Lady Cove Hits It Out Of The Park

Hi everyone,

It´s about an hour after our performance in the all-crucial semi-finals and the Ladies gave THE best performance at the most critical time. The Hungarian audience gave us the loudest possible ovation. In Hungary, instead of a standing ovation, they clap thundersously in unison and for a VERY long time when they love what they see and hear. That´s the ovation we received. It felt a little weird for me to bow with them having played five notes, but I´m proud of the way I played those notes. I gave those pitches with feeling.
But seriously, what I´m most proud of is to be here with this extraordinary group especially as they have peaked musically higher than ever. They´re giving better than their best.

I´ve been asked a lot about my role as the accompanist for Lady Cove in a year when (because of CBC rules and the regulations here in Debrecin) there is no accompanied repertoire permitted. In fact, my role is as intense as ever because I have to be on my game in other very specific ways... giving pitches at a moment´s notice immediately and on the correct beat in the correct measure when time is not on our side. The Ladies have also been very graciously accepting my (hopefully) constructive musical comments in rehearsals.

So here we are with a few hours on our hands until the results of the Women´s choirs category are announced this evening (6:50 here, 2:20 PM today in Newfoundland).

Am I rambling a bit? It´s because I have tons to say in very little time and I haven´t had a chance to express my thoughts until right now. Suffice to say that Lady Cove is serving Newfoundland and Labrador very beautifully over here as the finest representatives of the qualities that make Newfoundlanders so proud. It´s truly amazing to be here with them all and to feel as though I´m also contributing a little. I must also say that this morning´s performance was given on only a few hours of sleep at best as the weather here is very warm, the rooms small and without air circulation and the corridors quite noisy. I´m rolling along today on a combined 5 hours of sleep over two nights, but that`s okay under these exciting circumstances. Just another excuse to enjoy the local cappucino... over and over.

Kellie´s husband Rob arrived in the nick of time to watch our performance and will be with us through the rest of our journey. My far, far better half... heck... she´s at least my better two-thirds... will be in Budapest to greet me and the choir when we arrive there post-competition on August 4th and then enjoy a week of relaxed, casual travel.

Next up for Lady Cove (assuming the results are in our favour this evening...) is the final round tomorrow. So.. another VERY early rise and a race to the shared showers and toilets. It´s not as bad as it seems, really. It just means a daily wake-up at about 5:30 to race everyone else to the showers. Those choirs sharing the building with us are up very early. Before 6:00 this morning, the Japanese choir was jogging around the basketball court below my window while a Swedish singer was doing Tai-Chi for close to an hour. I don´t have much choice but to get up when I do because we have to leave the windows open for some air and we´re alongside a busy street which is humming with traffic as early as 5:00. I´m getting used to it, though. I think it´s amazing that we´re just 25 km from the Romanian border. In the centre courtyard of the concert hall where the competition is taking place, there´s a gigantic statue of Josef Sztalin (as spelled on its base) as a not-too-subtle reminder of how near to them that era of history remains.

Well, time to sign off. Sorry if this was too wordy, but my very tired head is spinning. It has been such a wonderful journey so far and we´re just getting started. Believe me, we´re all wearing our pride for Newfoundland and Labrador on our sleeves. I´ll try and check in with another post in a few days. Thank you, everyone, for being so supportive.

David.
(please forgive any typos you spot. The keyboards here are very different...)

Listen to the competition live on the internet

Just found out that the competition will be broadcast live on the internet. To listen, you need to go to http://www.fonixinfo.hu/ It's not free, unfortunately -- the cost is 5 euros per day (approx. 7.50 CDN) and you can pay only for days we're competing. Setting up an account takes only a couple of minutes we're told. You start by clicking the banner that says "Bartok Bela XXIII Nemzetközi." The other catch is that our category is at 11:00 am tomorrow morning -- that's 6:30 am Newfoundland time. Lady Cove is scheduled to sing at 11:36, or 7:06 NT. Anyway, that's the deal if you want to tune in.

To bed! More tomorrow... Some of the other members of the choir have promised posts as well, so stay tuned.

Getting into the zone...

Hi everyone,
Well, we compete tomorrow morning. We have to be at the hall at 7:30 am for a sound check...ugh. Then we've got rehearsal from 8-10 and the competition around 11:30. So, we're taking it easy today. I don't think any of us slept well last night. Jet lag may be catching up with, plus it was hot and noisy in the dorm. Several other choirs arrived yesterday -- I've spoken with people from Japan, the Philippines, and Sweden. Competition for the showers will be as fierce as the singing competition, I suspect!

We rehearsed for a couple of hours this morning, but we are chilling out this afternoon. I think naps are in the cards for many of us. The opening ceremony and concert are tonight. Today's rehearsal was great, so I think will go into the competition feeling good. We'll get the results of the first round tomorrow evening, so one of us will post as soon as we know whether or not we're going on to the finals on Friday.

In other news, we've found a nice outdoor spot for drinks at night -- nicknamed it the Duke of Debrecen! Great spot to gather and visit at the end of the day.

Weather continues to be stellar. Hot, but not too hot, and not humid at all.

Keep your fingers crossed for us tomorrow! More news soon...

Getting settled in Debrecen

Amazing what a good night's sleep can do. As a group, we are 100% more cheerful than we were yesterday. Long journey was one thing, but when we finally arrived, we found our accomodations to be a little troubling. We´re staying in a hostel...weren't expecting luxury, but were hoping for clean. Kellie and Doreen handled the situation like total superstars and got us moved to a different floor in the same hostel -- all recently redone, CLEAN, and comfy. It´s close quarters for sure, but everyone is happy!

After the move last night, a bunch of us wandered to the main square -- only a short walk from the hostel -- for a drink and a snack. Lovely to unwind and visit. Today is a free day. We'll rehearse for a bit this afternoon, but otherwise spend the day exploring this beautiful city. I didn't have a clear idea what to expect from Debrecen but whatever expectations I had, they have been more than exceeded. Gorgeous architecture, lots of green, and outdoor cafes everywhere.

I'll try to post some pics on the Facebook page for the Lady Cove group.

We made it!

Just a short note to say we made it to Debrecen safe and sound. Trip was long but uneventful, and the city is gorgeous. More soon...

Welcome

Hi Ladies and LC fans -- welcome to the Lady Cove tour blog. We're off to Hungary on Sunday to compete in the Bela Bartok New Music Competition in Debrecen, Hungary! Please check in for updates...we'll try to post regularly.