Tag: 2019

  • 2019 Tour | Day 6 – Leipzig

    2019 Tour | Day 6 – Leipzig

    The choir started the day off bright and early to travel to Ohrdruf to visit the house Bach stayed in with his brother after his parents had died. It was  a a little windy, but the cooler weather was very welcome! After a short time in the square we once again hit the road traveling now to Arnstadt!

    Once we arrived, we took a short walk to the first church Bach had worked in, as the organist! In the year 1703 Bach traveled to Arnstadt to inspect the churches organ. The choristers can attest to how gorgeous the organ is, the photos just dont do it justice.

    Next we were off to Weimer! After some free time in the towns main square, we started our guided tour, observing some of Weimers most famous buildings and houses; including the very famous Elephant hotel!

    Our long day ended in Leipzig, with everyone checking into the beautiful hotel, and having some free time for dinner in the square! We can certainly verify that the bratwurst in Germany is like no other.

    We are both joyed and sorrowed to say that baby Bach, our beloved mascot for the trip, fell back in love with his home town of Eisenach, and decided he would take a leave of absence from the group to catch up with some old friends, he will be missed, but we wish him all the best! 

    Gute Nacht!

  • 2019 Tour | Day 5 – Eisenach

    Baby Bach here! Hope you’re ready to find out all about our day today back in my hometown. We started off the day on the bus from Prague to Eisenach.

    I stayed up to watch the rolling hills of my home country for a while, but eventually most of us decided to catch some z’s to pass the time.

    After a few stops to grab some lunch and have a break, we arrived at my house! At least, what is used as the museum and was once thought to be my childhood home. At the Bachhaus, I was surprised to see how much artwork there was of me! I really liked this one:

    We got some time to look around, and was happy to be able to see the beautiful, old garden.

    After watching a presentation on the instruments that were used during my time (such as the harpsichord and chamber organ), we were back on the bus to head to Wartburg castle!

    The architecture was absolutely lovely, and we got to enjoy a guided tour of the castle. We had time to wander the museum and were able to enjoy the exhibits and learn about the history of this city. After all of that, we headed to dinner to end the day.

    We got to enjoy German food in a tavern-style restaurant. Everything was modeled after what seemed to be medieval-era décor and the people who worked there were dressed up in era appropriate garb as well. Overall, today was a blast and I’m sad to leave my hometown so soon, but on to the next town!

    See ya,
    Baby Bach (also Carly, Meghan, Rachael, and Sasha)

  • 2019 Tour | Day 4 – Prague

    2019 Tour | Day 4 – Prague

    Our morning began, as most fine mornings do, in the sweltering heat, on the Prague metro, in wool kilts, getting laughed at by crazy people.

    We then made our way back to St. Vitus’ Cathedral to participate in Sunday mass with all other members of the festival. It was cool to see how the different eras affected the architecture.

    On our way to the tram, we quickly stopped at St. Wenceslas’ Vineyard for some pretty pictures and souvenirs! 

    We took a quick trip on the tram to the Old Town Square for lots of free time to get yummy food, and spent the rest of our Czech Korunas before we leave for Germany tomorrow. 

    We made our way to the (thankfully cool) Church of St. Gallen to perform our shared concert with the Prague Lady Teachers’ Choir. It was a beautiful space to sing in, and both choirs did an excellent job! 

    Finally, the crown jewel of our evening; our dinner cruise on the Vltava River. With food, a view, and the most beautiful souls we’ve ever had the pleasure of encountering. We shared the night with the Spjevule and Strumochok choirs from Slovakia and the Ukraine respectively. Although we only parted mere hours ago, we miss them all dearly. We laughed, we cried, we left. We exchanged Instagram’s. It’s been an emotional night. 

    It’s now very late. We have to pack so we can say goodbye to Prague and continue with our shenanigans in Eisenach tomorrow. We hope the rest of the trip is as good as today was! 

    xoxo,

    Baby Bach & the Gang 
    (Adriana, Grace, and Sarah)

  • 2019 Tour | Day 3 – Prague

    Today the choir group started their day with a delicious breakfast followed by a trip down to the hotel’s pool to dip their toes into the water. Next up they took the metro to meet other choirs at the St. Vitus cathedral.

    St. Vitus is the cathedral which is connected to the famous castle just outside of the city center in Prague. The choir then got to listen to some of the other groups in the amazing space. After being treated to the performance the groups began rehearsing for mass. The choir then got to sample some delicious mozzarella pizza for lunch and enjoyed the rest of the sunny day!

  • 2019 Tour | Day 2 – Prague

    2019 Tour | Day 2 – Prague

    Friday morning we took the subway and the tram to the center of town and had a two-hour master class at the Music Conservatory. There, our conductor taught us some folk-songs in Czech! It was a great session. After lunch, there was a welcome ceremony at City Hall, where we were addressed by the Mayor of Prague and other dignitaries. This was followed by a tour of the city hall and a climb to the top of the clock tower. Once we reached the top we were treated to stunning city views.

    In the late afternoon, all the choirs sang a brief program for each other. We enjoyed hearing the other choirs with their unique sound, style repertoire and uniforms! Everyone was fantastic and it was interesting to hear the differences between them all. We rounded off the day with a dinner of pork, a LOT of it, with potato dumplings, cabbage, and carrot cake for dessert! After a subway ride home at 11 pm, we were all ready to settle in for a good nights sleep. Thankfully, our day tomorrow is a later start and we can sleep in a bit.