The Arrowhead Chorale is in the process of working on its repertoire for the March 3-4 concerts “From the Sea”.  As we are working on these concerts, we are also talking to various groups in the area that actually work on our Great Lakes.  The Coast Guard has been very helpful in communicating with us, and last week board members were invited to join them for their last ice-breaking cruise for the season on the Duluth Harbor.  Needless to say, we were very excited! 5 of us ended up joining them at 6:45 AM January 18th.

The USCG Alder on the Duluth Harbor

The Alder is a beautiful, sturdy ship of 125 feet.  We were very impressed with the careful, thorough, precise work of the 50 person crew.  Commander Ellen Durley answered dozens of questions with grace, and her crew showed us what they were doing, pointed out interesting activity of ice (who knew that physics was so essential to all this?), how the instruments worked,  and various activities on deck  (we mostly stayed warm on the bridge).  We watched the Edwin H. Gott come under the lift bridge, as the last incoming vessel for the shipping season.  We had already made several passes through the harbor, and made it possible for the Gott to come to the dock near the windmill area.  The Gott will now winter in Duluth.

We will be singing the Coast Guard anthem, Semper Paratus, and an arrangement of “Home From the Sea” that is a special favorite of the Coast Guard personnel.  There will be other wonderful repertoire with a focus on water, the ocean, the Great Lakes, and all those who live and work on them.  Included will be our own especially commissioned piece by Janika Vandervelde called “Ships of the Great Lakes”, which uses names of various lakers, salties, and other Great Lakes vessels in the lyrics.

So you will want to join us!  Stay tuned for more information about this special concert!

A few more photos…

Ice at the mouth of the St Louis River, about 10 inches thick

The Edwin H. Gott arriving early morning, January 18, 2012, in the Duluth Harbor

Commander Durley from the Bridge of the Alder

Archive photo of the Alder with the James Barker

It is always a charming and quirky time when the Arrowhead Chorale starts rehearsals each season. Usually the leaves are crisp and orange, the smell of smoke and apples and fall is in the air, and we are singing Christmas music!

But things are changing now. We have had some snow, some bitter winds, and those grey skies of Minnesota that tell us that Christmas really is upon us. And so singing about the waiting and the hoping that are as much a part of the holiday preparations as the joy and the wonder seems just about right.

We have wonderful music to share with you this December. We also have a delightful story to tell! “A Victorian Holiday Dinner” is a theatrical charmer. The young Hartfields will be entertaining in their new mansion in Duluth, on Christmas Eve of 1897. They have invited Theodore Hartfield’s important business colleagues, as well as close friends and family. But Elizabeth Hartfield is known for having catastrophes at her parties, and this is no exception. Everything that can go wrong does. The saving grace for the party is the scheming of their butler, Merriman (although he does moan about his former employer, Lord March, a great deal) and their housekeeper, Mrs. Anderson. Between them, a lovely and musical time is had by all, and the dinner does, in fact, get served! Fully staged, with all the detail and grace of the Victorian era, this special music and theater in the Depot Great Hall is a must for this holiday season.

So get dressed up—put on that suit or tux, that long skirt, maybe even a little sparkle. Join us for a four course evening of good food, beautiful music, and a party that you will be happy you have attended!