On the blazing afternoon of Friday, September 5th, CdM Vocal Music’s Madrigal Singers boarded the bus to go on their first retreat of the year at Pilgrim Pines in the San Bernardino Mountains. When the singers first arrived they were required to give their phones to Mr. Ball, the director of the CdM Vocal Music program, and were phone-less for the entirety of the retreat. Ball explained that the retreat is important to “get away from the hustle and bustle of what [they’re] doing [at CdM]” and “rehearsal is more meaningful when [they] don’t have to rush to class afterwards or drag [their] feet when it’s 7:30 in the morning.” During their time in the mountains the Madrigal Singers had the opportunity to do a workshop with John Byun, the director of Riverside City College Choir Chamber Singers, and on top of that spent a total of 8 ½ hours rehearsing their music.
While the rehearsal aspect of the retreat was valuable, Ball also explained that the social aspect was just as significant, illustrating how “they do a lot of activities that connect [the ensemble] together” and that the retreat gives a chance for new members to “speak to people who [they’ve] never spoken to before.” Ball contentedly comments that “by the end [of the retreat] everyone just talks about how they feel like they’ve known everybody for ages even though [the retreat] had only been a couple days.” One of the most notable bonding events was the mandatory talent show. Held on Saturday night, each Madrigal singer was required to come up with a talent that they could present, the only rules being that you aren’t allowed to do anything musical. Once the show was over, singers were required to write down three of their favorite acts and whoever won would receive a prize. Ryan Trefz, Logan Booth, Cameron Firoozi, and Brody Bogdan (‘26) were the winners of the show this year, their talent being a wheel-barrow wrestling skit. Trefz commented how “two years ago they did [regular] wheel-barrow wrestling [as their talent] and no one laughed,” and explained how this year the quartet drew inspiration from a comedian and turned the wrestling into a comical skit, ultimately making the crowd laugh and securing the dub. Trefz comments that it “felt surreal that they won,” with Booth chiming in, explaining that “[they] had [a different] idea and thought ‘oh, that’s going to take up too much effort, let’s just, like, not win and do the wheel-barrow wrestling again.’” The group ended up getting their names engraved on a CdM Vocal Music wood carving for their prize, their legacy lasting forever.
To end the retreat on a high note, the group ended with a bonfire, where each grade of the ensemble from freshmen to seniors sat around the campfire one by one and shared how the year had been going, what they were grateful for and what they were looking forward to. Ing Chean Taing, a senior in Madrigals, comments how the bonfire is “always a sentimental moment, and [she’s] always such in awe of the ensemble during [that] time because [they’re] such a closely knit bonded community that makes saying goodbye so hard.” She goes on to add that “it’s a very heartfelt moment where [she] can be vulnerable without feeling judged” and “[she] feels like that’s really important to have in a community such as a choir.” Afterwards, the ensemble made s’mores together and eventually headed back to their cabins to go to bed.
On Sunday morning, running on a few hours of sleep and tons of digital camera pictures in their photo stream, the singers said goodbye to a weekend of memories and hard work and headed back home. Getting started on the right foot can always set the tone of the upcoming year, and based off of this retreat it can be alluded to that the Madrigals are ready to exceed expectations.
