CSUMB librarian part of group performing in London

Cal State Monterey Bay didn’t land an athlete at the Olympics, but the university will be represented in another way.

Reference and instruction librarian Sarah Dahlen is a member of the Monterey Peninsula Choral Society. The 113-member group will perform at several venues in London during the Games, one of just six choirs in the world invited to sing during the 17-day run of the Olympics.

“The choir typically has rehearsals once a week, but for the weeks leading up to our departure, we’ve had four each week,” Dahlen said. “And I’ve done a lot of work on my own as well, and am usually singing in the car.”

The choir is scheduled to perform at Olympic Park, where as many as 30,000 people are expected to be in the audience. The singers will also perform at Canterbury Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and several other venues.

“Our repertoire includes about 25 songs and I’ve pretty much got all of them memorized at this point,” she said.

The society will present a bon voyage concert July 27 at a church in Carmel; Dahlen will leave for Paris the next morning.

“We’re skipping the craziness of the Opening Ceremonies to sing at a couple of venues in Paris: La Madeleine Church and EuroDisney,” Dahlen said.

The group, which also includes retired CSUMB staff member Diane Ehlers, will take a ferry to the United Kingdom on Aug. 1, in time to do some sightseeing before their concerts.

“I’ve never been to the Olympics before, but I think it’s an amazing event and it will be great to be around the energy of the athletes and spectators in the park, even if we’re not able to attend a competition” Dahlen said.

The organizers were not able to secure tickets for the large group, but “they made up for it by getting us tickets to see Wicked in London’s West End.”

Most members of the group will return home on Aug. 6, but Dahlen will head to Finland for a couple of weeks. She’ll attend a meeting of the International Federation of Library Associations, where she’s scheduled to present a workshop on using rubrics for information literacy instruction. And then she’s headed to Kuusamo, 37 miles south of the Arctic Circle, for a week of vacation.

“I’m hoping to do some hiking there and enjoy the long daylight hours,” she said.

Editor's Note: Bon Voyage Concert, 8 p.m., July 27, at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Dolores Street and Ninth Avenue, Carmel. Information: www.thempcs.org