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Personal Reflection/Anecdote

Five Concerts in Costa Rica

By Claire G. Smith

In southwest Washington State, just north of Portland,
Oregon, is the mid-sized city of Vancouver. In 2023, the city’s
Vancouver Master Chorale (VMC; vancouvermasterchorale.
org) auditioned with the Costa Rican International Choral
Festival for Peace (choralfestcostarica.org) and was accepted
as a participating choir. And so, in summer 2024, 40 of us
flew to Costa Rica. We performed five concerts, sharing
stages with choirs, dancers, and instrumentalists from other
nations. We walked in a Parade for Peace. An international
maestro gave two vocal music workshops. The Festival
organizers arranged trips in the capital city of San José and
to nearby towns of Pocora, Cartago, and Orosí. Pre- and
post-Festival excursions were available to the jungle area of
Tortuguero on the Caribbean coast and to the central Arenal
Volcano National Park. We delighted in scenery, wildlife,
and the food. But the trip was far more than a vacation. For
this DKG teacher, the experience afforded personal and
professional growth of the highest caliber.
What exactly did I do and learn? What lessons did
the trip provide for me to grow as an educator and DKG
member? What recommendations from my own growth
could I offer the Society as DKG seeks to provide personal Arenal Volcano looms in the early afternoon.
and professional development for its members? Photo by the author.

Our Program and Itinerary

As a participating choir, VMC prepared a short repertoire of a cappella songs in English. The six works
were intended to showcase the best music of our homeland. At least one selection had to be specifically
about peace. For this, the director chose Earth Song, words and music by contemporary American
composer Frank Ticheli. Our other works included two traditional spirituals: Down to the River to Pray,
arrangement by Philip Lawson, and the Jester Hairston arrangement of Elijah Rock. We also performed
two 19th-century traditional songs: Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit, with arrangement by William Dawson,
and Hark I Hear the Harps Eternal, arranged by one of America’s greatest female composers, Alice Parker.
Rounding out our program was the Kentucky folk song, Bright Morning Stars, arranged by Jay Althouse.
VMC also rehearsed two peace songs that were to be sung by the massed choirs at the final gala
concert. The first was a processional chant in Latin: Et in terra pax hominibus [And on earth, peace to
mankind], with words from liturgical sources and music by the contemporary Spanish composer, Javier
Busto. The final peace song was a four-part canon in Spanish: Unidos por la paz [United for peace], with
words and music by the North American composer, David Bridges. This selection was to include audience
participation.
VMC performed in five very different locales, giving us access to a wide variety of audiences with
our message of peace. The inaugural concert featured three participating choirs and was held in the
capital, San José, in a reception hall in the Legislative Building (Salón de Expresidentes de la Asamblea
Legislativa de Costa Rica). This Salón is known for its portraits of former presidents, from the time

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