Princeton Footnotes Winter Tour—HAWAII 🌸
From Jan. 15th-23rd, the Princeton Footnotes went on our annual winter tour to Honolulu, Hawaii!
While I have attended several Footnotes tours before—the most recent being the NJ/NY tour over fall break, where we performed at retirement homes, high schools, a church, and the memorial of a Footnotes alum—this was the first time I was more involved in the behind-the-scenes work of curating a successful tour as the newly elected Music Director.
Throughout the week, we had several gigs: some in open-roof shopping mall centers, one in a middle school, one in a retirement home, as well as a workshop for high school students. It was a special experience to see sparkly-eyed children eager to pursue a cappella, as well as senior citizens smiling at us, seeing their grandchildren in us. I love how music instantly brings strangers across oceans together.
The main takeaway was the need to be ready to adjust plans as we went along. I learned the importance of flexibility in:
adjusting the setlist of a performance if a soloist wakes up feeling under the weather;
running rehearsals by taking note of which songs and sections needed polishing throughout the week;
curating performances for different audiences—for young children, including more upbeat songs and making jokes during song introductions; and for senior citizens, speaking slowly and loudly and including more songs they may recognize; and
planning performances of different lengths. For an hour-long set, I found it successful to add a few minutes of “talking filler,” during which one group member describes the ensemble, the collegiate a cappella tradition, and background information about our tour, allowing the rest of the group time to rest and drink water.
Side note: When in Hawaii, hike, go to the beach and catch the sunset, enjoy the sunset catamaran, and try the malasadas and Happy Musubi.
