2012 European Tour

PASSPORTS - Please be sure you have started the process of obtaining your passport soon, if you have not already!

VACCINATIONS - James Smith with Encore Tours, advises us that no special vaccinations, above routine ones, are necessary for our travel this summer. Of course, you may wish to consult your family doctor and consider factors such as your health and immunization history. The CDC has its own list of recommendations. If you wish to review those, please go to http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/vaccinations.htm

MOST TOUR MUSIC IS AVAILABLE ONLINE. We are working towards getting all of it available soon! If you are a Youth Strings student going on the trip, please try to find your part and begin working on it with your private instructor as soon as possible. You will begin rehearsing with the entire orchestra in May during the Saturday and Sunday sectionals. Please get these on your calendars now!

DAYS OF CHARLESTON PHOTO & ART NEEDED: The city of Banska Bystrica, Slovakia would like to put together a "Days of Charleston" exhibit that would be in their City Hall for the week preceding our arrival. They ask for any poems, essays, pictures, art, videos or music examples that would be appropriate to showcase WHO WE ARE! This showcase will generate enthusiasm about our arrival and performance! Please provide us with one or two pictures of yourself, formal or informal, plus any of WV that you think are outstanding. These will be used for a slide show with music. An electronic version would be best, but we can scan a print if necessary. All other materials that you may wish to provide, including original essays or notes to Banska Bystrica, will be much appreciated. Submit these items by Monday, February 6, 2012 at rehearsal.

Greetings from our EUROPEAN TOUR Leader Tom Beal
and Conductor Bob Turizziani
for 55 members of the WVYS Orchestra & fellow travelers from June 12-21, 2012
Performances in Hungary, Slovakia & Austria

In just a few short months the WVYO will embark on its third European tour. This tour will take us to intriguing Budapest, the glorious medieval quarter of Krakow and to Vienna, possibly the most richly musical city in the world. We will also take a less traveled road to Banska Bystrica in Slovakia, where great excitement is building for our arrival. As on our previous tours, we will learn much of the people and history of the lands that we visit. In central Europe we will see and feel the lingering effects of Nazi and Soviet oppression now giving way to a freedom of spirit. We will also gain insight into the complex musical and political history of Vienna. Our concerts will be on an international stage and not at all like our essentially family only concerts in Charleston. We will be ambassadors for West Virginia and for the USA. It is very important that we present ourselves as the accomplished, energetic, diverse and involved people that we are. Everyone who meets us and carries away a favorable impression will pass that impression on to others in a ripple effect that is the core of international understanding and acceptance. I urge you to do as much studying as you can about the places we will visit and to practice the music carefully so that we can collectively be the best ambassadors possible and so that you as an individual can take full advantage of the tremendous opportunities provided by this tour.
- Tom Beal, Tour Leader

It is exciting to realize how many young musicians will be traveling with us to Europe this summer. When we took our first international tour, we had only a very small number of participants who, nonetheless, put on some wonderful concerts in some of the places we’ll be visiting again this summer. Our second trip, six years ago, had a larger group but nowhere near the number of people who’ll be going this year. I know each of you will come back to Charleston with a broader, more informed view of our world. This trip is special because we’ll visit parts of Europe that helped define the century that just ended. Both world wars, the Holocaust, the expansion of communism into Europe, and the dramatic political changes of the 1990s were all played out in some of the countries we’ll be seeing. The program for the tour is not completely finalized, but the list below will give you an idea of what you should be preparing. Some of this music is available on the youth orchestra website; all of it will be available by the end of this month. Please begin working on it with your private teacher so we can all be proud of our performances abroad.

The general program will be: