Today started with the choir's first church service of the tour, which was held in the Memorial Chapel of Harvard University. The fact that it was a church service rather than a concert meant it was a rare opportunity to hear the choir's sound unadulterated by any of Ralph's 'jokes', which, as he informed us, are much the same as the pieces of music we are performing on the tour: we can expect a number of them to be re-used from concert to concert. After the service, we enjoyed what was perhaps the highlight of our day - an all-you-can-eat brunch in Harvard's exclusive Annenberg Hall. Among the excitements of the brunch were Powerade and Coca-Cola on tap, steaming bowls of porridge, the company of such erudite inividuals as Sir Eric and Lady Poppy Anderson (Sir Eric is the former Headmaster and Provost of Eton), Ex-KS Asfandayar Nadeem and the distinguished mathematician Noam Elkies and, perhaps most exciting of all, the opportunity to make waffles emblazoned with the Harvard crest.
It is a wonder that after such hug meal we didn't have any little 'accidents' on the coach trip to New York. A good way to test the good humour of any group of people is to stick them in a confined space for five hours: the College Chapel Choir passed this test with only a few marks dropped here and there, but it was a relief as well as a huge excitement to reach New York City. After checking into the hotel, we split into four groups to find restaurants for supper: some members of B and D Block deserve a special mention for managing to fend off a stream of inappropriate one-liners from an Irish waiter called Patrick in one of New York's most expensive steak houses.
- John Gowers
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