Cherished Memories: a Scrapbook from the City Choir of Washington's 2018 England Tour

Mission: Surprise Rachel
- Rachel Tester
Rachel: Without fail, my mom and dad have been entirely supportive of my musical
pursuits. Most kids growing up were on multiple sports teams, but my “sports” were piano,
violin, voice, and dance lessons, and school musicals. I can always count on seeing their faces in
the audience for my performances, even today, for City Choir concerts. In 2018, my family
took their support to the next level. I’ll let my mom, Kathleen, tell the story…
Kathleen:
When we found out about the City Choir of Washington’s tour in the UK July of
2018 and that our oldest daughter was singing the Pie Jesu solo in the Fauré Requiem, the
little wheels in my head started spinning. We had been trying to plan a family vacation and
thought this might be a good opportunity.This would be a much larger trip than we had been
contemplating, but we wanted to be there to support Rachel and the choir.
There was a farewell concert in McLean and everyone, except Rachel’s brother Aaron, who lives in New
Hampshire, attended that concert. My sister Julie and her husband and youngest son also attended the
concert. They live in Ohio and this was the first performance that they ever attended. So that was surprise
number 1.
[RT – I was so confused as to how someone who looked so much like my cousin Justin could be in the audience.]
Ultimately, the only family that could come to the UK were myself, Rachel’s dad, and Aaron and his
girlfriend. Aaron reached out to [TCCW Assistant Conductor] Rachel Binger to get specific details about the
choir’s plans so that none of us ended up on the same plane or some other strange happenstance that
would ruin the surprise. Our plan was to meet up in London and then surprise Rachel at the end of their first
concert in Gloucester.
The day of the concert we arrived in Gloucester early, found the Cathedral and were looking around. I
noticed a group of people coming toward the Cathedral carrying their clothes and we all scuttled out of the
courtyard hoping that Rachel’s Dad radar wasn’t working. (My husband has a very distinct appearance with
a head full of white hair and a full beard. She always spots him in the audience at her performances.)
[RT – not this time!!!]