Richard Slade's Western Wind 2001 Yo-Yo Tour Diary:

I have dubbed the days from November 28th through December 9th Yo-Yo Tour '01. We were in residence at Montclair State University, and had concerts in Massachusetts, Illinois, Kentucky, and upstate New York in between our visits to New Jersey. Thus we yo-yo-ed to Montclair practically every other day.

Montclair State is a big place. Just finding our way from the maze of parking lots to the music building was a challenge. The choral director had engaged us to coach his choir and his small ensemble, in repertory ranging from Monteverdi and Palestrina through Brahms to modern pop. The kids were enthusiastic and responded well to our suggestions. We had two sessions with them and got started on the Magnificat from the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610, which we were scheduled to perform with them on their Holiday concert.

Then we drove to Springfield, Mass, to do an abridged version of The Chanukah Story at Sinai Temple. We had the rare treat of a catered dinner – in a Synagogue – with excellent food and delightful company. The concert went well and a number of our fans from various spots in Massachusetts showed up to see us. We stayed at a motel and drove to the airport near Hartford the next morning, and flew to Chicago.

Our next concert was in Elgin, at the new Arts Center. First we gave a workshop. Three of us coached the large local childrens' choir, and three of us attended to the college's madrigal/jazz ensemble. We had a little time to relax in the Crowne Plaza before returning to the theater. Kristina had a large contingent of relatives and friends. The audience was not extremely large, but they were most responsive. The theater was a wonderful place to sing, a place we look forward to revisiting.

Such are the pressures on musicians that need to make a living that Todd and Gayla left at 4 am for a 6 am flight to New York so they could be at their church jobs. I have gotten too crotchety for that, and slept in till a more civilized hour. Bill, Elliot and I flew back at 11. We had a rehearsal the next evening (Monday), minus Kristina, who had felt ill and stayed over in Illinois. She came back on Monday, but was not yet up to singing. We had a major project to address that did not require her presence: rehearsing in a substitute tenor. Todd was double booked with us and the Ensemble for Early Music, and we graciously resolved the situation by agreeing to find a sub for him for two concerts. So we taught our Holiday Light program to Jeff Weber, who was going to Berea, KY and Olean, NY with us, while Todd would keep joining us in Montclair.
Tuesday evening we gave a workshop in Montclair. It was open to local choral singers, but modestly attended. Kristina showed up but looked worn out – I drove her home, since the number of attendees could easily be handled by the four who remained.

Wednesday morning we went once again to Montclair, to rehearse the Monteverdi, and then went to Newark airport and flew to Cincinnati. We drove south into Kentucky, looking for a fine example of the local cuisine, but settling for chain Italian which was all we could find. We arrived at the local Inn, which is staffed by students of Berea College, and simply oozing with quaintness. The food at the inn, however, left a bit to be desired, but meals were included with our lodging, so like true professional musicians we ate what was put in front of us. Gayla ordered French Toast for breakfast, which was served a la Tartare – uncooked! We had some time off the next morning and were able to walk around and see the local craft stores. Pottery and weaving are really big in Berea. In one crafts store the proprietress sat with her dulcimer and played...we harmonized. Then she turned to her auto harp and sang us one of her original songs. Very new-age and quite enchanting. A magical moment. I bought her tape for Todd, since he missed it.

The concert was a blast. The student body showed up en masse – it seems that convocation is a required attendance event, and we were the convocation for the week. They were a lively bunch, and even laughed at the funny bits that escape some audiences. Cherry Tree Carol is amusing, and they got it. There were non students in the audience as well, and one of them showed up at our breakfast table the next day, full of compliments but wanting to know if there were any Christians in the group. She guessed that there was a least one, and pointed at Jeff, a Yeshiva poster boy if ever I've see one. Then she wanted to know if we had heard of Jews for Jesus. Fortunately for her, it was too early in the morning for snappy retorts. We got back in our rental van and headed for the airport. Kristina is a very brisk driver, and we arrived with lots of time to spare. As usual, I wandered through security and Elliot got searched. Friday was the longest day – we awoke in Berea, drove to Cincinnati, flew to Newark, drove to Montclair, sang the dress rehearsal, and drove to Binghamton. The rental van we got in Newark was a big clunker with sticky door locks. We ran from the parking lot to the theater and arrived just in time to sing the Palestrina (the Kyrie from the Tu Es Petrus Mass; we sang the Christe and the MSU Choir sang the Kyries). Adrenaline does marvelous things. We did the Monteverdi and climbed in the van. Jeff had gone home from Newark, since he wasn't needed in Montclair, but we had to pick him up for the next leg of the journey. We decided to stop for dinner first. We had abandoned route 80 west because the traffic was too heavy, and found ourselves on route 46. Kristina announced that the food had been so lackluster for the previous several days that she absolutely required a fine dining experience. We spotted a promising-looking restaurant on the other side of the road and Elliot executed a smart left turn – over the median! – and took us there. It was a fabulous meal, beyond any of our wildest imaginings. Exquisite seafood, excellent wines. We hung out for two hours and got to Jeff's house far later than we had planned, but it was worth it! We then drove to Binghamton, a stopping point on our way to Olean. The Holiday Inn in Binghamton was a dreary place, with loads of maintenance problems. The town was deserted. We awoke to a grey and overcast day – and a forecast including the S word. And sure enough, we drove west into snow, fortunately less than predicted.

Olean is a tiny town, but with a touch of charm. We ate a late lunch in a suitable local spot and went to the High School Auditorium to rehearse. We discovered that we were playing opposite a very popular attraction, the district basketball finals, in the adjoining gym. But we got a decent sized audience, rather more sedate than we had had in Kentucky. And we got a rave review in the local paper. Gayla's arrangements were described as being so complicated that they should be called original compositions. The critic praised out ability to sing the "treacherous" harmonies she devised! Our day did not finish with the concert, oh no! Since we had to be in (yes) Montclair by 1:30 p.m. the next day, we had planned to polish off the first two hours of driving after the Olean concert. So we piled back into the van and crept east along route 17 through snow and fog. We stayed at a HoJo's in Elmira, not a very lovely place, but we weren't there long. We arrived at 12:30 and left at 8. We dropped Jeff off at noon and ate lunch at a diner with exceptionally slow service. Our final visit to Montclair went well, though we were all pretty wiped out from all the travel. We did an abridged version of the Holiday Light program, capped with Ocho Kandelikas, which was announced as being about the eight handles of Conica. A slip of the tongue from a tired singer! The Monteverdi went as well as could have been expected, granted the limitations of rehearsal time for the instrumentalists and various other constraints. And we piled once more into the van and went home.