It’s always good to go home, which is what most senior members of the Laurentian Singers discovered on their current Hometown Sweep tour. The tour, which has the choral group performing in or near the hometowns of each of its seniors, began just prior to spring break and concludes tonight with a performance in Gouverneur, NY, at the local high school auditorium.
“I really look forward to singing in my hometown because I am so proud of this group and I want to show off how good we are,” said Laurentian President Beth Dixon ‘10, a Gouverneur native. “It will also be a great opportunity to show the youth in my town the different kinds of experiences you can have in college.”
Gouverner is to be the last stop in a tour that turned out to be an expansive sweep of the northeast. “We actually didn’t initially plan it like this,” said group director Barry Torres. “We were originally just going to go to New York and Boston for spring break, but then as we were mapping our route, we discovered that it passed through the hometown of nearly every senior in our group. It was too good an opportunity to pass up.” The spring tour is a tradition for the Laurentians, and in the past they have gone to many interesting locations such as Puerto Rico and New Orleans, but because of the current state of the economy that type of trip was not feasible this year. “This was the first time in years that we haven’t had to board a plane,” said Torres. “It was refreshing.”
The tour began on March 5, the first day of spring break, with a concert at the Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church, just outside Syracuse, near the Manlius, NY hometown of member John. Cambareri ‘10. The area is also home to Torres. “I went to school in Syracuse, and have been performing at that church for about 30 years. I guess you could say it was a bit of a homecoming for me as well.” From there the group went on to perform shows in New York City, Longmeadow MA, Hartford, Boston, and Albany, all areas near the hometowns of the group’s seniors. Charles Hopkins ‘10, of Longmeadow, found the whole experience very enjoyable. “It was a little like a homecoming, I guess. Plus, it was cool to share my hometown with my fellow Laurentians. It made me really see and appreciate how far I’ve come over the years.”
The tour wraps up tonight with a concert that’s proceeds will benefit the Edward I. Moses Walk-Run-Bike for Life, a charity even taking place at SLU on April 25. For Dixon, it’s much more than that, for her it is an endpoint. “I am so happy to be ending my senior year with the group in my hometown because I really feel as if I’m connecting the two halves of my life!” The show begins at 8 p.m., at the Gouvernuer High School auditorium.
