黑料网

Chorus and chamber singers tour Europe

Back to All Stories
Ryan Endris leads the 黑料网 Chorus in Vienna. Photo by Dylan Crouse

Ryan Endris leads the 黑料网 Chamber Singers in Vienna. Photo by Dylan Crouse 鈥15

In May, the had the opportunity to perform the program for their spring concert in the places where the musical pieces would have originally been heard. During the nine-day tour, we held four concerts: in Prague, Bratislava, Vienna, and Budapest.

The program included Mass in D Major by the Bohemian composer Antonin Dvorak; Two Motets (Op.74) by Brahms, who spent most of his career in Austria; a piece by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt; and three works by American composers as cultural exchange.

鈥淓ach concert was a fantastic learning opportunity because we had to make adjustments for each different performance space,鈥 said , director of the University Chorus.

The first concert was held in St. Savior鈥檚 Church, the oldest Protestant church in Prague. Although it had been three weeks since the group last rehearsed, everyone was excited and well prepared. 鈥淚t was great coming back together and singing as a group,鈥 said Amanda James 鈥17. Approximately 200 people attended, giving the tour a great start.

There was an unexpected hiccup at the Jesuit Church of the Holy Redeemer in Bratislava when our pre-concert recital was interrupted by an unexpected Mass and we had to quietly step out. 鈥淚 was incredibly impressed by the professionalism of the students,鈥 said Endris, 鈥渁nd their ability to [still] give an outstanding performance.鈥

The surprise and confusion in Bratislava was soon washed over by the recital in the Stephansdom, one of the most important religious buildings in Vienna. 鈥淚t was so cool to be able to sing in such a musically historic space,鈥 said David Wall 鈥18. Also, the cathedral鈥檚 massive scale made the acoustics vastly different from any other place we鈥檇 sung in. 鈥淚t was interesting to experience the acoustics,鈥 said David Huang 鈥16. 鈥淎nd gratifying, indeed.鈥

The final concert was held in St. Michael鈥檚 Church in Budapest. For Lydia Mesler 鈥15, this was her favorite concert out of the four, 鈥渂ecause the crowd was so great.鈥 The audience gave the chorus slow, steady applause, which, according to our trip organizer in Budapest, represented the highest praise given to a performance.

鈥淲e all realized that it was the last time that this group of people would ever sing together,鈥 said Christy Mills 鈥17. 鈥淔rom that came the drive to do our best.鈥

A dinner cruise on the Danube after our Budapest concert marked the end of the tour. We gave cheers for friendship and music.

Check out more details on our , and watch performance videos on our .