(Click here to read about the earlier part of the tour!)

(Click here to see more photos from the tour)

Monday 29 October

A busy day’s work began with everyone singing at assembly at St Peter’s school, which is associated with (and sited next to) the church. This involved a 10 minute demonstration of a rehearsal (with Neil Taylor interacting with the pupils) before being joined by the boys of St Peter’s choir to perform Brewer’s Magnificat in D.

After a short rehearsal in the church, the girls had several hours off to explore Philadelphia, while the boys and men went out to give a lunchtime concert at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian church, on the outskirts of Philadelphia. The audience consisted mainly of groups of pupils from 5 local schools, and we visited two of these schools after the concert to be given lunch.

After some more rehearsal and dinner with hosts, we returned to St Peter’s church to give the main concert of the day. Not put off by the TV cameras (we later appeared on three different channels), the boys, girls and men gave another good performance, although the highlight of the concert for many was the superb rendition of Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes For Ever”, played as an organ duet by Neil Taylor and Peter Heginbotham. We were delighted to receive a big standing ovation at the end of the concert, which then finished with us joining up with the whole of St Peter’s church choir for an encore of Brewer’s Magnificat in D.

Tuesday 30 October

A free day! After stopping briefly at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to imitate Rocky’s training by running up and down the steps, we spent the morning shopping at the giant King of Prussia mall – a giant complex that makes even Meadowhall look small.

The afternoon was spent exploring the sights of Philadelphia, including the famous Liberty Bell, before returning to our hosts to be entertained for the evening.

Wednesday 31 October

A long drive to Boston was broken by a coach tour of New York City, thanks to our driver Lee Allender, who was fantastic throughout the tour. We stopped at the Cathedral of St John the Divine, although unfortunately we were not allowed to sing there. The Cathedral – not yet complete – will be the largest Cathedral in the world apart from St Peter’s, Rome, when it is finished, and we were mightily impressed by its size, if not by its staff…

We finally arrived in Belmont (a suburb of Boston) at around 6.00 pm, where we were greeted by the Director of Music of Plymouth church, Helen Taylor, who proved to be a superb tour guide over the next three days! We were treated to a Halloween party on arrival, enjoyed by all. After a brief rehearsal, we were introduced to our new hosts (one of whom was dressed as a cow!), and were taken home to collapse into bed.

Thursday 1 November

The morning consisted of some exploration of Boston, followed by (for the girls and men) a rehearsal for the lunchtime concert at the Federal Reserve Bank. The concert again went well, despite some very dry acoustics! The Bank then treated us to a lunch of pizza, which was most welcome.

In the afternoon, we visited the New England Aquarium, which featured several creatures not included in the Baltimore one, including penguins and (unbearably cute!) otters. We saw a demonstration of skills by a sea lion, which involved two volunteers…. both of whom happened to be Sheffield choristers (Annie Talbot and Colin Melia). This included both being kissed by the sea lion! I am pleased to report that all members of the party managed to refrain from singing Walton’s “Set me as a seal upon thine heart”….

Friday 2 November

On the way into Boston, we stopped for a tour of Harvard University, which is situated in the neighbouring town of Cambridge. In common with various sights seen throughout the tour, it was surprising how familiar it seemed (due mainly to television), even to those of us who had not been before. We then went for a rehearsal at Trinity Church, Copley Square, where we gave the lunchtime concert in front of a good audience.

We were taken for lunch at the nearby Hard Rock Café, where Daniel Keating-Roberts’ 20^th birthday was announced to the whole restaurant! We then went up to the viewing deck on the 50^th floor of the massive Prudential Tower, where we had a superb view of Boston and the surrounding area.

After tea with hosts, we returned to Plymouth church to give our final concert of the tour. A special mention here goes to Peter Heginbotham, who coped admirably with an organ which was certainly not designed for accompanying some of the pieces we were performing! Once more, the concert was very well received, and the singing part of the tour was brought to an end.

Saturday 3/Sunday 4 November

After bidding farewell to our hosts, we ventured once again into the centre of Boston, where we went on a “Duck Tour” – a 90 minute tour of Boston, by road and river, in the same vehicle! Quite apart from seeing the sights of the city, we were all highly entertained by the wonderfully comic tour guides. We went for lunch in the eclectic Quincy Market, before making the short coach journey to Boston’s Logan airport, during which official “thank-you”s were said and gifts given.

A four-hour check in period, and a six hour flight later, we suddenly found ourselves back at Heathrow at 7.00 am (Sunday). After a delay of about an hour (caused, amazingly, by exactly the same hitch with the coach that we encountered at the very start of the tour!), we enjoyed a very sleepy journey back to Sheffield – and reality!