Voices of Gwynedd Depart for Canadian Cruise
The Voices of Gwynedd left this morning for their four-day Carnival Cruise to Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. This tour marks the 21st for the choral group, which is comprised of students, alumni, staff and faculty from GMercyU, as well as members of the local community.
The Voices will spend Friday and Sunday at sea, and Saturday in St. John. They will perform selections from their "Voices Go to the Movies!" concert for passengers on the ship on Sunday afternoon.
Saint John is home to the Bay of Fundy and the phenomenon of the Reversing Rapids, where high tide reverses the flow of the Saint John River. The city is also home to the oldest continuing farmer's market in Canada, the Saint John City Market. It's designated as a National Historic Site.
Should the members of the Voices want to see more historic sites in the city, they can hop on the Big Pink Tour Bus, where they can hop on and off at a variety of destinations around the city and support Breast Cancer research at the same time.
Before getting on the buses before the sun came up this morning, Sr. Ellen Murray blessed the group.
"Such kind and graceful words filled with true love is how our group will be sent. As Sr. Ellen proclaimed, 'to sing is to pray twice.' As each of us is excited to travel to St. John Canada, we all are blessed to be given the opportunity," VOG member Anastasia Clare said.
Anastasia and Emily Poe will blog about the tour. Their blogs can be found on the MERV's Word blog on GMercyU's website.
To raise funds for their tour, the Voices sang "bon voyage" concerts at both Meadowood Estates in Worcester and Peter Becker Community in Harleysville. Other fundraisers throughout the year have included Yankee Candle sales, pancake breakfasts at Applebee's, and singing Valentines.
Last year, the group toured Spain for their 20th anniversary VOG tour. They generally go to Europe every other year, and stay within the United States in between. Past concert tours have included England, taly, Ireland, Walt Disney World and Alaska.
For more information, if you're interested in joining the Voices of Gwynedd, email vog@gmercyu.edu