CONCERT IN OBERWINTERTHUR
The last choir performance for this program. Read all posts about choir here.
Last Saturday (March 21) was Queer Chor Schweiz's final concert for this set program, "Billion Trillion Stars." The concert took place at 19:30 inside Eulachpark Halle 710, a former warehouse-turned local event space.
Oberwinterthur (pop. 26,058) is a district within the city of Winterthur.
I took the 11:09 train from Lucerne and switched in Zürich to take the regional train. At Zürich HB, I ran into another choir colleague, so we took the train together from there. When we alighted, we ran into more choir folk.
I've learned a lot from the previous weekend, especially when it came to meals. Some of us stopped by the minimart near the station to stock up on food. At HB, I had picked up vegan bacon and leek pastry, which I assumed to be my late lunch/snack, so I bought a packet of two small BLT sandwiches and a box of Kägi Fret (chocolate covered wafers are becoming my go-to choir snack).
We walked together as a larger group towards Eulachpark, a large park with green fields and families scattered across the grass. It was a sunny a day, probably the warmest it had been all week. The smell of barbecue filled the air, as locals took advantage of this glimmer of spring.
The venue
As mentioned, Halle 710 used to be a warehouse. We were performing upstairs, at the end of the long platform. The ceilings are high and made of wood; the rest of the building is solid brick. We had been advised to bring warm clothes, as many of us had to borrow scarves and hats previously in Bern because the venue there was so cold. This time, I brought a scarf and a beanie, confident that I was prepared.
This is the platform, which is one floor above the ground floor.
This gigantic window provides a lot of light during the day. The door towards the bottom right was used as the main entrance.
We spent the first hour setting up chairs, and then the second practicing the beginnings of a few songs and figuring out how to enter/exit. Since we were performing upstairs, we had to enter from a long flight of stairs outside. I didn't feel comfortable dashing out for our fake exit, so I made a mental note to just hover by the doorway.*
*I walk down stairs very slowly, because I've had two minor yet traumatizing memories of tumbling down the stairs at my grandmother's place.
A warmer space
After rehearsing in the concert venue, we moved to a warmer location. They said it was a 10 minute walk, but it felt like 20 minutes, complete with an uphill climb. We were allowed to leave our belongings behind, but I learned my lesson from before and brought all of my things with me to the second location.
This space seemed to be some sort of recreational center for the nearby church. It was indeed warmer, and we practiced a few more pieces inside one of the rooms. At 16:00, we were free to do whatever we wanted, and would meet again at 18:00 to migrate back to Halle 710.
Some people went out to get food. It was a bit early for dinner, but knowing I'd be nervous and stressed out later (and because I had nothing else to do), I ate my sandwiches, as many others were doing the same.
I sat at a large table with about 6 others. The language switched to High German, so I remained fairly quiet. Even though I'm getting better at speaking, I retreat inside my shell when things are unfamiliar, and I have this bad habit of tuning out foreign languages. It becomes background noise to me.
At one point, K joined us and spoke in English. I became a more active participant, still mostly listening, and only dropped a word or sentence that would make people laugh or chuckle. One of my friends is like that. He's really quiet and mostly just listens, but when he does choose to say something, it's always a zinger. Around him, I'm the loud one, and I realize I become him when I'm feeling shy.
There are some funny people in choir, and sometimes they'll do a silly antic and I'll just laugh. If I were more comfortable, I would join in, but I'm not there with them yet. So the most I can do is show that their antics are appreciated. They usually giggle in response and grin sheepishly. I love being around funny people who don't try to be funny, you know?
People started to get ready around 17:00. Since I wasn't staying overnight, I put on my makeup before I left my home, so all I had to do was get dressed. This time, I did a complete outfit change. In the past, I thought it would be more convenient to at least wear parts of my outfit, but after two days, it felt boring and kind of gross.
About an hour later, K shouted,
"Everyone! Get ready to move at 18:00!"
I immediately got up and grabbed my things and walked towards the entrance. K nodded at me. "Very good, Peige," she said.
A few people had gathered outside already. Our conductor sauntered over to me, cigarette in hand. "Are you wearing colored lenses?" he asked.
"Actually, it's a blue light filter," I chirped.
"Oh wow," he replied, "So it's not even cosmetic! Very cool."
I looked inside the building and saw K running around. She met my gaze and gave me a flustered shrug, as if to say that it'll be a minute before we head out.
So I took some pictures of the area.
The church across from the rec center. When you search the city on Google Maps, this church is used as the main image.
This lone daffodil reminded me of a sunny-side-up egg!
We left as a group, but people started pairing off, going at their individual paces. I was walking with two others. One person raised a bag and announced that these were the lost items from the last performance. I saw a few black folders in there, and suddenly realized that I didn't remember putting my folder containing my sheet music in my backpack.
I didn't feel like panicking.
In these situations, rather than realize the worse and then lament over my mistake, I'd rather spare myself those feelings and just find out when we arrived.
There were some people who came by car, and I figured, at worst, I could ask someone for a ride back to the rec center to grab my folder. But, I also trusted that someone may have seen it and just brought it with them.
Sure enough, when we finally arrived at the venue, D jumped out of the car and said, "Peige, you left your folder with all your sheet music at the table."
"Oh, I was wondering if I had brought it with me!" I said.
She burst out laughing. I thanked her and went on my merry way.
A cold performance with a very warm reception
By now, the sun had set and the warehouse was freezing. I had my fleece jacket on and was still shivering. There were some heat lamps near our "stage," but it wasn't enough.
We were told to meet downstairs where there would be "lockers" to keep our things. When I saw where, I had to laugh.
Daniel and I have been watching Markiplier's play-through of Resident Evil: Requiem and we had just watched the episode where he was exploring the ruins of Raccoon City. There, Leon was unlocking containers and discovering items (or zombies), and the containers looked exactly like the one pictured. I thought it was hilarious, so I sent the photo to Daniel, but he didn't pick up on the reference at all!
The container was quite large, equipped with lighting, and had ample shelving.
I took this photo from the stairs near the container. The end is where the performance area is. Just to show the size of this place!
We had our final pep talk and then reluctantly stowed away our jackets. Some people were wearing sleeveless outfits, and we now had to walk outside into the cold and wait upstairs to be let back in!
It was so cold I could see my breath fog as I sang.
On top of that, we weren't prepared for the glaring lights shining directly at us. I was a bit disoriented during the first song because I couldn't see the conductor's face. It wasn't until the second song that I realized I should just focus on his hands instead.
Despite these environmental obstacles, we did our best and the audience gave us two encores again! Everyone was in good spirits, and those of us who didn't have friends or family in the audience huddled around the heat lamps for warmth, like moths to a flame.
There was an aperó afterwards of cut veggies, chips, three kinds of hummus, and prosecco (both with and without alcohol). I spent the first 10 minutes just standing by the table munching nonstop on raw vegetables. Not my preferred meal, but I was so hungry. And since I hadn't gone to the bathroom since 17:00 (there was only one public toilet and I didn't feel like risking it in the cold and dark to find it), I thought it best not to drink anything, let alone fizzy drinks (they are my nemesis), and I stayed clear of the potentially risky hummus† with delicious-smelling garlic.
† Some of my IBS trigger foods are chickpeas and garlic. If I were at home or near a clean toilet, I would've taken the risk. But I've learned my lesson over the years.
After eating my fill of vegetables and chips (I learned that I really like raw kohlrabi), I overcame my shyness to talk to P, the sound designer for our show. I wasn't sure if I'd see her again, and she just seemed so cool so I wanted to let her know that I enjoyed the work she did for us! We chatted briefly and she was very sweet. She hopes she'll be invited back to perform with us again, so I'll make sure to let the Board‡ know this.
‡Queer Chor Schweiz is an official association with our very own board/committee taking care of all the important things.
Back home to Lucerne
I rode the train all the way back with H, who I found out is moving to Germany in 3 weeks. :( She has such a chill vibe and positive energy, and I feel like we could be friends. So she won't be part of the next program, but she hopes to perform with us during Basel Pride since she'll have some jobs in Lucerne during the summer. When we stopped in Zürich, her friend M joined us. He's an actor who's in a play she directed. He's really cool too! I really want to see the play he's in.
We talked about a lot of things, including a dating app called Blindmate where your friends swipe FOR YOU and even create your profile. I hated dating apps back when I was on them and frankly would be glad never to use one again, except for this! This sounds fun! I would love to matchmake for my friends.
Our next choir meetup is in April for our wrap party! Hopefully we'll have our professional video and photos by then, so I can do a proper write-up of the entire project. It's safe to say that I feel fully in the choir now, even though there are moments when I still feel like an outsider at times.¶
¶ Until I have a full grasp of the German language, I think I will always feel like an outsider. That just comes with the territory.
But even then, the vibe of this choir is different than other Swiss groups I've been in, so I'm feeling hopeful. It also feels really grounding to be part of a local queer community. I don't have a lot of close friends who are queer, so I think it's important that I can connect with my fellow gays and theys, and maybe even make some solid friendships along the way. 🌈