, who happens to be my dad. The five of us traveled from the 28th of February to the 5th of March. The night we arrived, we went to sleep at around four in the morning and woke up at seven to go sight seeing for the day. We were exhausted from our travels, but that did not stop us from having a full day! We visited the Grand Mosque, the Mutrah Souq (the largest market in Oman), and the Corniche where we saw the Mutrah Fort and the Sultan’s yachts. We had lunch at Bait Al Luban where we sampled traditional Omani food, including shuwa and halwa. After lunch we saw Qurum Beach and then stopped by the Royal Opera House. The architecture and overall feeling of the city was unlike anything I had ever experienced before.
We sang for more than 25 hours over three consecutive days. During rehearsals, we sang individually and collectively, we painstakingly prepared the most difficult minute of the most difficult piece for around two hours, we practiced dynamics and cutoffs, we learned South African dances for two of the songs, we auditioned for solos, and we came to understand the vision of our conductor, Michael Barrett. I especially loved reconnecting with people I had met at the last AMIS festival in Scotland, making new friends, and getting closer to my current classmates. This year students came not only from Europe but also from all over the world, including from South Korea, Egypt, and India. It was truly a gift to be able to learn from so many talented musicians and especially from our fantastic conductor. He brought light and passion into every rehearsal; he was filled with energy and enthusiasm, keeping us engaged and focused the whole time. He shared some of his own stories, many of which were about his experiences as a South African. I was fascinated to hear that he sang at the inauguration of Nelson Mandela and also at his funeral. My friends and I have countless quotes we picked up from him over the course of the trip. He once said, “There is a rest there… which means rest.” He made us laugh, and he made us appreciate what we have, both as singers and as people.
There were three choirs in total, the Treble Choir, the Tenor-Bass Choir, and the Honor Mixed Choir; Maria, Sophie, and I were selected to be in the latter. Our choir sang a total of eight pieces, with the first and last song sung by all of the choirs. The concert felt like a dream. The audience erupted every time we finished a song; it was magic. There really is no other experience like having so many singers from all over the world come together to sing.
It brought all of us so much joy and a great sense of accomplishment. We will never forget our experience in Oman in the AMIS choir. I will keep singing at school and in my free time with the hopes that I am accepted to next year’s AMIS International High School Choir Festival in Paris.
Now, here is a short anecdote from the choir’s time in Oman, which represents the true camaraderie experienced during the trip.
The Frivolous Finale
After the concert, we eventually made our way back to the hotel. My close friend asked me if I wanted to go swimming in the pool. It was already around 10 pm, and we had had a long few days. I honestly felt like going to bed, but our conductor taught us to always give life your all. I decided I would regret not going, so I went.
Maria and I both changed into our swimsuits and headed downstairs. Surprisingly, there were a lot of other singers in the pool. We stepped into the warm water and swam over to the swarm of people. They started playing Marco Polo, and I unfortunately got tagged. I closed my eyes and aimlessly started swimming.
“Marco!” I yelled.
At least a dozen people screamed Polo back.
Suddenly, I felt someone swimming below me, and I practically ran over them. I opened my eyes.
Someone popped out of the water, and he looked confused. I knew I had touched him, so all I could think of to say was, “I think you’re Marco now.”
I then made sure to stay away from the crowd of people playing. I did not want to be embarrassed again.
It was getting close to 11:30 pm, Maria and my curfew. We walked over to the towel bin, and I tried opening it. It felt glued shut. I tugged at the lid restlessly before giving up. We both started laughing, and Maria tried opening it. It wasn’t even that funny, but something about the situation and our exhaustion was really making us hysterical. And if she couldn’t open it, it was definitely hopeless. We took a step back, feeling defeated. Standing desperately for a few seconds, we eventually made a spontaneous decision and decided to take someone’s towel. The two of us, the complete opposite of rule-breakers, felt like rebels. We wrapped ourselves in the towel and waddled over to our clothes. We changed, threw the towel back onto the chair we had found it on, and ran away, holding back laughs.
You can watch the concert here.
(Mixed Honor Choir sings the last seven songs starting at around 1:07.)