"Oh it’s going to be amazing. What a setting! And would you have ever imagined, when we sang that [Mozart's Requiem] in the 80s, that you’d someday be in PARIS with your husband listening to a choir sing it?"

That is the text message I got from one of my best friends who I met in college and who was not only at John and my wedding, but met us in Paris this summer. College, without Sue would have been lonely and given me a much different path in life. When I joined the Chorale, I was hoping for camaraderie and I got it tenfold. We sang Mozart's Requiem for my very first concert with the group and the composition blew me away. I could never have imagined being part of a chorus that sound like that. Led by our eclectic conductor, Dr. Alexander Peloquin who was an American composer of liturgical music, pianist, teacher, cathedral organist and director of music ministries. Inspired by the Second Vatican Council reforms, he was known for composing the first Roman Catholic Mass sung in English. He led our chorale with the force of a Holy Army and we sang with such passion and force that it shook the rafters of the church. It was a magical experience that I remember to this very day. So when I discovered that the masterpiece was being performed in Paris when we arrived, I was beyond excited.

Before the show, John and I were thrilled that my friend from LA, Michael was also in Paris! How very lucky are we that we were able to meet Sue and her husband on our honeymoon in June and now we get to meet up with Michael on our second Parisian adventure. The amount of emotion that was running through me last night was so overwhelming and I tried to keep it from bubbling over, even after we all shared the most amazing bottle of red wine before the concert. The wine went down as smoothly as the conversation between the three of us. John had met Michael on his first visit to Los Angeles back in 2022. We talked about so many things and I sat there in wonder and drinking a second - or was it third glass of wine - as my husband and my friend chatted away. What a journey I have had in my life, what an absolute thrill to be back in Paris and experience this night.

We bundled up from the cold and started off to Eglise San Sulpice.  I could hear the choir warming up from the street and the memories of my time in the Boston College Chorale came flooding back. The church,  John googled, is as tall as Nortre Dame, though not as old but equally stunning. The acoustics would be amazing - or so I thought. Although I enjoyed the show and it started well - it unfortunately lacked the passion that we had back then in 1984 ! Isn't that crazy? The conductor was nowhere near our insane Dr. Pelquin and parts that should have been exploding in full power were not a massive fire of sound. The featured alto, however, who was a man, was absolutely stunning. As we ran to find a bathroom after the show, I kept thinking what a sound the Boston College Chorale of 1984 could have created in such a setting.



The cold of the Paris night was getting colder and after another glass of wine as a nightcap, John and I made our way back to our hotel as we pointed Michael in the direction of the bars on a very quiet night after Christmas. As morning broke today, I made my way to our favorite corner pattisserie. A new day has begun in this stunning setting of a city. If I get overwhelmed again, maybe I should opt for a hot chocolate before we order another bottle of wine.