Thursday, November 8, 2007

Many Thanks and more updates

Many thanks to Steve Staruch and everyone at MPR, for the marvellous interview. MPR has to be the greatest radio station in the world! (Take that BBC!)

We will try to keep the posts coming to this blog as best we can.

Cantus returns home early next week and then we head right into rehearsals for our Boston Pops tour. I hope the guys have found to time to rehearse "White Christmas" while in Africa. Somehow I doubt it...

We will most certainly create some pages on our website and myspace pages full of picture when the guys return. We also took video cameras and and audio recorder to Cameroon, so we'll see what kind of media they captured.

I think we'll need to keep a blog going for our Boston Pops tour. It should be much easier to do stateside!

Erick

Interview Today

Hello All!

Steve Staruch of Classical Minnesota Public Radio made contact with Cantus in Cameroon this afternoon. The interview will be broadcast around 4:15pm Central time today. You can hear this interview locally at 99.5 FM or hear it streaming online at www.minnesotapublicradio.org.

Click on "Listen" in the Classical box at the top of the page.

Talking with Steve this afternoon, it sounds like he had a great chat with Tim and Dashon.

Can't wait to hear it!

Erick

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Correction

The Interview with MPR will be on Thursday November 8th, not the 10th as was printed in the email blast. Sorry for the confusion!

From Tom at the American Embassy in Cameroon

Hello from the American Embassy, YaoundeCameroon. The trip is going well, on budget and with only one real illness that has passed with god's grace. The blessing are countless.

Last night we sang for about 800 people who included 6 other choirs
(graced us with a few pieces each...rocking!), some of the kids from the
American School that we visited/sang/cliniced yesterday, as well as the
american cultural attache to cameroon who joined in the dancing of
praise as she made her way up to the choir, (think gospel church!)
laying money on the forehead of the soloist...it seems that is the true
sign of recognition for their efforts. The little girl (about 5 yrs old)
with one of the choirs was the financial queen of the night...her
singing and dancing gained much praise!

CANTUS was nothing short of a miracle in the flesh to these people who, though many have heard some western choral music (one choir sang Alleluia Amen from Handel's Judas Maccabeaus), few have ever heard a polished western sound on such music.
As I told a student yesterday..."in music of this sort, soul is better
than expertise," these people are living proof of the power of song.

This morning we sang at the american embassy, from where we send this
messege, and from where we just recieved the sign we must leave...time
to see the gorillas in their natural habitat!

Love and blessings to all, continue to pray for our safe journey...


Tom McNichols, Bass

Yaounde Update

Writing from the United States Embassy! (some details I will fill in later when I get correct spellings of place names--sorry...)

Yesterday we spent the day singing for and providing a clinic for the student singers at the capital's American School(Unfortuantely, MJ fell quite ill at the school, so he was whisked off by the school nurse and taken to a French clinic, where they patched him up), and then we spent the evening singing in sequence with 6 Cameroonian choirs at a large Yaounde Presbyterian church. Experienced firsthand the magnificent, energetic, and heartfelt music of the people there. Exciting to sense the connection that gospel music and spirituals have with the music on the street here in Africa today. Lots of posing for pictures, hand-shaking, and encouragement from all groups to one another! Also...I may be mistaken, but it looked like some of the young Cameroonian women wanted us to take them home to America with us! When we got home to the Mont Febe hotel, MJ was waiting for us looking surprisingly chipper, and back to good health. Whew!


Now everyone is trying to figure out what to ditch here, so that their purchased gifts will fit in suitcases--I too have fallen prey to this course of action. It also matters not where I go on tour, I still don't bring enough to read--should have brought another book--perhaps we can do a busload booktrade or something.


Very happy to catch up on so much soccer over here--two of my favorite UK teams, Liverpool and Chelsea played on the tube last night!! (sorry if rooting for both is incongruous with current football politicos in Britain...)

Been a trip of amazing ups and downs--people (including myself) getting very ill, and also elation and wonder at the beautiful people, hearts, and music in this beautiful country. Update hopefull coming agin soon--love to all our families from the whole of Cantus, and the Westminster troupe!!!!


Ciao! --G

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

TXT fr Dash's fone

From a Text Message from Dashon Burton's phone from Gary and the gang-



past 6 days have been full of extremes. Lots of singing. Sorry this will only b a summary…

Douala: bustling ‘mad max’ environ. The bathroom is the shower! singing 4 the masses!

kribi: paradise on earth. Jungle missions great people

Bus rides bumpy.

Local bugs cause havoc. Cipro is fantastic!

Yaounde: Astounding capitol. Visit monastery art museum. Market very aggressive. Eek!

missing: spouses & friends, clean batherooms, infrastructure

loving: everyday adventure, visiting orphans

-g

From Tom McNichols

middle east keyboard...bear with me...please

forward...greetings from douala cameroon.

can't explain this trip in words this far. I am 50 pages into journal.
singing, driving, drinking, crying, cheering, fearing,
laughing, listening. Scared, excited, proud, mind blowing.

kribi cameroon-hotel ilomba was the most beautiful place I have been on this earth.

Sang and played at orphanges today...broke my heart. Such squalor yet such hearts
and smiles. photos tell a thousand words.

stopped by armed guards for tolls on drives, some cameras stolen
for stupidity...mine is in tact and producing great shots...

some drives are more like mountain biking down trails but in a 30 person bus with no AC bouncing along.

Sweating profusely.

Lost more than 5lbs alerady but felling very healthy and safe.

sleeping ok but rooms are tough. killed roaches and
bees tonight as i entered.

have to go know, there is a line...this is our first connection.

many hugs and kisses.
tom mcnichols

Updates from Africa

First of all everyone is safe and having a wonderful time.

Due to spotty internet in Cameroon, this blog has not been able to be maintained as we would have liked. However, we have established a cell phone connection with Cantus as well as recieved a few emails. I've sent a number of text messages to Dashon Burton and he's sent a number back. No word yet on how much each text message will cost us. Here's hoping for a dime each!

They have been not only giving concerts but doing lots of impromptu singing for various choirs and schools in Cameroon.

I will be posting the text and emails that I have recieved in the last 24 hours.

Tomorrow, Wednesday at 9:00am, Cantus will be singing at the US Embassy.

On Thursday, we hope for everyone to hear Cantus on Minnesota Public Radio during an interview via Tim Takach's cell phone. I wonder how much that's going to cost him? Hopefully he has some anytime minutes left.

The interview should happen with Steve Staruch during the afternoon drive time. For those of you outside the listening area, you can hear MPR through live webstreaming on thier website. For those of you in the Twin Cities, 99.5 is the number you'll need to know.

I will post the exact time of the interview here so stay tuned!

I will also post some of the messages I got from the guys.

Erick Lichte