Day 12 - John

The choir left the idyllic grounds of Woodberry Forest School this morning and set out towards the nation's capital for the second time this tour.  I was with tears in our eyes that we bid goodbye to Wallace Hornady, Woodberry's diector of music, who encouraged us to email him with details of how our lives were going. 

Any passing truck driver looking into our bus on the way to Washington would have seen a sight that would perhaps have told him or her a great deal about the tour which was slowly drawing to a close: a quarter of the choir was asleep, and half of B block had taken their shirts off owing to the sweltering heat and the inadequacy of the bus's air conditioning.  Alex Eager found that insult had been added to injury: the backs of the seats were itchy.  On the journey, Quintin Beer and Edward Picton-Turbervill treated us to the 2011 College Chapel Choir tour awards ceremony, and I hope soon to put up a full list of the prizes awarded to all but one member of the choir: that choir member was Laurence Booth-Clibborn who is still in disgrace after tricking us all into believing that it was he, raher than his brother, who was Martha Stewart's godson. 

The boys in the party hastily removed themselves from the coach when it reached Washington, creating a little pool of sweat on the pavement.  We were greeted by Giles Howson OE, whom some of us had met at the reception after the service on Friday.  Giles took us to St Patrick's Episcopal Church at 4700 Whitehaven Parkway, where we tucked into the delicious packed lunches provided for us before launching into our final (sob) rehearsal of the tour.  Some members of the choir were rather taken aback when entirety of the attached school (with ages ranging from 5 to 14) started filing in and it became clear that they had come to listen to the rehearsal.  Ralph Allwood, after effecting a change in his language to make it suitable for such innocent ears, proposed that we put on a miniature concert for them, which we did.  We also took the opportunity to rehearse "Hope for Resolution," by Sean Ivory and Paul Caldwell with some of the boys and girls in ths school.  "Hope for Resolution" is a combination of a plainsong tune with a Zulu anti-apartheid song, so Laurence Booth-Clibborn can add Zulu next to 'Asian' in his list of languages the choir sings in.  Certainly, I have never sung in any language before which incorporates clucking sounds.  My congratulations go out to Ludo Graham for his excellent drumming skills, though I must share my commiserations with Campbell Donnelly who has apparently been learning percussion for longer and was disappointed not to be playing.  Some of the girls in the audience particlarly enjoyed William Walton's Jubilate Deo which was probably because it was the closest they had ever come to seeing Justin Bieber live in concert. 

After the rehearsal, we met our homestays and spent the afternoon with them in Washington before arriving back at the church at 6:30.  The choir sang remarkably well in the concert; we were pleased to see Ralph's once-in-a-blue-moon 'very well done' face after as many as three of the items.  After the concert, some of the 13 and 14 year old girls from St Patricks school had an opportunity, graciously provided by Rubin Patel to be photographed with Justin James Picton-Turbervill, and to flirt with a reluctant Tom Norrington.  Leaving this scene swiftly behind us, we headed to the reception, where we were treated to American cookies and a rather illicit-looking pink drink.  Ralph presented Giles Howson with a framed memento of the choir's visit, although he was himself unsure at first as to whether it was a photo of Eton College Chapel or one of some other chapel at the bottom right. 

And so concluded the choir's last full day of the 2011 tour.  I for one have thouroughly enjoyed myself even if I am now worn out by the dancing at Wodberry Forest School and all those sessions at their well equipped gym.  Stay tuned for our final foul-smelling stream of festering sewage tomorrow! 

 - John Gowers (newly appointed keeper of swill)