Posts Tagged With: Desert Chorale of Santa Fe

Santa Fe Friday Dec. 20th

Model train display downtown Santa Fe.

Chris and I spent several hours in downtown Santa Fe. This is one city that while I have been here frequently now and know numerous road options for getting around, I am still easily able to get lost in the downtown area.

Christmas tree at La Fonda hotel

We had read about ice carvings that occurred each Christmas. The weather was to reach a high of 41 degrees so we were unsure if the ice carvings/sculptures were going to happen. There was no sign of them at the Plaza at the center of town. Two or three people we asked did not know.

Downtown Santa Fe

We checked at the La Fonda hotel where the concierge told us the ice sculptures were no longer occurring. They stopped in the mid-2000s due to the economy and never resumed. The city was evidently unwilling to pick up the $10,000 cost of the ice. The La Fonda was willing to donate the labor of its chefs to do the carving but no go. The concierge also indicated there had been problems with vandalism.

Downtown Santa Fe

We wandered the downtown, even spending some money on a few trinkets. Lunch was at “The Shed”, a long time Santa Fe restaurant just off the plaza.

Our evening concert was a program put on by the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. 24 singers, evenly split between men and women. The doubling of the number of singers and the addition of the deeper male voices made for a more impressive sound than that of the Santa Fe Women’s Ensemble that we heard last night.

Desert Chorale was at Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis

The Desert Chorale is an auditioned group of singers, mainly professional, from around the country. They put on four different shows on 13 December dates in the area. Tonight’s performance was primarily carols and lullabies from Europe and from the U.S.

Jude’s house

Ed and Chris Dec. 20th 11 pm