Day 3 in Madrid:
After
a better night’s sleep, we woke up refreshed and ready for our first
concert of the tour! I was surprised to see one of my Fine and Performing
Arts faculty members at my hotel lobby in the morning, Ismael Carrillo.
He teaches Graphic Design at Morgan. Ismael is originally from a small
town near Barcelona, Spain and arranged to return to his homeland
during our tour hoping to connect with us while in Spain. We invited
him to stay with us to possibly be of assistance in giving additional
background during our tour.
We
left our hotel at 9:30 AM for a tour of one of the most famous museums
in the world - Museo Nacional Del Prado. We pre-arranged to get the
tickets so that we did not have to stand in the long lines. We could
quickly see why El Prado is one of the most important repositories of
art in the world. We saw some the most famous works of art by Spanish
masters as El Greco, Diego Velazquez, and Francesco de Goya.
After
El Prado, we returned to the area around the hotel for lunch on our own
and prep for the evening’s concert. Prior to our concert, we managed
to fit in yet another tour, this time, the Palacio Real (Royal Palace).
This palace is equivalent to our White House. Although many of us
have seen palaces before over the years, this was by far the most
awesome in stature and beauty. This palace boast over four thousand
rooms, easily could be compared to as a small city. We only toured the
first floor which took over and hour and a half to quickly see.
We
then, hurried to the site of our first concert, Iglesias De Santa
Teresa Y Santa Isabel. This concert was partly shared with a local
choir - the Gospel choir of the University of Central Madrid. At 4:30
PM, we had a short rehearsal/exchange with this local choir. We were
received enthusiastically. We planned to perform two pieces together as
a finale for the concert. We quickly rehearsed to perform the songs at
the concert.
After
the rehearsal, we drove to a group dinner, this time a Spanish buffet.
The buffet meal not very common in Spain, so we were surprised. Many
expected Spanish food to be spicy, like Mexican, but we could not be
more wrong. Spain has some of the greatest food in the world. We had
to be careful not to over-eat prior to our first concert of the tour.
One
big thing that is different from American culture, is the timing of
certain events. Lunch typically begins around 1PM in Spain, ending
around 4PM. Dinner may not begin until after 8PM. Likewise, concert
times are often later than in the US. Our concert was 8:45 PM!
We
were a little concerned with the attendance for the concert. Our
concert was free to the public at a very big church in the center of
Madrid. Often with large cities, there is so much choice regarding
spending money on entertainment, that it can be difficult to get persons
to commit to an event in a big city.
Everyone
was very pleased with the attendance, with as over four hundred persons
came out to hear the Morgan State choir. The format, was for the local
choir to sing a few selections, and then for the Morgan choir to follow
as the principal artist with an hour concert. The concert finale was
two joint gospel songs. One could see the local choir sing our gospel
music with every fiber of their being.
Our
guide told us that he had been to this church many times of the years,
but had never seen local Spaniards react as spiritually as he saw during
our concert. To quote our guide Kike Mantecon: “ I have never seen my
people have so much joy in a concert. I have never seen them have such
a party in Christ before!” What a profound reaction to our music!
There were people laughing and crying in the audience. After the
concert, many did not want to leave the site. Once again, Morgan made
our mark on a culture, in a lasting way. After the concert, both choirs
shared beautiful moments together, praying that we would return to
Madrid once again.
Our
concert tour has officially begun. Tomorrow, we travel to the historic
city of Toledo for another concert in Teatro de Rojas!
EC
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