Welcome Home, Gentlemen!

The following series of letters is from Dr. Ackerley which he emailed to TABC families and friends while on tour.

Dear Family and Friends of TABC,

It's a beautiful sunny day in Jeju! We have been on tour for one week and it has been a whirlwind of activity! The boys are doing great and are having once in a lifetime experiences. The hospitality of the Koreans has just been overwhelming. We are so grateful for their welcome and generosity.

Saturday, July 14 & Sunday, July 15

Let's start at the beginning. Departure day was long!..very long as we crossed the international dateline in flight. After checking in at Tucson International Airport and saying good-byes to family and friends, we had the short flight to Los Angeles. During the four-hour layover, the boys had the opportunity to eat their sack lunches and walk around the terminal for a while. We flew on an Asiana Airline 767 from LA to Seoul for eleven and a half hours. During that time we were fed two meals and a snack, listened to music and watched Korean TV and movies to pass the time. Some of us slept, but others stayed awake the entire time.

Arriving at Incheon International Airport outside of Seoul, we were greeted by our accompanist Erin Cho and the organizers of the World Vision International Choral Festival. They escorted us to a waiting bus for the hour ride to Buchon, the neighborhood where we would meet our host families. The weather was mild, about 80 degrees but was a bit humid. We arrived in Buchon around 8:00pm Sunday night to an extraordinary and friendly welcome. Part of the World Vision Choir greeted us with songs and chants of "AR-I-ZONA" (clap, clap, clap, clap). There were also many signs of welcome including one big sign that read "We Love You" and a hundred or more people cheering our arrival. It was incredible. They gave each of our boys a balloon hat, which was fun. A young boy, not more than five years old gave me a balloon hat. I thanked him, put it on and then had numerous photographs taken. After the photos, the boy came back and started tugging on my pants. He wanted his hat back. I guess it was just a temporary gift!

Our boys met their host families and were off to their homes for the first night. The host families are very kind and generous. The English speaking ability varies from home to home but our boys are resourceful and are finding ways to communicate. One family has a translating program on the computer. Our boys type in English and with a press of a key it is translated into Korean. Most of the families live in residential high-rise buildings. The homes are not terribly large but every inch is used to its fullest.

We met our guides who will be our escorts for the entire week. Jooyeon Hwang (Jenny) is an English language student and Moon Won (Joy) is studying choral conducting. They are both very helpful and accommodating to all the group needs. My wife Jane and I, as well as wardrobe manager Wendy Pierce, are staying at the Provista Hotel. It is a nice contemporary hotel in the Seoul downtown area not far from the Arts Center. We were all definitely ready for bed in hopes of a good night sleep to catch up with the jet lag. And thus the end of day one and day two.

Monday, July 16

Good Monday morning. Our first full day in Korea greeted us with rain! However, the rain didn't stop our planned activities. After breakfast with host families, the boys gathered and were bussed to Cheonggyecheon, the home of the "Blue House" where the Korean president lives. The grounds were beautiful with motionless guards stationed throughout. When first arriving, the rain had let up. I was able to give the boys a bit of spending money out of their travel accounts. We walked over to the Blue House to get a group photo, which is right when the rain resumed. Not a pouring rain, just a drizzle enough to get you wet if you didn't have an umbrella.

Back on the bus we headed for a restaurant that served a traditional Korean buffet. The restaurant was on the fifth floor. We began climbing stairs and were stopped at the end of the line on the fourth floor. It seems we were one of the last groups to arrive and were at the back of the line. There are seven different choirs here at the festival from Australia, Hungary, Mongolia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, San Francisco as well has hundreds of Korean Children. There are 591 participants in the festival.

The lunch buffet was an opportunity to sample the large variety of Korean cuisine. Some of the boys were very cautious and stuck to the corn soup and white rice. But others were adventurous and tried the variety of vegetables, meats and sweets. Eating with chopsticks was fun. Some were better than others, but I am most sure that all of us will become more proficient chopstick users by the time tour is complete.

After lunch we visited Gyeongbokgung Palace. The rain continued so the guides gave us white plastic raincoats to wear during the visit. We started with a group photograph at the main gate complete with raincoats. The guards in their colorful period uniforms stood at attention. We explored the buildings on the vast grounds, which served as the main royal palace in the Joseon Dynasty.

Gyeongbogung Palace was constructed in 1395 by King Taejo. It was destroyed by fire during the Japanese invasion in 1592 and reconstructed in 1868 during King Gojong's reign. Inside the palace were administrative buildings, residential areas for the royal family and a rear garden for relaxation. Also on the palace grounds is the National Folk Museum. The boys were given a little more than an hour to explore the museum. Each was asked to find out five important facts in the museum. I saw that some of the boys were finding out interesting facts about Australian girls rather than Korean culture.

As Murphy's Law would have it, it was ironic that when we were outside touring the palace it was raining and when we went inside to the museum the rain stopped! The walk back to the bus was an exercise is paying attention and following directions. Some of the boys bolted ahead of the group and ending up going back to the bus the way we came through the front gate. It was significantly longer that way. The exit was right by the museum to the parking lot where the bus was parked. We waited on the bus for those who were impatient who had to take a much longer hike.

Next stop was the World Gloria Center, a complex of a very large Christian Church. The choirs had a Korean dinner and were treated to entertainment by the Training choirs of the World Vision Children’s Choir. In the auditorium after dinner, we had the welcome to the festival orientation where each choir was presented a participation plaque, a beautiful hand crafted vase and a bouquet of flowers. Each choir was also asked to sing one minute of a song. We sang the coda of "Praise His Holy Name". The welcome session was a good opportunity to hear each choir and to get oriented to the festival.

We are getting a huge amount of media attention. In fact four of our boys, James Mendola, Michael Eakin, Will Smith and Anthony Constantino were followed the entire day by a local television station on their experiences with their host family. We also have had print media, posters all over town, radio and a second television station doing feature stories. The World Vision Choral Festival is a major event for Seoul and there seems to be an extra interest in the boys from Arizona.

The boys were bussed back to the meeting place for host families and were off for the rest of the evening. And thus the end of day three.

Tuesday, July 17

The rain has stopped but it is still overcast and very muggy. Even though not extremely hot, the humidity is a bit uncomfortable for those from Arizona. As we all know....it's a "dry" heat! We spent the day learning Korean history starting with a visit to the War Memorial of Korea. The war museum is an impressive building with various records and artifacts of historical wars and soldiers. There were also presentations to remember the deceased patriotic forefathers and war heroes. For me, the Korean War exhibit was the most impressive. It was interesting to learn more about the UN Forces that participated in the war effort, especially the US. The boys enjoyed exploring the museum. It was very "boy" friendly.

Lunch was a traditional Bi Bim Bab bowl at another excellent restaurant. This is a traditional Korean dish with a base of rice and various vegetables, spicy sauce, Kim-chi, an egg and meat. It is served in a bowl on a hot plate. You mix it all together with your chopsticks and enjoy. I like it, as do many of the boys.

That afternoon we arrived at the impressive Seoul Arts Center the performance venue for the World Vision International Choral Festival. The center is the home of the famous Seoul Opera House and Concert Hall as well as numerous art museums and schools. We had the opportunity to perform in the Concert Hall, a state of the art performance facility with wonderful acoustics. The hall seats close to 3000 audience members.

Upon arrival, a second television station was all set-up to do an interview for a program called "The World Today. " Anthony Canape and I were interviewed by the show’s anchor, Jasmine. I was very impressed with Anthony's thoughtful and concise answers to the interviewer's questions. The program was scheduled to air the following day, but unfortunately we were unable to watch due to our busy festival schedule.

We were assigned our dressing room backstage then were given fifteen minutes rehearsal time on stage to practice our number for the opening concert. I chose our signature "Riders In The Sky" as it features our rodeo roping. I knew this would set us apart from the other choirs.

For dinner, we were provided sack meals including a McDonald's Big Mac, fruit, juice, and cookies. All the various choirs sat around the arts center complex enjoying their meals and making new friend. Next to the Opera House was a water fountain display with music and lights. The timing was right, so we had the opportunity to watch the synchronized fountain display. One boy said it was like the Ballagio in Las Vegas only in Seoul.

The festival Opening Concert featured all seven foreign choirs as well as the Korean choirs. Each choir sang one song. The Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus was the first choir on the program. I was told that we were given the start off position to kick the festival off with a bang. Judging from the huge audience response to the song and the seven-man roping pyramid, I feel we provided the "bang" for which they were looking.

The boys got a chance to sit in the audience for the second half of the program. It was a contemporary multi-media presentation that was commissioned for the festival and was having its world premiere. It was called The Story of Woods. Through film, choir, soprano soloist, orchestra and dance, the story was told of children venturing into the woods, their encounter with an evil witch and their ultimate escape. I think the fatigue factor was setting in as some of our boys were suddenly awakened when the final applause began!

After the performance, the boys were bussed back to meet host families. And thus the end of day four.

Wednesday, July 18

Jarrett Youngquist's mother, Kimberly, is a Major in the US Air Force and is stationed here in Korea at Osan Air Base. It was very helpful that she was nearby as we had a bit of a transportation challenge on Wednesday morning. The boys were being bussed to the Korean Folk Village but there was no bus for the adults coming from the hotel. Kimberly volunteered to drive the adults the hour drive to meet the boys.

The Korean Folk Village was the first stop. No rain today but it was quite humid and the ground was saturated. The boys were given two hours to walk through the acres of buildings representing historic Korean life. Many villagers were dressed in period costumes and working in jobs such as farming, weaving, leather work and a variety of domestic chores. There were also amusement park rides. The rides cost extra so most of the boys stuck to exploring the historic recreations and enjoying the river and beautiful natural surroundings.

Our next activity was at Shinsegae, a very large and modern shopping complex. Time was running a bit short so we rushed through the employee cafeteria for lunch. In the process of leaving the bus and walking through the huge department store, we lost Mrs. Pierce and a couple of boys. However, all were reunited on the 10th floor where there was a small auditorium in a cultural center...pretty amazing for a shopping center! We gave a half hour early afternoon concert in the auditorium for a family audience. There were many children attending. Once again, the boys were very well received.

Coming out of the shopping center we had a new bus. Our World Vision bus had been replaced by a coach from Osan Air Base. Major Youngquist made arrangements for the boys to visit the base, have a VIP tour of the flight line and give a short performance for base personnel and their families. After the one-hour ride, we arrived at the base. For security measures, the gate guard came on our bus and had a roll call, asking each boy to stand when their name was called. We were told that security is always high as the base is in very close proximity to the DMZ.

Our VIP tour of the flight line was given by 1st Lt. Walton who came on our bus to explain the many aspects of the aircraft and life on base. First stop was to see an A-10 warthog. The chief mechanic was on hand to answer questions and many photographs were taken. The next stop was to see an F-16. We had both the chief mechanic and pilot on hand to explain the features of the fighter jet. We were told the A-10 was like a reliable Ford and the F-16 a Corvette! While we were looking at the parked F-16, another F-16 landed and was coming into the hanger. We were hustled back on the bus as we did not have ear protection and they wanted to make sure we were not exposed to any ear damage. I must admit it was loud. The ground shook..it was actually quite thrilling.

We gave a short performance for a small but very appreciative crowd at the club. On the way back to Seoul we were treated to pizza and cokes. What normally would have taken one hour actually took two hours as we were caught in traffic. The traffic is unbelievable here. There are over 10 million people is Seoul and it seems like all of them have a car on the roadways. It is pretty amazing and often frustrating. However, the air conditioning works great on the busses and the boys are very good about entertaining themselves.

We were not performing at the evening festival concert. Our featured performance was scheduled for Thursday night. They divided the participating choirs into two groups, each given a twenty-minute segment either Wednesday or Thursday. We were to be in the audience for this concert. Unfortunately, we arrived ten minutes late due to the traffic. We waited in the lobby until a change on stage allowed us to sneak in and find our seats. We heard some wonderful choirs from Hong Kong, Australia and Korea as well as the other representatives from the US, the San Francisco Girls? Chorus. The standard of excellence was set high so the boys knew they needed to be in top form when they performed.

After the concert, the boys were bussed to meet host families. And thus the end of day five.

Thursday, July 19

The rain is back. However, we had the most of the day free with host families to rest and conserve energy for our big evening performance. I spent the morning trying to get my laptop working so I could answer some emails. You may have heard that I am having problems getting connected to Internet. However, Wendy Pierce has been helpful in guiding me to figure it out. I also did some laundry and leisurely lounged around my room. The adult women went shopping. I heard it was quite an excursion on the subway. They had fun and got back to the hotel safe and sound. Some of the boys spent the day going to movies, additional sightseeing and shopping with their host families.

We met at the Seoul Arts Center mid afternoon for our rehearsal time. Since they only allowed us thirty minutes on the stage, we were well prepared to make use of every second. I reminded the choristers of the importance of creating a good musical tone with modified dark vowels, attention to blending throughout the ensemble and expressive musical phrasing. We sang through the entire program and gave additional effort to more difficult vocal passages. We also worked on stage presence with precise movements in choreography and pleasant facial expressions. The rehearsal went well and the boys remained focused.

It was still raining outside so we had our sack dinners in the Concert Hall lobby. To my surprise, Paul Rhatigan, a TABC alum appeared. He heard that we were giving a performance and made the effort to track us down. Paul was an outstanding chorister between 1990-1996. He went on two concert tours; one to the US Northeast and another to Spain, France and Italy. Paul credits his Boys Chorus experience with giving him an interest in international travel. Through his studies he has traveled all over the world. He currently lives in Cambridge, England and is spending the summer here in Korea working on a nana-DNA research project. Paul spent some time talking to the boys about his TABC experiences and answering questions. They were very interested in his scientific research and his world adventures. He encouraged them to stay in school, get a college degree and they could do just about anything they wanted to. He also told them to especially value what they have with TABC as the training and opportunities will prove to be beneficial throughout their lives.

After our visit with Paul we went backstage. Unfortunately, we had a lot of down time as there were two choirs performing before us. We were the last choir scheduled before the intermission. The boys were doing fine but I could see the excitement level was increasing by each minute. So I organized a quite time, a sort of meditation that we call FOB (flat on back). I had all the boys lay down; we did some muscle relaxation techniques, using imagery to reduce stress and a general quite time. Boy did it work! The boys were extremely quite and resting. After 20 minutes of FOB, I had them get ready for their big performance. They were more focused than ever.

The time had come for the boys to step out on the stage. As soon as the stage door had opened and the first boy appeared a huge cheer went up throughout the crowd. The boys had already endeared themselves to the festival crowd in the previous two days and received a large applause even before singing their first note.

The performance was superb. The boys sounded especially good in the acoustics of the hall. The positive energy from the crowd helped the boys to be even more charismatic and charming. In particular, the rodeo roping was very well received. However, when we sang our final encore, the Korean song Gyeongbokgung Palace (which was not listed in the program) the crowd went wild. The boys had done it! They performed just about as well as they possibly could and they were rewarded with a rousing ovation.

During the second half of the program, the boys were provided tickets to watch the remaining two choirs on the program...the host World Vision Choir and Cantemus, a Hungarian choir of 20 to 35 year old women. Both choirs were excellent. A stunning choral moment was when the Hungarians sang Franz Biebl's Ave Maria in a double choir surround sound. I am happy that our boys are having this opportunity to hear choral music at its finest.

Upon meeting the host families, many had flowers to give to the boys to congratulate them on their fine performance. Everything was a "buzz" about how good the boys from Arizona were. Many photographs were being taken, especially with girls. I could see that the boys were proud of their accomplishments and enjoying their celebrity status.

We are sill having a light rain and it is extremely humid. And thus the end of day six.

Friday, July 20

The rain has stopped but it is still cloudy. The forecast is for clearing through the weekend. Perhaps we have seen the end of the rain.

After breakfast with host families, all the visiting choirs and all the Korean choirs met in a large rehearsal room at the Art Center for their first rehearsal of the massed choirs. Maestro Yoon Hak Won, former conductor of the World Vision Children's Choir, was the guest conductor of a piece commissioned for the festival. Entitled "Imagine A World Where Children Are Safe" the work is by Korean composer Woo Hyo Won and consists of four movements; Listen To The Beautiful Sound, Make The World One, Till We Meet Again and Arrirang. The choral sound was impressive with over 500 children singing.

Lunchtime was a festival farewell party on the Arts Center grounds. Sandwiches, fruit, rice balls with tuna, candy bars, juices and cookies were served at stations around the patio area. Children were encouraged to mingle with singers from other choirs and exchange email addresses. Mingling was definitely not a problem for our boys as many of the other singers sought them out. Again, I know our guys enjoyed the celebrity status.

The World Vision Choir and the San Francisco Girls? Chorus broke into impromptu song as lunch entertainment. At one point, the choir from Hong Kong organized several singing games in a huge circle. It was obvious all were having fun and it was an indication of one of the festival’s goals, the development of international friendships.

The afternoon was spent in individual rehearsals. Each choir was allowed two selections on the evening Closing Concert. We were asked to select significant music that represents artistic quality. I programmed “O Nata Lux” and “Praise His Holy Name” both by American composers and significantly different in style. We had our fifteen minutes to rehearse on stage and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out back stage.

During the down time, the boys were introduced to a new game known as Kongii. It is similar to American jacks but uses five small cubes that are collected by throwing up one while gathering the others in groups of ones, twos, three and fours. The game has totally captured the boys? Attention..even at the expense of their electronic games. In between playing Kongii, the boys also visited with the San Francisco and Australian girls. The odds are definitely in their favor as there are many more girls in the festival than there are boys.

McDonald’s Big Macs were served for dinner. We took a group photograph in front of the famous Seoul Opera House. It is built in the shape of a Korean hat. Then it was back to the dressing room to get dressed for the concert. We had another relaxing FOB session to relax and focus.

For this Closing Concert we were programmed fourth. Once again, the boys did a wonderful job on their selections. “O Nata Lux” was impressive and “Praise His Holy Name” was a crowd pleaser. Nick Bessette did well on the solo and Jarrett Youngquist’s tambourine playing always adds to the Gospel piece. The crowd gave another rousing ovation.

During the intermission the more than five hundred performers assembled on stage for the grand finale. Everyone rose to the occasion, as the presentation was the best I heard. The balance between the orchestra and singers was excellent and the sheer numbers on stage alone was extraordinary. I am thrilled that our boys had this unique performance opportunity.

This concert was the last of the Seoul portion of the festival so there were many hugs (probably too many hugs) and even some tears. Perhaps some of our boys will maintain contact with their new friends.

The boys met their host families and were off for the evening. The conductors and staff of all the choirs went to Bellini’s restaurant nearby the hotel for a closing party. Not only did the festival provide the opportunity for the children to make new friends, but I also value the many contacts I have been able to make with conductors from choirs worldwide. Sometime after midnight, Jane and I excused ourselves to head back to the hotel.

And thus the end of day seven and the first week of tour. The boys are happy and healthy and are making a tremendous impression in Korea. I hope to write more tour details next week.

All best,

Julian Ackerley

2nd Tour Letter

3rd Tour Letter