6:11 am: Sleepy singers have assembled for breakfast in advance of our first rehearsal at 7:30 am at Trinity. The coffee is flowing!

7:04 am: We’ve arrived at Trinity. Partly cloudy, but otherwise beautiful Manhattan morning.

10:21 am: We just finished a LONG, but very good, rehearsal. A lot of beautiful music on the program, and the 250 singers that make up the combined choir sound great! We’re now preparing for our noon concert at St. Paul’s Chapel, which will be broadcast live on WWFM.org.

11:43 am. Just completed the acoustical rehearsal for our noon program. It is moving beyond words to sing texts like “Hope is a tattered flag… Hope is an echo…” with this view of the gallery banner and flags.

1:38 pm: Back from lunch after the Noon concert. It was a real joy to sing those pieces in the beautiful space at St. Paul’s. Greg conducted like a Zen-master, quietly shaping phrases, and pacing the music wonderfully. We paused for very-moving prayers at 12:30. To answer Imre’s question from the comments, we’re about 85 strong for these performances. I’m going to listen to one of the other choirs now at Trinity. Next up is our acoustical rehearsal in Trinity’s sanctuary for our 5 pm concert. This will be webcast by Medici.tv.

2:54 pm: We heard the last few movements of the Washington Chorus’ beautiful Durufle Requiem, and are now awaiting the Copely Singers’ concert, under the direction of the redoubtable Brian Jones. If the last few minutes of their rehearsal is any indication, it should be ravishing!

4:41 pm: As predicted, the Copely Singers were fantastic. We’ve just finished the acoustical rehearsal for our 5 pm concert. Our spirits are high, even as our early wake-up is taking its toll. There is an amazing spirit here today. We have wonderful hosts, and it’s been an utter joy to be part of so much passionate and committed music-making. Onward!

6:02 pm: The Choir returns to our room in the parish center. There’s a neat pedestrian bridge over Rector St., which grants us easy access to the church. The concert seemed to go very well, and we received a warm ovation from a pretty full audience. The Choir is officially tired, but we’ve got a break for dinner, and hopefully some recharged batteries. Dr. Scholls would be pleased to hear that your blogger is gellin’, though after upwards of five hours of standing still, I’m no longer sure it’s helping! More, soon!

7:30 pm: Choir members have been trickling back in after dinner, and are now gearing up for the piece de resistance. I’ve been reflecting on the day’s events with fellow singers and friends watching and listening to webcasts from Oregon and North Carolina. One friend mentioned Tom Goeman’s accompanying, and I heartily concur with this rarely-used (by him, at least) superlative: awesome. Tonight we’ll be treated to accompaniment by Trinity’s resident modern instruments orchestra, Novus NY (they have a period instruments baroque orchestra, too). They sounded brilliant this morning.

9:47 pm: Halftime, and some Washingtonian basses are realigning their spines. Great first half; we’re taking a brief rest before Brahms, Bernstein, and Bach!

11:28 pm: Above is what I expect will be my last conscious view for the bus ride home. It’s hard to put into words the magic and power of this whole experience. Words fail. I shall collect myself tonight, and write something more coherent in the morning. To my beloved friends in The Choir: Ruht wohl!