After an exuberant time in Barcelona, we met at the Palau de Musica a final time to get on the bus to Lyon. Over the course of the journey, the choristers had the opportunity to capture their impressions of tour so far, in whichever art form they desired. An esteemed judging panel at the front of the bus received musical compositions (both original and arrangements), sketches, poems, videos and photos. In the end, Abel’s original interpretation of the Barcelona streetscape (below) most impressed  the panel.

We arrived in Lyon at the statue of Saint-Exupery and his little Prince to meet our host choir, La Cigale de Lyon and their vivacious director, Anne-Marie Cabut. As the choristers met their billet families, they engaged in enthusiastic practising of various levels of French. After a much-needed night’s sleep, we reconvened in Place Belle Cour the next morning, to meet Roland and Caroline, two parents of La Cigale members who had volunteered their time to show us around town for the day. Before heading off to see the sights, we began the day with a rehearsal in order to revitalise our interpretations – checking details that may have been forgotten, realigning our singing and performing general choral diagnostics necessary to ensure that each of our performances is better than the last.

Led by our local choral enthusiasts, we then headed off for lunch atop Lyon’s main hill via the funicular railway. The park surrounding the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin afforded beautiful views of the city’s two rivers and the point where they converge. We toured the monumental basilica itself, starting in the crypt with some acoustic testing (David Hamilton’s O vos omnes providing a good litmus test) and then going up into the richly ornamented nave, where immense mosaics and intricate stonework came together in a massive case of sensory overload. As we wandered down the hill back into town, we stumbled across a Roman amphitheatre, now serving as a concert venue.

We arrived at our own concert venue in Lyon the next day – an incredibly reverberant Eglise Saint Michel – which we would have the pleasure of sharing with La Cigale de Lyon. After three very contrasting pieces from La Cigale, we stepped to deliver our most involved performance so far on the tour. The second half of the concert featured our ‘Heritage in Song’ segment – a set of pieces composed by Stephen Leek based on the stories of current members of the choir. First performed in Sydney last year at the City Recital Hall, ‘Heritage in Song’ concludes with the choir dispersing throughout the audience for each chorister to share their own story both in song and with the help of individually-constructed and illuminated dioramas. Our Lyon audience were captivated by the emotional intensity of this part of our performance and saluted us with a standing ovation. The choristers constructed a wall of the dioramas in the central section of the church which received its very own round of applause.

A beautiful city, generous hosts and a great performance all combined to ensure our time in Lyon will be remembered for many years.