Et angeli in vitro molliter cantaverunt" and the Angels in the glass softly sang. These are the words, written by Sir Anthony Silvestri and set to music by Eric Whitacre, that have become a staple in our repertoire for this tour, and I confess I didn't really understand Whitacre's inspiration until I, along with Chamber Singers and the choir of Jesus College, Cambridge, sang the Evensong service bathed in the light of the stained glass facade of Jesus College Chapel. Prismatic colors joined in song with us as we welcomed the evening to the first day of what promises to be a transformative tour for all of us.
After excitedly meeting USingers at Dulles airport, a sleepless transatlantic flight, and the quiet, momentous realization that, yes, we have arrived in Europe: tour is finally here. It didn't quite feel real until we were halfway into the Customs line at Heathrow. Groggily, but fortified with coffee, we began the short bus ride to Cambridge and our first destination. Those of us who weren't asleep were rewarded with fields of lavender and dandelion that swayed in the wind, creating their own music to welcome us to England, its rolling hills not unlike that of Albemarle county. Coffee wearing off, and sleep deprivation beginning to take its toll, we arrived in the ancient city of Cambridge.
The moment I stepped foot off the bus, the history, the grandeur, the struggle, the triumph of Cambridge beckoned. Lunch in a 14th century chapel-turned-café, walking along the charming River Cam, it's hard not to feel at home in a place that takes enthusiasm for the arts to such a superhuman degree. Advertisements for concerts, plays, even Sanskrit lessons cover the old cast iron fences surrounding lawns held in too high esteem to be walked upon. Tweed jackets, choristers heading to practice, whistling old professors, the whole city breathes education and the arts. For me, beginning my final year at the University and in the midst of a search for what's next, it seemed the whole of Cambridge outstretched its hand in welcome and possibility. Singing in candlelight and accompanied dusky angels of sunset, celebrating the faith of my fathers and the passion of my youth, never have I been in such awe of my fellow musicians, or the power of music to transform. And that was just the first day.
- Will Dickinson, CLAS '16, Music & Religious Studies
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