We started out the trip rehearsing for two days in my hotel suite at the La Quinta at the O’Hare Airport. I promise you, the room has never seen so much Italian Baroque music before. It was the O’Hare La Quinta Premiere of the Monteverdi Vespers.

Once we arrived in Kalamazoo, MI, our home for our recording sessions was the Holy Family Chapel. What an a-MAZING acoustic. Huge thanks to James Bass, our chorusmaster, for finding such a great room.

Peter Rutenberg, our producer, and Jamie Tagg, our recording engineer, loaded in enough recording equipment into that chapel to record the soundtrack for Jurassic Park. Here’s us with the full group recording.

Our continuo group consisted of Scott Jarrett and Karl Shrock on continuo organs, Phil Spray on the violone and Joel Spears on the lute and theorbo.

Here’s tenor Derek Chester recording one of his solos in the Vespers.

Seraphic Fire soprano Gabrielle Tinto marks her score while we take a break in recording.

It was VERY late after about 10 hours of recording when this picture was taken. We were SO CLOSE to having it all finished.

Around midnight of the second day of recording, we wrapped. Here’s James Bass, Peter Rutenberg and me beaming knowing that we got an awesome recording.

And a post-session toast finished the project.