New York May 2008

A group of 11 singers and 5 musicians from the Swedish Lutheran Church in Washington DC went up to New York in order to perform the Swedish folk mass I välsignan och fröjd together with the choir of the Swedish Church in New York.
Here you can hear a bit of one of the songs, Kan de va så lätt. But before we got to the performance, a lot of things happened.
Kerstin H and I took a bus to New York on Friday morning and from the bus station we walked over to take the subway to our hostel. No one can tell us that New Yorkers are unfriendly. A nice young man offered to help Kerstin with her bag up some terrible steps. I guess he saw her big instrument, the nyckelharpa, on her back an figured she needed some help. He wished us welcome to New York. And then a nice lady took this picture of us at Times Square subway station.
Here is the hostel where we stayed, Swiss Hostel 1291. It was really in a great location on 55th Street. Walking distance to Times Square, the Swedish Church, the Museum of Modern Art, Central Park and many more sights. Here Anna has joined us and the rain has stopped.

The room was not exactly luxurious but clean and with comfortable beds. The price was right at $ 50 per night per person, including a simple breakfast. As much as we laughed in that room, one could believe we had won millions on a lottery.

Agneta and Anna having a mother-daughter moment on the bunk.

After getting settled in the hostel, we ventured out in the rain to find a New York deli. As always, a treat.

After the deli we went to the Museum of Modern Art also called the MOMA. On Friday afternoon the admission is free between 4-8 pm. That fit us perfect since that was the only time we could have gone anyway. But I have never seen so many people in a museum before. It was literally packed. The first work of art that greets the visitor is Auguste Rodin's Monument to Balzac from 1898.

The collection at the museum is vast. Even though we spent three hours at the museum, we only saw a fraction of the collection and the exhibits. There were many interactive super modern exhibits, such as the one above. This a Kerstin taking a picture of herself against a panorama of colors projected on the walls.

If you like more "traditional" modern art, the 5th floor is for you. There you can find Picasso, van Gogh, Gauguin, Monet, Matisse, Mondrian, Klimt, Kandinsky, and Munch just to mention a few. Above is the famous Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Picasso.

After an inspiring visit at the museum, it was time for a relaxing glass of wine and some Cuban food....
and then a visit to an off-Broadway show called The Perfect Crime. This is a murder mystery about a psychiatrist who has killed her husband. A detective is trying to pin the crime on her, but falls in love with her!!! The detective was played by Richard Schoberg, and Kerstin H and Agneta were thrilled to see him, because he has been starring in Law and Order. The Perfect Crime is supposedly the longest running drama in New York, but it is probably time to close it down. Only about 30 people came to see it..... It was fairly entertaining, but I think the actors were trying their best not to show how bored they were with play. Time for something new.

A drink after the show is never wrong. Here is Kerstin with Agneta's friend Grete from Tromsoe. Grete invited us to visit her up there next summer when she has retired from her job with the Norwegian foreign service. We really should go!
Now, here is the real reason we went to New York, the Church of Sweden on 48th Street. Our big rehearsal with the New York choir was on Saturday afternoon.

We were treated to a nice lunch in the church cafeteria. Here are Agneta with her daughter Anna, Kerstin with her daughter Lovisa, but my daughter Kristina could not be with us since she is studying in Berlin. We all missed her soooo much.
After rehearsal it was time for Greenwich village where we ended up at a Happy Hour - drinks and appetizers for $ 4. you can't beat that in New York where everything is really expensive. This is how happy Pelle and Mila were,
but Göran and Sonja were happier,
and Lena and Kerstin were the happiest.
Then we went to a Jazz Club called Smalls . I think the group was called the David Ashkenazy Jazz Band and it was a very good band.
After the jazz club we decided to go and check out Times Square by night. And it was a total circus. So many people....
and they were all standing around looking at something, taking pictures. Of what? It turned out that Will Smith was shooting a music video in the middle of the street, causing traffic jams and people jams. But we saw him, so now you know someone who saw Will Smith for whatever that is worth!
Now it is Sunday morning and time for the final rehearsal before the 11 am service and mass. To summarize, it was a fantastic weekend, and I hope we can do it again next year. Thank you to all the members of the New York church, especially pastor Ib Philblad and music director Kristina Sturk-Steinwall, and thanks to all the singers and musicians from Washington.
If you want to see more of my photos, click here.