Sisters Episcopal choir a hit in Europe

The Sisters Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration Choir has returned from its European tour of Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. The Sisters choir performed in some of the great cathedrals of Europe, as well as being the only U.S. representative at the International Handel Choral Festival in Halle, Germany.

Much of the choir's time was spent in areas behind the former Iron Curtain. Their first overnight stop was in Berlin, where they visited the site of the Berlin Wall, which - except for historical segments - is now commemorated only as a line of paving stones. The former razor-wire-rimmed wasteland bordering the wall, where East German authorities once gunned down their escaping countrymen, is now graced by glass business centers and shopping malls. Today, white crosses commemorate the people killed while trying to escape from the East.

The choir sang at Berlin's Kaiser Wilhelm Church and departed the next day for Leipzig, where it performed at St. Nicholas Church, the site of massive protests in 1989 that led to the collapse of the East German government. The choir also visited the tomb of famed composer Johann Sebastian Bach at nearby St. Thomas Church before departing for Halle and the first rehearsal for the festival performance of Handel's Messiah.

The third day started with a walking tour of Halle, followed by the second rehearsal at the Georg Friedrich Handel Hall. That evening, the choir was one of only seven visiting choirs to perform as part of the "Choir Music from Near and Far" concert at St. Ulrich's Church.

"The evening of sharing music with other choirs was a very special treat," said soprano Sydney Harrison. "They were all so talented and yet they treated us as special guests. It was a true demonstration of music as the universal language."

Choir Director Stephanie King remarked that the choir was "...made to feel like royalty. We definitely felt the pressure to represent the U.S. well, and I'm so proud of each and every singer and what they brought to our many performances."

The Transfiguration Choir was also selected to perform in the Halle town square as part of a special "Happy Birthday Handel" celebration and was the featured choir in a Halle newspaper photograph of the event. The festival marked the 250th anniversary of Handel's death.

The last full day in Halle started with the third and final Messiah rehearsal, a three-hour marathon led by the renowned Irish composer and conductor, Proinnsias O'Duinn. During the afternoon break, the Sisters choir sang at Halle's Market Church, which figured prominently in Martin Luther's ministry and is where his body lay in state before being transported to Wittenberg for burial. King, and choir accompanist Adele McCready, both had the opportunity to play the Market Church's organ, the oldest in Europe, which Handel himself had played as the church's organist.

The centerpiece of the trip was the complete performance of Messiah in the Handel Concert Hall.

"Singing Handel's Messiah, in his birthplace, with 400 other voices plus a full orchestra, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," said alto Jan Baldwin. "It was a privilege for all of us as we were the only choir to represent America in the Messiah."

Another highlight of the trip was the next day's performance at Halle's St. Bartholomew's Church, where the Transfiguration Choir provided the principal worship music for the inaugural service of a newly combined congregation.

"This was one of the most meaningful events of the trip," said King, "We were a part of their community worship and had the chance to interact personally with them."

Like most churches in Germany, St. Bartholomew's is Lutheran.

Following a reception after the service, the choir boarded a bus for Prague, Czech Republic, stopping in Dresden, Germany, for a quick tour and a brief performance in the Cathedral of Our Lady.

Like the rest of Dresden, the cathedral was destroyed by bombs during World War II. It was rebuilt from rubble in 2006, as a monument to peace. It is an exact replica of the 17th-century baroque original. Many of the stone blocks used in reconstruction still bear the blackened scars of the firestorm that leveled Dresden.

"Singing in this gorgeous cathedral filled with visitors from around the world was a moving experience for all of us," said King.

That night, in Prague, the choir was treated to a dinner cruise on the River Vltava and the next day toured Prague Castle and sang at the Catholic St. Vitus Cathedral. Later, the choir performed all 15 of the songs in its traveling repertoire at yet another scheduled concert at St. Nicholas Cathedral in downtown Prague, a Hussite Church. The Hussite movement was a Protestant revolt against the authority of the Roman Catholic Church that preceded Luther's protestations by more than a hundred years. Jan Hus was excommunicated and burned at the stake in 1415, but his followers have endured to this day.

"The opportunity to perform a full concert in the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Prague was unforgettable. This beautiful baroque church is one of the oldest churches in Prague, with sources mentioning it as early as 1273," said King. "We were warmly welcomed, quite literally. The cathedral is ice cold, so the church had arranged for heaters to be set up surrounding the choir. We could still see our breath as we sang.... Afterwards, we were showered with gifts and flowers and made to feel very special."

Regardless of denomination, the one thing that all the old churches had in common was the bone-chilling cold. The stone cathedrals are unheated and were often colder inside than the outdoor winter temperatures.

The final stop on the tour was Salzburg, Austria, where the choir was greeted by blue skies and toured "Sound of Music" sites, Salzburg Castle, Mozart's birthplace and the Austrian Alps. The choir's final singing engagement was in the famous Salzburg Cathedral, parts of which date to the year 767. "Singing in so many European cathedrals and venues was amazing and a delight," said Baldwin.

An errant Allied bomb intended for the city's train station destroyed the Salzburg Cathedral's distinct copper-covered baroque dome in 1944. It was restored in 1959. King and McCready were also permitted to play one of the Cathedral's ancient organs that Mozart had played.

The next day, the Sisters choir boarded a bus for the airport in Munich, Germany, and 23 exhausting hours later arrived back in Oregon. In all, 31 Sisters area residents participated in the trip.