Venue Visitation: Lunch & Listen Series

To Barceloa

Looks like another beautiful day in sunny Spain! We finished our tour of Valencia by singing Thursday night mass at the Basilica. It was standing room only - kind of a surprise - and we followed that by singing a ¨flash mob¨rendition of Freedom is Coming on the square outside the church. It attracted quite a crowd, including passersby and residents coming out on their balcony to observe. Friday morning the bus took us to Barcelona for the day, and then to La Lloret, a seaside resort community, to spend the night. Today it is back to Barcelona to sing an afternoon concert in an outdoor marketplace and an evening concert in a music hall.

Monday in Spain

Monday morning dawned crisp and sunny. The 20 musicians and our approximately 16 family members/groupies boarded the tour bus for Toledo, a historic hilltop city surrounded on three sides by a river. It was started by the Romans and traded hands through the years, inhabited by Visigoths, Muslims, Jews and Christians. The architecture reflects the combined traditions of these various groups. Interestingly, our guide pointed out that Arab motifs such as distinctive archways reflect artistic choices rather than serving as religious symbols, thus there are Christian edifices built in Arab styles. We all split up to enjoy shopping and dining, wandering the steep, narrow streets in the afternoon sun. Some visited the cathedral, a mix of Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical styles, containing masterpieces by El Greco, de Goya, Titian, Rubens, Velasquez, Caravaggio and Bellini. Then we met at the Plaza Zocodover to board the bus and return to Madrid. In the evening more than 20 of us met for tapas at a lovely outdoor restaurant called Turf on Calle Santa Ana and celebrated Jennifer's birthday. A smaller group met up for a late-night outing to watch a performance of flamenco. Ole!

Espana!

The Visitation Choir left Kansas City at 12:45 pm. Saturday, Oct. 8. After a bit of a bumpy flight (you know you are in trouble when the pilot announces, "Please fasten your seat belts. This is serious!") we landed safely in Madrid at about 10 am Sunday morning. We cheerfully boarded our deluxe tourist bus to see the sights! After a brief stop to freshen up at our hotel, we proceded to Santa Maria la Real de la Almudena, the Madrid cathedral, to sinng 7 pm Mass, including Laudate Dominum, O Sacrum Convivium, Psalm 150 and a Kyrie Eleison. If anyone had peered into the choir loft during the service, they would have seen 20 black-clad musicians fighting drowsiness to keep their eyes open and bodies upright. But the generous acoustics carried our singing forth, and the congregation applauded our efforts at the end. As Beatrice says, truly God was praised. Afterwards we proceeded to a side chapel to receive the Communion. Despite the dark of night, the walls of the small cave-like chapel glittered with detailed mosaics. Beautiful!

On the ground in ATL.

¡VisEspaña! ¡Vamanos!

Many familiar faces currently arriving at KCI Terminal B...

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Additional Great Vocal Advice from Victoria!

Excellent advice! May I add a few words from a regular singing traveler? Drink a lot before the flight and on the plane. Water that is ; ) and moisturize your nose and eyes with saline drops. Recirculated air on airplanes is extremely drying and can be a cause of infection (dry cracked membranes in your nose and throat allow for germy invaders that run rampant on flights). Once you land drink as much as you can, if you can get down a half gallon of water, fantastic. Your chords, along with the rest of your body, swell during the flight and you need to give them time to restore and rehydrate. Once in the hotel take a shower, the steam helps too, and your fellow travelers will thank you : )

-Victoria

Good Vocal Habits

The following is copied from info shared by Keith Gard; Source info pending/forthcoming.

Some interesting facts about what hurts your singing voice:
Our vocal cords are very fragile, and they need to be moist in order to avoid the vocal damage that may occur with frequent singing, since the vocal cords vibrate at a very fast rate, and dryness may cause irritation to the cords!

Alcohol also causes constriction in the blood vessels in vocal tissue, causing a reduction in vocal control. Drinking water with lemon mixed into it will also cause dryness in our throats and should also be avoided before a performance or singing practice.

We should also try to avoid overly salty foods, because these 'bad singing foods' draw water out from our body and cause dryness. Heavily peppered or spicy foods should also be avoided because these cause irritation to our throat as well as our vocal cords, and may cause us to clear our throats more often, creating more discomfort in our voice!
Acid reflux (when our stomach acids flow back up towards our throat) is also a cause of throat and voice irritation, and it may be caused by taking too much spicy food, as well as eating a lot of food very late at night just before sleep.
When the food is being digested at night and we are lying down on our bed, this increases the possibility of acid reflux, and in serious cases, it could cause damage to our vocal cords directly! Acidic fruit juices also increase the chances of acid reflux and should be avoided too, especially late at night before sleep.
Many singers usually would also avoid dairy products before a performance, for example cheese, yogurt, milk, ice cream and so on, or even common fruits like bananas. These 'bad singing foods' create excessive mucus production and may cause singers to have too much phlegm or mucus when they are singing.
Generally, we should also try to avoid taking too many cold drinks, for health reasons as well as for overall voice care too. Cold drinks cause our throats and our voices to contract and stiffen, and this is not good for singing because we need our vocal cords and throats to be warmed up and flexible in order to be able to hit the various pitches that we sing!
Other bad singing foods include nuts and snack foods. If taken just before a performance, these foods may leave bits and pieces of remnants in the voice or throat, and these bits of nuts or snack foods may cause excessive irritation to our vocal cords when singing! It will also cause us to clear our throats more often, which is another cause of vocal abuse or damage!
For general health of the body, we should avoid fast foods and overly fatty foods. These may cause us to become overweight, putting more strain on our bodies and on our voice. These foods are also high in salt content and cause dryness in our body and throat.
Avoiding these bad singing foods will certainly help us to take better care of our voice, and reduce the chances of damage to our singing voices, thus increasing our vocal health! Of course, we would still need to practise great breathing support when singing, as well as do proper vocal warmups each time before we sing, so that our voices are well supported and warmed up before each vocal performance or practice! This will go a long way towards preserving our wonderful singing voices!

One of the major "Good Singing Foods" is actually a liquid, and it is WATER. It is extremely important for us to drink lots of plain water, in order to keep our bodies well-hydrated and to also cleanse our bodies of the toxins that may build up in our tissues and cells. This will also keep disease and infections at bay, and help us maintain a great level of personal health.
Apart from hydrating the body, water also keeps our vocal cords moist, and this is very important for a healthy voice. This is because when we are singing, our vocal cords are vibrating at an extremely fast speed. If our vocal cords are dry, they will be more prone to irritation when vibrating, and this may cause some pain and discomfort when we sing.
One useful voice care tip is for us to have a glass of lukewarm water beside us whenever we are singing or performing, or just to drink some warm water before we sing! This helps to soothe our vocal cords and our throat, and also moistens the tissues and muscles involved, reducing the risk of vocal damage.
This is what i always do whenever i have to perform, or whenever i have to take several singing classes consecutively. (In fact, I drink a lot when i'm performing!)
Water is so very very important to us singers!
Other than taking in lots of water, we should also consume a balanced diet for our meals, and take lots of whole grains, fruits as well as vegetables.
These foods contain high levels of Vitamins A, C and E - Vitamin A helps cells regenerate normally, Vitamin C helps prevent the common cold and sore throat as well as improve immune functions of the body, and Vitamin E is a powerful anti-oxidant that protects cell membranes and also improves immune functions of the body.
These foods also help to keep the mucus membranes in our throats healthy, so that we avoid irritation in our throats when we sing.


Another one of my favourite 'good singing foods' is Honey! My personal favourite is actually Manuka Honey, which has anti-microbial properties, meaning that bacteria will find it hard to survive and reproduce in honey. This also means that when we have a sore throat or just feel some discomfort in our voice, we can just take one spoonful of pure Manuka Honey, and let it drizzle down our throats. This will help to keep the bacteria away, and will also help our sore throats to heal faster! Manuka Honey has yet another wonderful healing property, which is that it is antiseptic and anti-inflammatory! This means that it will help to prevent any infection from spreading, and will thus speed up the recovery of our sore throat! Many singers swear by honey being a wonderful remedy of sore throat as well as a great singing food for protecting our fragile vocals!

One great singing food that may be specific to Asian countries is a cough syrup called 'Chuanbei Pipa Gao', which translates to Fritillaria and Loquat Syrup. The loquat leaf is often used to reduce "lung heat" syndromes, or other infections for example sore throats. Fritillaria is a potent cough suppressant and can also be used to treat swollen glands and nodular swellings. When used in combination in 'Chuanbei Pipa Gao', it is very effective in alleviating cough symptoms and curing sore throats!

These are just some of the good singing foods that we can take to preserve our voices as well as to prevent unnecessary vocal damage when we sing or when we are sick or have sore throats. Of course, we have to constantly practise great breathing habits as well as great vocal warmup exercises before we sing, so that our voices will be flexible, healthy and strong!