Although the CUE Choral Ambassadors have now arrived back in the States, none of us are yet home … not for a few more hours. We are currently at O’Hare Airport, Chicago, awaiting our domestic flights, the group gradually dissipating before our very eyes. This has been an especially difficult group of friends to let go. We have shared such rich moments in music making and community relationships over thirteen beautiful days together; it is only natural that the goodbyes would be accompanied by deep emotion and considerable mist in our eyes.
We are happy to report that we have captured the 2022 CCA’s sound in five of our thirteen concerts. We will be editing the tracks, touching them up and seeking to eliminate occasional ambient room noise in a place or two, combining the tracks into a full concert which you, our followers, will be able to download and enjoy on your various devices. The concerts from which we will curate the recording were sung at Christ Church Cathedral (Dublin), St Patrick’s Cathedral (Dublin), the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul (Athlone), St Mary’s Cathedral (Limerick), and St Columb’s Cathedral (Derry).
The students of the 2022 CUE Choral Ambassadors will long be remembered for their glorious choral sound, their gentle spirits, their inclusion of one another and every person they met along the way, and the mind and heart of Christ which permeated the whole 2022 Irish Cathedral Tour. The whole experience was well beyond inspirational and life-giving. In many ways, it felt nothing less than divine, a sort of suspension of normal life to experience days of transcendence in a glorious country with wonderful new friends. Sounds a lot like Heaven to me.
I realize many of us are anxious, concerned, and downright worried about the future of our world … and that’s understandable. However, through this fabulous group of young adults, God has spoken (and sung) peace to my heart over the past two weeks. Our world in the present, as well as in the future, is in good hands with students such as these, finding their places and coming into their own to make a difference for the good. I feel very sure you would experience the same assurance if you had observed these students and their artistry from my point of view.
Thank you, you sixteen extraordinary friends! The chamber choir you created is etched into my memory for the rest of my life. I love you, and I’m so grateful for each one of you as well as all of you! Go in peace, serve in love, and keep singing with the Spirit!
Love to each, gratitude to all,
Randy
