Amazement and wonder: two states-of-being which make terrific companions on life’s journey. I was recently introduced to the following: “When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.”
Mary Oliver

Anima’s trip to England this month offered plenty of opportunities for embracing these sentiments. Wells Cathedral and Sherborne Abbey in England’s southwest, and St. Mary le Bow Church in London were our concert halls - gorgeous to both eye and ear, and resonant with history, awakening our imaginations. We performed a wide variety of our own repertoire, as well as introducing five other choirs at Wells Cathedral to a portion of Daniel Brewbaker’s Living the Divine, with a fine British percussionist and our own Bill Buhr. The life of a new work is best when extended beyond the place of its birth, and it was a joy to help that happen so quickly.

Aside from the joy of making music together, the trip also afforded “wonder-full” side trips to Stonehenge, Salisbury, Cambridge (where King’s College chapel is a must-see), and Windsor Castle. Memories from these experiences will stay with me forever, as I hope they will for all the choristers and chaperones. As I told the singers after the Festival Concert at Wells Cathedral, it was an honor to be a guest conductor for this event. But it was made far richer by having members of Anima along with which to share it! Well done, all.

Emily Ellsworth, Artistic Director
Anima - Young Singers of Greater Chicago