Friday, March 18, 2016

Eric Conway: Morgan State University Choir tours Los Angeles California for 2016 Spring Tour!












Dr. Eric Conway writes:

Hello Morgan Choir Community,

Yesterday, the Morgan State University Choir began their Spring tour to Los Angeles, CA.  It has been decades since the choir sang in California.  We left Murphy Fine Arts Center at 5:06 AM for BWI Airport. Surprisingly most students arrived on time at 4:30AM to load the bus.  I am told that many students did not sleep at all the night before to ensure that they would not oversleep.  

We arrived to the airport early enough to comfortably handle the longest line at the Gate C Security checkpoint that I have ever seen at BWI.  We had a smooth flight on an Alaskan airlines flight to California. All bags were quickly identified.  

We then travelled for lunch at one of the most famous chain of restaurants in Los Angeles, Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles.  Everyone agreed that the taste of the food lived up to the “hype”.  We also enjoyed the Roscoe meal more than most due to a long 6 hour flight where only a few nuts were served - hunger is a great spice!

We went directly to our hotel - Embassy Suites - where all rooms were immediately available.  Embassy Suites may seen a bit opulent for college students, but given that nowadays, everyone wants their own bed when sleeping, it is far cheaper to get a suite with 3 beds for everyone, rather than a larger number 2 bed rooms at a cheaper price - and the Embassy Suites breakfasts are legendary for a complimentary breakfast!

Our first concert was at Bryant Temple AME Church at 7PM.  Planning this tour was extremely difficult due to the fact that Morgan’s Spring break coincided with Holy Week, when most churches do not want to plan extra concerts during the busiest time of the liturgical year.  At the church, we ate a great Southwestern meal with a giant burrito filled either chicken, beef, or vegetarian with tasty salad with sour cream or guacamole. 

Although we never left United States, Los Angeles still feels as though we travelled to a foreign country with much of the area being bilingual (Spanish and English) and the food choices are somewhat different than in Baltimore.

After a strong first concert, we ran back to our hotel to get a good night’s sleep in a horizontal position!  See some snapshots of the photos from Day 1.

EC

Eric Conway, D.M.A.
Fine and Performing Arts Department, Chair
Morgan State University
1700 East Cold Spring Lane
Carl Murphy Fine Arts Center, Room 329C
Baltimore, MD 21251

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