Monday, June 18, 2012

Phoenix Girls Chorus concert in Duernstein was "wunderbar"


"Cantabile" from PGC surely took the audience in the charming town of Duernstein by storm on Monday morning. Prior to exploring this quaint village situated on the banks of the Danube where Richard the Lionhart once has been imprisoned, the choir presented a concert at the beautiful Stiftskirche on Monday, June 18, 2012 at 11 am. And the singers under the direction of Ms. Danya Tiller surely enchanted the audience. With students from the nearby elementary school and many other locals, almost all benches were filled. "Our posters were everywhere", commented one of the girls. "The guests didn't want to let the girls leave", reported Incantato Jr. Tour Manager Crista Hartenstein.

Find out some interesting facts about this historic village: in 1372, at the place of today's monastery, a chapel was founded. Dürnstein Monastery was established in 1410  and from 1710 rebuilt in a Baroque style according to plans by architects Joseph Munggenast, Jakob Prandtauer and Matthias Steinl. The monastery was dissolved by order of Emperor Joseph II in 1788 and fell to the Herzogenburg Priory. During the War of the Third Coalition the Battle of Dürenstein was fought nearby on November 11, 1805. The town of Dürnstein is one of the most visited tourist destinations in the Wachau region and also a well-known wine growing area. While strolling through the narrow streets you will be able to taste homemade recipes made of "Marillen" which the Wachau is also very famous for. "Marillen" is how they call a special sort of apricots. The municipality consists of the Katastralgemeinden Dürnstein, Oberloiben and Unterloiben. The town gained its name from the medieval castle which overlooked it. The castle was called "Duerrstein" or "Dürrstein", from the German duerr/dürr meaning "dry" and Stein,"stone". The castle was dry because it was situated on a rocky hill, high above the damp conditions of the Danube at the base of the hill, and it was built of stone. Dürnstein was first mentioned in 1192, when, in the castle above the town, King Richard I Lionheart of England was held captive by Duke Leopold V of Austria after their dispute during the Third Crusade. Richard had personally offended Leopold by casting down his standard from the walls at the Battle of Acre, and the duke suspected that King Richard ordered the murder of his cousin Conrad of Montferrat in Jerusalem. In consequence Pope Celestine III excommunicated Leopold for capturing a fellow crusader. The duke finally gave the custody of Richard to Emperor Henry VI, who imprisoned Richard at Trifels Castle. Dürnstein Castle was almost completely destroyed by the troops of the Swedish Empire under Field Marshal Lennart Torstenson in 1645.

"Cantabile" recital at the magnificent Stiftskirche Goettweig

What could possibly top this morning's concert experience for the Phoenix Girls Chorus' prime ensemble "Cantabile"? Could any church be as stunning as the Stiftskirche Duernstein with its blue steeple? The answer is yes and that's why the 31 talented girls from Arizona will be singing twice on Monday, June 18 as part of their Incantato Performance Tour to Germany and Austria. The second venue differs in color, now the church exterior is pretty in pink and white, but Stiftskirche Goettweig offers equal beauty in both looks and acoustics. The recital at the Benedictine Abbey starts at 5:30 pm local time and will be a sung Dankeschoen to the congregation of monks that are working and living at the abbey as well as visitors. It will also be a home concert for PGC in a way, as the girls are staying at the dormitory of the Abbey for yet another night - a special dinner awaits them after the performance at the gourmet restaurant which also features a stunning panoramic terrace overlooking the UNESCO world heritage are of the Danube Valley.

Here's a little background info:
The abbey, situated on the Göttweig Mountain, is - because of its location - sometimes called the Austrian Montecassino. The Monastery, founded in 1083 by Saint Altmann, sits on a hill 449 m above sea level in the Dunkelsteiner Forest south of the city of Krems, on the eastern edge of the world-famous Danube Valley called the Wachau. With the Wachau, Göttweig was in 2001 placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. And today, PGC will be performing in the prestigious Stiftskirche pictured below.


Goettweig Abbey by Herr Specht.

At first, Augustines worked here, to be followed in 1094 by Benedictine monks from the Monastery of St. Blasien in the Black Forest. The Benedictines have been living, learning and teaching on Göttweig Mountain for more than 900 years. The goal of their life is to glorify God in prayer and work according to the Rule of their Order’s founder, Saint Benedict, the Patron Saint of Europe. Currently 54 monks belong to the monastic community. More than 30 of them give pastoral care to parishioners and pilgrims in the Dioceses of Vienna and St. Pölten. Forestry and viticulture have been the economic basis of the Monastery since it was founded - today completed by various touristic and economic efforts.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Impressions from beautiful Goettweig

Next stop for Phoenix Girls: Beautiful Goettweig Abbey

After bidding farewell to Vienna and their fellow festival members, PGC's "Cantabile" met with Incantato Tour Manager Ms. Karolina Zadrazilova and their private deluxe coach and driver. They are currently enroute to the beautiful Goettweig Monastery perched high upon a hill in the stunning Danube Valley. The pink Stiftskirche and surrounding structure can be seen from afar and make for a stunning backdrop. As part of their 2012 Incantato Performance Tour, the 31 girls and seven chaperons have the opportunity of staying for two nights in the former boys choir boarding school dormitory that have been converted into a modern guest house. As the sole inhabitants this weekend, the American group will have the whole structure with plenty of amenities to themselves. PGC will also be eating dinner at the gourmet restaurant which features local cuisine and a panoramic view terrace. For more information on the Benedictine Monastery of Goettweig, click here

 Here is a video from the UA Schola Cantorum under the direction of Canadian composer and director Dr. Graeme Langager.
 


PGC Europe Tour: Our last day in Vienna already?!

Saturday, June 16th and the Sing'n joy Festival is already nearing completion. However, before the final concluding event in the evening, there was a long day planned. After a morning rehearsal in the hotel breakfast room, which has been established as the room for everything, the Phoenix Girls Choir headed out to the Lazaristenkirche in the morning for their friendship concert. Five choirs participated in total, one of them an amazing Hungarian choir that the entire group enjoyed listening to very much. The Phoenix Girls Chorus' prime ensemble "Cantabile" performed four songs and did a fantastic job. They sounded absolutely amazing in the church setting and performed beautifully. After an extensive round of applause following their performance, there was more good news to follow: the Chorus had won their category and were asked to sing again at the festival's concluding festivities. This is such a great honor for the Phoenix Girks and we are very proud of them! With extra rehearsals to one accommodate the girls were left with less free time than originally planned, but it was for the best cause :) Of course after the additional rehearsal there was then only very little before the next rehearsal and the then following Coronation Mass. Not to worry though, a pick-nick dinner of pizza was organized by Incantato Tours in the concert hall so that the girls would have plenty of strength for their final competition performance. The mood could not be better in the beautiful grand hall of the Vienna Concert House with choirs performing impromptu stand-up songs while waiting for the event to start :)

Saturday, June 16, 2012

We hope you enjoy the updates, feel free to leave comments for the girls

Dear family, friends and fans of "Cantabile", since it has become clear that Ms. Tiller and the girls are too busy to update you about their tour, the Incantato Tours team is trying hard to show you what is happening with the 31 PGC girls in Vienna, Austria. We hope you enjoy the information and pictures provided and encourage you to leave some comments, greetings etc here on the blog for the girls to see and hear via our team. For more general information on the events organized by Interkultur, here is a link to the festival-blog documenting some of the events PGC is participating in: http://blog.interkultur.com/index.php/category/events/sing-n-joy-vienna/

Success for PGC at the "Sing'n Joy" festival in Vienna

PGC are category winners!! Exciting news reached the Phoenix Girls Chorus on Saturday morning. As they finished their performance at their friendship concert in the Lazaristenkirche this morning and exited under resounding applause, a call reached Incantato Jr. Tour Manager Crista Hartenstein and choir director Ms. Danya Tiller. The Phoenix Girls Chorus had emerged as the winners in their category from Friday's competition and were thus asked to rerun for a second performance on Satruday evening in order to compete for the overall Franz Schubert prize. The girls were ecstatic and overjoyed to be given is opportunity. These circumstances make the final Saturday evening festivities all the more exciting for the Phoenix Girls Chorus!

Phoenix Girls Chorus 2012 Europe Tour: Pictures from Day 5 - Friendship Concert, Competition and Gala-Concert








Friday, June 15, 2012

First "Cantabile" pictures from Vienna, Austria




PGC Cantabile on tour: First "Sing'n Joy" festival experiences

More news from Crista on behalf of the Phoenix Girls Chorus' prime ensemble "Cantabile"
Third day in Vienna: Friday, June 15th and the Phoenix Girls Chorus singers and chaperones have already become experts on navigation through the Austrian capital city of Vienna, especially concerning public transportation.
What an exciting day - the day of the competition! Luckily the girls had one more chance to rehearse in the morning before returning to the hotel to change in to their dresses for the big competition performance. All the chaperones agreed that they did a wonderful job and really performed very well. The results will not be announced until Saturday, but naturally everyone is anxious to find out who won each category!
After the stress and excitement of the morning began to wear off it was time for lunch and the impromptu serenade session (see specific post on that), which was definitely one of the many highlights of the day. The next one was soon to follow in the form of some free time for souvenir shopping and relaxation.
After the "best dinner of this trip so far" according to the Cantabile girls, which included a turkey schnitzel with garlic-herb butter and vegetable rice with a chocolate mousse dessert finish, it was time to head out for a final evening rehearsal in preparation of the big Coronation Mass and concluding event of the Sing'n joy festival on Saturday evening.

Phoenix Girls Chorus gives impromptu concert in downtown Vienna

Phoenix Girls Choir Tour, Day 4 in Vienna, Austria. Since the girls and chaperons are always on the run, Incantato Tours' Jr. Tour Manager, Crista Hartenstein reports: "It started like a regular lunch: in a typical Viennese restaurant, making sure the girls would be well fed for the busy afternoon ahead. Everything was prepared, the girls indulged on their first real Wiener Schnitzel with ice cream for dessert. As I went up to pay, I ran into the manager of the restaurant and he inquired if everything went as we had hoped. I confirmed and ensured him how lovely it was, especially the fact that the food came so quickly since the girls were starving. "Girls?" he said with a smile: "No one told me the downstairs part of my restaurant was full of girls!" The restaurant manager immediately followed me downstairs to personally say hello, an opportunity with choir director Danya Tiller did not miss to offer a small musical contribution for him, which the girls performed beautifully. The restaurant owner was so excited he got chills up and down his arms and was so thankful to have heard such beautiful music.
When I then returned upstairs with two chaperones to pay for the extras such as additional soft drinks,  the owner came back out and said: "Oh, no need to pay for that, that goes on the house! If only the girls would sing one more song for me and my staff!" It was so nice of him to wave those extra costs that naturally the girls were immediately gathered in the pedestrian zone of downtown Vienna, right in front of the Wienerwald restaurant, to serenade the guests, waiters, kitchen staff, restaurant owner and anyone who happened to pass by.
It was such a special moment to share songs with all those people and the girls were thanked with a big round of applause.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Phoenix Girls Chorus "Cantabile" in Vienna, Austria - Day 2 and 3

Incantato Jr. Tour Manager Crista Hartenstein reports from Vienna as the singers and chaperons are too busy to post here just yet. Here is her account of the first few days: "After an evening arrival and lovely welcoming dinner of typical Austrian food such as Frittatensuppe and Eiernockerl, the Phoenix Girls Chorus started their Vienna adventure on Thursday, June 14th with a guided tour around the city center, visiting such important sights as the St. Stephen's Cathedral and Hofburg. After a first rehearsal, there was a second sampling of Austrian food in the form of Schinkenfleckerl and Apple Strudel for dessert - yum!
The evening panned out with a nice opening concert in the beautiful Votivchurch, featuring a welcome by the city's vice-mayor, as well as performances by choirs from all over the world. The Sing'n joy festival includes participating choirs from 20 different countries, including Iceland, Sweden, Ukraine, and Russia. As you know, the 31 singers from the Phoenix Girls Chorus are competing in the category G2 with three other choirs and will have their competition performance on Friday at noon - they were all so excited and we wish them best of luck to all of the performers!"

PGC exploring Vienna

Knowing that you are eagerly awaiting updates, we just wanted to let you know that Ms. Tiller and the girls have a had a very busy day in Vienna, with their first rehearsal and also some sightseeing in the historical city center! Hopefully they can share some of their experiences with you here soon through the ipad and video camera Incantato provided them with.
Here is an update that we found online from the festival organizers - remember, the Incantato Tours part of the journey starts on Sunday afternoon.From INTERKULTUR: There won’t be any snow this year at the International Franz Schubert Choir Competition in Vienna, but sunshine and 20 °C plus the festival “Sing’n'Joy Vienna”.
For the first time in 2012 the event isn’t held in November as usual, but already in June. 33 choirs from 19 nations have come, singers are from Singapore, USA and even Iceland amongst others. Most of them arrived yesterday and registered in the festival office (by the way, it’s ACS Jakarta Youth Choir from Indonesia registering on our photo). Today Cantabile Vocal Ensemble from Ireland and two choirs from Switzerland were still expected to come: Chor Santa Lucia and Choeur des Armaillis de la Gruyère. The latter will already be singing in the Opening concert tonight! Currently the first choir representatives are meeting at a reception in Vienna City Hall drinking a toast to great days at “Sing’n'Joy Vienna 2012″. Cheers – we’re looking forward to it!