end game.

yeah, yeah. i know. i'm ridiculously behind on the gossip and stories. fact is the entire choir got a brutal cold, and for the last three days we've been in various states of snotty and gross. WEEE! the best part is looking at something and thinking 'man, this is stupid, and i hate it. lame! lame!' and then saying, 'no, wait. being sick is stupid. THIS is amazing, and awesome and irish...'

and then, oh how you laugh. okay. so. i got sick too. reals sick. for reals. but i'm on the up and up. and i won't tell you about our adventures for the last few days. not just now. but instead, just the end of yesterday.

yesterday, thursday the 8th of may, was my last ever concert with the madrigal singers. the end of four brilliant, and moving, and often trying years. i was the sickest of my sickness and less than in cheery spirits on the way to the rehearsal. it was at this funny little stone cabin-lodge outside of galway, with ponies out front, and eclectic decor. i hated it upon arrival. then (as per the self-conversation above) i realized i didn't hate it at all, and it was really very quaint and charming, and it was the fever and the shaking i hated. we rehearsed, then were treated to a very nice dinner in the very room we'd be performing in. during tea jkp, justin and i sat by the wood stove (which was actually gas, but made to look like a proper wood stove. you know.) in the next room. with candles and warmth. it really was lovely and a good little rest. we changed (crammed in the bus, or in the small women's loo) then lined up outside. the room we were performing in being too small to hide us pre-concert. it was green, and chilly.

the performance room was a semi-sun room tacked on one side of the stone house. three walls were glass, looking out into a lush country-scape. we sang the concert in one row, rather that our regular two, to accommodate the small space. we stood in mixed formation, and i had the pleasure of having my dear lovely friend damon to my right. having sung with him for the full four years in mads, this was very special. my voice was far being in top form, but i managed to get through the rep coughing in between songs mostly, and never completely losing it. the highlights were singing the octet solo in seid frulich at the back of the room, with seven brilliant singers and good friends, and opening the second half in the round (surrounding the packed in audience) to sing lay a garland. i've sung this piece every year with one group or another, since i began singing in choirs and it is one i have never grown tired of. it is a joy to sing, and i am moved by it everytime, still, to this day. by this time it was dark outside, with only a few choice lights shining up on almost unbelievably green trees, and it had begun to rain. the sound of it was amazing, and for a while i completely forgot that i was sick, or that it hurt to sing, and instead just relished in the music and the place.

the audience was incredibly kind and receptive, and we sold many a cd. i was exhausted afterwards, but found energy climbing back on the bus, buzzing out of my fellow singers. the post-concert high you get, even if you think you didn't want to sing the concert, even if you think you've nothing left in you. we played madlibs, and laughed, and clapped for our tour guides. it was a beautiful ending.

today we are back in dublin, and i've just come for the very last group dinner before we all go our separate ways tomorrow. again, there was much laughing. i've enjoyed the company of people here so much, some who i was convinced coming in that i would have to murder in their sleep... it's been a pleasant surprise. i will miss these people, and this choir immensely. there are so many people who have already gone off, a few each year, whom i'm now thinking back on, remembering, missing. mads has been a warm and nurturing home for me, and i feel so blessed to have been a part of it for so long.

and now? a new choral chapter, i guess.

but don't worry. i still have to go back in time and fill you in on the time post-competitions.
AND. the travel adventures are far from done. tomorrow i'm off to london to see mr. harry man. and then natalya will be along. and. oh. so much to do!