Costa choir travels to Paris, London

By Cate Shiff
Staff Writer

Mira Costa choir traveled to Europe during spring break to perform at several venues throughout Paris and London.
Costa choir director Michael Hayden took 54 students from all levels of choir on the trip. This is choir’s first time traveling to Europe since its 2010 Greece trip.

“Touring with choirs is a very special experience,” Hayden said. “Sharing our music with these audiences created wonderful memories for all of us, and I love introducing foreign travel to students.”

Some of the songs the choirs performed included “Fille de ton Fils” by Cesar Geoffray; “Kyrie” by William Byrd; “Sanctus” by Darrell Church, and “Agnus Dei” by Antonio Lotti.

“We had two different reps that we sang,” junior Mckay Gillett said. “We sang an acapella rep so that we would be able to perform in the cathedrals without a piano. We also had a rep with piano that was boys and girls.”

While on the trip, the choir members sang at several church services and concerts in both London and Paris. They sang mass at Notre Dame Cathedral and Chartres Cathedral and concerts in Canterbury Cathedral, Grovsnor Church and St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.

“I was excited because I’ve never been to Europe, and we got to visit and sing in many of the historical landmarks them as well,” junior Kendall Dominguez said.

Prior to the trip, choir members began practicing in January every other Sunday for three hours.

“The extra time we spent perfecting each piece of music on the weekends was important,” Dominguez said.

According to Hayden, the students represented themselves, the department, Mira Costa and America in a positive light. Choir is currently preparing for its upcoming Grammy concert which will take place on May 31 in the Costa auditorium.

“Touring with the choirs is a very special experience,” Hayden said. “I am exciting about the upcoming Grammy concert because it celebrates the hard work that our department has been doing for years.”