Day 4: Don't Rain on Our Parade!

The Glee Club was really looking forward to our fourth and final day in Vienna, as we knew we would be singing sacred music in St. Stephen's Cathedral. We woke up early in the morning to quite a bit of rain, but no one was going to let the weather detract from our huge performance. In separate groups, the Clubbers rode the Vienna Metro to Stephansplatz, a stop in the heart of the city that let us out right in front of the cathedral. We were fortunate to find a market and several cafes in the area surrounding St. Stephen's, so many of us decided to grab some pastries and Wiener Melange (a Viennese specialty coffee drink similar to a cappuccino) for breakfast before practicing. Our host walked us to a beautiful rehearsal space just outside of the church right before the performance where some of us (especially Dan Carsello '16) were thrilled to hear a large orchestra rehearsing Mozart's C Minor Mass! 

A rather wet Glee Club poses in front of St. Stephen's!
Fortunately, most of us had umbrellas.

After about thirty minutes to rehearse and dry off from the rain, it was time to enter the cathedral. Our host walked us through a side entrance close to the main altar, at which point we were overwhelmed by the grandeur of the church's baroque interior. Ornate accents filled the church and the altar itself was magnificently framed by figures of patron saints from the surrounding areas and beautiful stained glass. Given the timing of our performance immediately after the cathedral's daily mass, many visitors were still seated in the pews as we began our performance. As we started singing our thirty-minute set, many tourists who were visiting the back of the church moved up towards the front to hear us, at which point we had a large crowd of people standing to hear us! We sang staples of the Glee Club such as "Amazing Grace" and "Lux Aurumque," as well as some new music such as "Sicut Cervus" and Biebl's "Ave Maria." Words cannot sufficiently articulate the incredible moment shared by the Clubbers in performing sacred music in such a significant place. In fact, several members were even moved to tears by this uplifting performance experience. 

PGC sings in the overwhelmingly
beautiful St. Stephen's Cathderal.

Harvey Huang (E '18) solos in "Wayfaring Stranger"

Immediately after our performance, many members of the audience approached us asking about the Glee Club. It was truly incredible to share our music with so many people! 

C. Erik Nordgren ('00) leads the club in St. Stephen's Cathedral
on his last tour as director. 

Following our performance at St. Stephen's, we moved on to tour the Wiener Staatsoper, or the Vienna State Opera. Once again, we were in awe of the beautiful interior and exterior of the opera house as we went through our private tour. Below, check out two photos from the interior of the opera house!

The interior of the actual theatre! Our guide told us that some seats sell
every day for over 250 euro!

Inside one of the Opera House's halls!

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