Ian Gere ’20

---

Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, and New York — these are just some of the places the St. Agnes/Strake Jesuit Mixed Chorus have gone on Choir Tour. After passing a vocal jury judged by the choir directors, around 100 of the 120 choir students embark on the annual choir trip. During the most recent spring break, the students went to San Francisco for four days, but what exactly does one do on Choir Tour?

Well, every year the choir along with the Triple Trio and Performance Workshop performs music learned over the past year at several different venues. This year included a cathedral, Mountain View High School, and the Carmelite Monastery of Cristo Rey.

Each day, students eat breakfast in the hotel and board the bus for the first performance of the day. Normally, there are three performances while on tour, so students are almost always catching up on sleep when they go to the next venue. Even through exhaustion and sleep deprivation, there’s nothing quite like performing to lift you and your audience’s spirit, so choir gains that extra push to keep performing all day.

Once all the performances are done for that specific day (or done for the entire tour) free time is given at a certain location, a popular area in the city, so students may go out and buy lunch, souvenirs, or just to explore a new city.

Typically on the second night of tour, students are taken to see a touring broadway musical. On the last night of tour, students are taken on a dinner cruise, where all those on tour enjoy a nice dinner and dancing together. It’s a wonderful way to end tour.

With countless hours of preparation, the mixed chorus somehow manages school work along with perfecting music for tour.