May 21st, 2018 was my first day on staff at St. Peters & The Choir School in Center City Charlotte, North Carolina. Now, less than a month later, we are two days away from Thursday June 14th. This is the day we load the buses at 7am in Charlotte and sing a concert at All Saints Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia at 7pm that evening. Our traveling party consists of 52 choristers aged 10-18 and their 10 fearless chaperones. In addition to Richmond, the touring ensembles of The Choir School will sing at St. Patricks Episcopal Church in Falls Church, Virginia, St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Burke, Virginia, St. Paul's K Street in Washington, DC, and Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia. Don't worry, we get to have fun too. Tourist visits include the National Cathedral, the Smithsonian Institution, and Kings Dominion Amusement Park.

I have enjoyed the challenge of being thrown into the culmination of a program season, the choir school's 25th annual season to be exact. It has kept me busy practicing and I look forward to being able to take a deep breath after tour is over. But not for too long... Summer is just beginning. There is still choir camp, two choir retreats, a handful of new piano students, and classes for newly accepted students to teach. But of course the ebb and flow of the liturgical seasons and weekly worship has a way of keeping me grounded. Here is a picture from last Sunday, June 10th, with choristers from The Choir School leading worship on Youth Sunday at St. Peter's.