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 55
th 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 5
th 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 48
th 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.
On Sunday Thomas had the great fortune to play two songs with members of the Levine Jazz Quintet. Here we see Thomas with Bob Sykes on piano, Pepe Gonzalez on bass and Ian Sikora on drums. This fantastic opportunity had been arranged by Thomas's saxophone teacher Dr. Noah Getz (who is also a member of the Quintet) and the Levine School of Music. Instead of a traditional jury at the end of the semester, the students of the Quintet members had the possibility to play in a real live setting. This was simply a fantastic experience for everyone. I can't count the number of juries we have taken Benjamin, Kristina, and Thomas to over the years, but this was by far the most enjoyable one. The chance to play with real, professional musicians lifted the performance of every participant, and I am sure all of them felt very proud of themselves after the performance. The ''jury'' part consisted mostly of well deserved praise and a few pointers in which areas to improve. In a traditional jury, the poor child is left alone in front of three faculty members who criticize their performance. Thank you to Dr. Getz and the Levine Jazz Quintet for arranging this wonderful Sunday afternoon! In the videos below you can judge for yourself.
