Aragon’s Chamber Choir plus String Quartet traveled to Ireland to perform in and explore the country’s historic sites and landmarks from June 7 to 14.
Invited by the mayor of Dublin, students traveled to participate in the 2016 International Limerick Sings Festival. With Dublin being the sisterhood city to San Jose State University (SJSU), the director of SJSU’s choral program led the university’s choir, Aragon’s choir and quartet, and other local choirs to perform in both Limerick and Dublin.
Taking over a year to plan the trip, director of Aragon’s choir and orchestra John Chen says, “It went really well for our first European tour. Our first performance was in front of a thousand people, televised, and was over webstream… We sang both traditional American tunes and Gaelic ones.”
The choir and quartet traveled to various places to sing in and perform. “The most memorable experience was singing in the mass choir with the other invited choirs,” says senior Ben Goya. “It was really fun especially since we worked with a pretty funny director.”
The group’s first stop to the city of Limerick included a trip to one of Ireland’s most visited tourist attractions, the Cliffs of Moher. “What made the place even more memorable, at least for me, is that one of the scenes in Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince was filmed here,” says senior Maggie Zhang. “What got my friends excited [about] was that one of the fighting scenes in Princess Bride was filmed here. I think it was a cool place to go to.”
Even while not performing as part of a proper performance such as at the Redemptorists Limerick Church or the Concert Hall at the University of Limerick, the choir group sang casually at other various locations. Zhang says, “Mr. Chen always asked us to perform randomly through the whole trip, like in the restaurant, and even in the castles we visited, like the Rock of Cashel. And people just clapped for us and it felt pretty good.”
Chamber Choir’s final performance in the City Hall of Dublin also came with a surprise. “We performed for the mayor of Dublin. Since it was our last performance, we all got really into it and there was a surprise for us,” says Zhang. “The composer of Dulaman, one of the songs we sang, was there listening to our performance.”
The last performance marked the last year’s seniors final performance as part of Aragon’s choir. Senior Gabe Igtanloc says, “It was very bittersweet. Even in Ireland we grew even closer which made it hard, but made it up hanging out during the summer.”
After an overseas trip sharing music, Zhang felt that it furthered her passion for singing. “This trip definitely broadened my interest towards singing,” says Zhang. “Honestly, before joining Chamber Choir, I never thought that singing could really be such a big part in my life and I would even bring it to another country.”
Igtanloc also believes he was inspired by other performers on the trip. He says, “The choir that invited us, San Jose State University, did this wonderful piece that had these swelling chords and just overall happy tone. I knew I wanted to make every new piece of music that I got like that, full of energy and swelling with passion.”
Not every member of the choir was able to attend, however. Chen says, “Out of 35 members of Chamber Choir, 27 were able to attend. It was a good and balanced amount of people.”
For the students who were able to attend, they had a memorable experience. Igtanloc says, “I loved the entire trip. It was so cool performing the mass choir piece that we did, and I would love to go back.”
