Day 9:: Tour 2025

Mocksville is a warm and friendly town. On Wednesday morning, it welcomed the ensemble into its coffeeshop—sending us out into the wide world, caffeinated and comforted.

Lavelle at the helm, we climbed into the mountains of Virginia. Beauty everywhere.

But choirs need rest stops. (We are discovering that thirty people can traverse a bathroom break in less than ten minutes.) For our final travel stop, we visited a Buc-ee’s—that sprawling monument to American consumerism. Hordes of hungry humans hovering and hoovering. The cookie dough was delicious though.

Our hosts at Park View Mennonite were very welcoming and the chicken was exceptionally juicy. Harrisonburg hospitality is excellent.

The sanctuary at Park View is reverberant and embraces the singer. During both rehearsal and concert, we delighted in exploring the ring of its splendid acoustic.

The concert was populated with many friends and family members. A special member of the audience was spotted—our former music director, Ken. It is always a gift to re-connect with former members of the ensemble when they attend a concert. After all, choirs are relationships.

Together, with friends new and old, we shared an evening of (mostly) beautiful music (the tenors definitely don’t know whose hand was in the sour-note cookie jar).

We are grateful to our audiences. The communal worship experience is completed by your presence. Together we remind each other of the Kingdom of God. We comfort each other and together look up—faces raised toward the radical hope that all shall be well.

• Karl Zimmerman