From America

After our very early start the 46 members of the music tour to New Jersey have all arrived safely at Sparta, NJ to be enthusiastically welcomed by the host families at 4.00pm local time (9.00pm UK, some 16 hours after our departure).

The journey went smoothly. Security at Heathrow treated Mr Brown with great suspicion (the Panama hat may have caused some confusion). There is now a Larah Charlesworth Ring Cycle as well as Wagner's! The seven hour flight went smoothly, unlike the landing which was a little bumpy. Immigration officials were surprisingly welcoming, as was the temperature at JFK at 31C. Our coach to New Jersey had air conditioning which was most welcome. After a 2-hour journey we arrived at Sparta to find all our hosts happily waiting for us. Within 15 minutes we had dispersed to meet again at 09:30 tomorrow morning for our first rehearsal with our American hosts.