Yesterday we had a lovely day in the city of Vienna. The day started with a lovely tour of Schönbrunn Palace, the summer home of the old Hapsburg empire. Designed after Versailles, the palace was dressed to the nines with exquisite tapestry, intricate wood paneling, and 22 pounds of gold leaf on the walls. Our tour guide was generous enough to let us sing a phrase or two in the great hall, and the experience was quite thrilling. In addition, the palace had lovely trimmed gardens that we were able to explore.

We then grabbed a very fast lunch and prepared to sing in the mass at St. Stephen’s, a famous (and enormous) gothic cathedral. After the mass, we gave a short concert which received a lovely response from both the church staff and the churchgoers. After the concert we were given some time to explore the city on our own and enjoy Viennese culture.

My favorite part of the day, however, was our evening at the home of the lovely Dr. Jutta Unkart-Seifert, who invited us all to her apartment for dinner, good company, and music. I felt as if I was living the 19th century culture of salons, where musicians would

simply gather together for informal mini-concerts with food and share their new compositions and old favorites. This is exactly what we did. The experience was so moving to be able to perform without pressure and yet still enjoy the masterful craft of our music, critically listening but not competing. It was simply lovely.