Hanging with the Met chorus

It isn't often that I get to spend the day with 30 Met opera singers. Maybe one or two at once, if I'm lucky but not a whole gaggle of them!! Yesterday, I had the wonderful opportunity to spend the day in Newburgh, New York, at the home of two members (one former and one current) of the Met Opera chorus. Every year over the Labor Day weekend, they choose the best of their vegetables from their amazing vegetable garden, cook up a total feast, and invite about 50 of their nearest and dearest friends to enjoy the beauty and tranquility of the country. Thanks to a good friend, I got to tag along this time around.

Apart from ogling the house, the grounds, the flowers, and the orchard (yes, they have an orchard in their back yard), another central aspect to the day were the dogs who came along to play. Being cooped up in Manhattan apartments made the big ones go a little nuts but we also had the opportunity to play with a few of the smaller guys, too. The one pictured here, Jemima Puddleduck, is a rescued maltese. She's quite sick, so we are wishing her a speedy recovery.



As was promised to me the food was abundant beyond belief and out of this world delicious (they even gave us all a bag of home grown tomatoes, fresh basil, and elephant garlic to take home with us!) The hosts were as gracious as gracious could be. I have to say the highlight for me came later in the afternoon. As I was sitting outside on a tree trunk enjoying the lovely sunshine, I suddenly heard soft jazz music coming from inside.



Our host, Kent, was sitting at the piano playing some show tunes. A few of the guests started humming along, then more and more people joined us until after a while the place was filled. Our other host, Marty, came and sang along with Kent in a crystal clear and beautiful tenor voice. After they had sung a couple numbers, they opened the floor up to whomever wanted to perform something. People played and sang, and those who weren't accompanying themselves had the pleasure of being accompanied by the Assistant Conductor of the Met chorus, Joe, whose playing was some of the most touching I have heard in a long time.

Yours truly had the opportunity to sing a little something, too. I offered my favorite songs of all time, Neil McKay's hilarious "Limericks" then finished off with "Carceleras," a Zarzuela by Chapi.

Some of those present - many in fact - had been in the Met chorus for years... decades even, and they still seem to love it. Well... they didn't want to hear any opera on a summery Sunday afternoon (!) but it was obvious that they absolutely loved their job. It was wonderful to see this, and a great pleasure to meet so many fascinating people. I suppose I'll see a few of them in the HD broadcast if I make it there for tonight's showing of "Carmen!"