- Date published
She shares about her experience performing abroad with the MSU Chorale.
We’ve got some pretty talented people around efactory – and it starts the second you walk in the door. Emily Melton, administrative specialist II at efactory, is an alumna of the Missouri State Choral Studies program. She recently toured France with the group to perform at many awe-inspiring venues.
She shares more about her incredible experience.
How and why did you stay involved with the Chorale after graduation?
While I loved everything I studied in the music program, I really feel like the skills I gained from being in choir have been some of the most useful and applicable things I learned, and are things that I continue to use every single day.
Having the opportunity to travel with 30+ of your favorite people isn’t something everyone will get to experience in their life, so every time I get that chance, I have to take it!
I love that the Choral Studies program makes it a priority to keep alumni engaged and continues to include us in such incredible activities.
What were some of the songs you performed in France?
We performed a fairly large number of pieces during this tour, but I think for me, my favorites were Faure’s “Requiem” (particularly cool because this work was composed in France and we had the opportunity to visit one of the cathedrals that he worked in), and John Wykoff’s “Out of this Darkness: The Normandy Cantata.”
Wykoff’s work was commissioned specifically for this tour, and he actually joined us in France and was present during our rehearsals. It’s always an incredible experience to have a composer there as you bring their work to life!
What was your favorite experience of the trip?
It’s SO hard to pick just one favorite moment, but I think it’s a tie between getting engaged to my incredible fiancé on a beautiful bridge in Amboise, and then probably our last night of the tour.
We spent the day in Paris, and my group of friends took a boat tour of the city and then watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle at midnight and had champagne to celebrate being together in such an incredible place! It sounds like a movie scene, but I swear it really happened!
