"California Girls" Tour: Day 5

As many of you are aware of, California is in the middle of a debilitating drought; however, today certainly did not feel like it. From the moment we woke up early in the morning, it did not stop raining. Of course, given the fact that New England is frozen over, we cannot and did not complain. In fact, once we got on the bus for the 6 hour drive to Santa Barbara, many of us slept or talked the whole way. 

After a quick lunch break on State Street in beautiful, but sopping wet Santa Barbara, we traveled to Westmont College, which is located about half an hour from the city. There, we met one of the college's choirs; the one we performed for is specifically constructed of first years. After a quick warm up with director Grey Brothers, we performed some of the pieces we have taken on the road for the other choir. We were quickly back on the road, however, as we had a very important date at the Cate School. At the request of a Wellesley alumna, Linda Sommers, who teaches at this boarding high school, the Choir visited for an incredible performance in Cate's beautiful chapel.

Cate School's Camarata
Photo provided by the Cate School

 Before we sang for the high schoolers, Cate's chamber group, the Camarata, gave us a small taste of what they were up to. Since coming to college, we have not had the opportunity to hear high school choirs, so we thoroughly enjoyed their performance, especially the Camarata's rendition of "Grace Kelly." It was soon our turn to rise to the occasion, which we certainly did. From what we gather, we were performing to a group of teenagers who had never heard a live all women's choir. They were impressed with us to say the least. At the cookie and tea reception afterwards, many of the students came up to us  to give us compliments before our kind hosts came to pick us up. 

The Wellesley College Choir (but you already knew that)
Photo provided by the Cate School