Concert in the Clouds (Day 9)

Tuesday, May 31, day nine of our tour, was our first full day in Quito, the capital city of over three million residents. We slept well in our Quito hotel, which were the smallest on the tour. Even in the most cosmopolitan city of Ecuador, guests were still admonished to not throw toilet paper in the toilets. This was because the diameters of the pipes in Ecuador and Peru are much smaller and cannot handle much paper in the lines.

We left at 9 a.m. for a tour of historic Quito, the oldest section of the city. Quito was originally believed to be inhabited between 4400 and 1600 BC, many millennia before the 15th century Incan Empire. Because the city is so very old, many of the roads, particularly in the historic section, are no wider than one lane, which makes for interesting transport. 

Our first site was to tour the Basilica of the National Vow, the largest church of Neo-gothic construction in the Americas. We walked several hundred steps to the top of this Basilica, to see beautiful views. Because of the steep hills, much of the city feels like our San Francisco. 

We then toured the monastery of San Francisco. Built in 1535, the church is situated on a grand complex that took more than two-hundred years to complete with the sanctuary taking 85 years to build alone!  The monastery had a very beautiful courtyard, replete with fruit trees and birds. We made our way to the choir loft to perform one short song in a beautifully acoustic environment.  

After the monastery, we saw a landmark figure on the Quito mountainside, the Virgin Mary on Panecillo Hill. We braved walking more steps to reach the top of the statue giving way to more beautiful views of Quito. This Virgin Mary is quite unique in that this Virgin Mary has wings! This statue is a large replica of the original artwork in the San Franciscan monastery.  

After lunch, we visited the site of our evening concert, Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesus, (the church of the Company of Jesus), a Jesuit church built in 1604. This church is considered the most beautiful church in all of South America, with every inch of the sanctuary covered in 23 carat gold! 

Fortunately, we had no precipitation on this tour. However, just prior to our concert, there was an intense shower, with lightning and hail. An occurrence one would anticipate having a negative impact on attendance for the evening’s concert. Despite the shower ending just prior to our concert, there were still more than 250 in attendance! Once again, a local choir sang prior to our presentation. One of the high points of our concert was the joint impromptu performance of our encore, “A Mi Lindo Ecuador.”

Once again, the high altitude proved no match for the Morgan State University Choir as we performed at an altitude over nine thousand feet above sea level. The real-life experiment with the choir singing in high altitudes was complete. The MSU Choir was able to masterfully sing four full concerts many thousands of feet above sea level with great success.  Box checked, mission complete: no more concerts in the clouds!

Days 1 and 2 / Destination: Sold out Performance in Lima, Peru

Days 3 and 4 / High Altitudes

Day 5 / Guinea Pigs, Alpacas, and a Sold-Out Concert!

Days 6 and 7 / Ecuador, Mi Ecuador

Day 8 / The Land of Volcanoes