MCC - Austria 2009

A numerical tour summary

2009-07-19T07:07:00.000-07:00

Mississauga - Munich - Vienna - Salzburg - Mississauga - 2009

11889 km travelled
90 pounds of schnitzel consumed
53 hotel rooms
38 wonderful voices
13 days of Fritz our tour guide
12 days with Auben our bus driver
11 servings of pasta
10 servings of chicken
9 performances in great concert halls of Europe
8 shopping opportunities
7 chaperones
6 days in Vienna
5 days in Salzburg
4 renditions of the SCL Anthem
3 cities
2 festivals

1 AMAZING CHOIR!

Congratulations and thank-you to everyone involved!

"These are a Few of My Favourite Things...

2009-07-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

Another busy day in Salzburg. Our morning concert was the last concert on our own in Austria and for many of us our last concert as members of the MCC. Shopping and touring rounded out the day.

This will be our last blog from Austria as Sunday is a very busy day with the Haydn Mass at the Salzburg Cathedral in the morning, visiting the salt mine in the afternoon and the festival farewell party in the evening. Monday morning will come quickly as we make our way back to Vienna for the flight home. We will see you soon!

Now, for our Favourite Things.....

Janet: Can't believe how amazing the tour was. I will never forget the unique beauty of each city.

Kasia: Amazing mountains and landscapes, all the new friends and the whole experience will be unforgettable.

Charlotte S: All the practice and the work...it all pays off. In that 20 minutes of performance we where the music brings everyone together. I'll miss the sound of our voices. I love Austria!

Charlotte Mc: Mad love for Fritz!

Paulina: The beautiful scenery, the beautiful music and the beautiful friendships we have made will stay with us forever! The history accompanying our every move is mind boggling! An unforgetable experience of a life time. Whoot Fritz!

Lindsay: Music, scenery, history, the fact that we have travelled overseas but most inportantly the new friendships we have made and the fact that we have become an excellent choir. I'll miss you all.

Holly: Beautiful churches, beautiful cities, beautiful mountain scenery, sexy boys. Amazing memories that will last forever.

Megan: I loved touring Austria with all my friends and also meeting new people. This experience is one we will remember forever and I will miss all of you so much.

Rachel: This has been an experience of a life time. The memory will stay with us forever. We came together as a choir and as friends.

Marta: These past two weeks have been the best days of my life. Touring a beautiful country with the best choristers, chaperones, conductor and people is the best experience anyone can ask for. If I had to chose, the competition at the Musikverein was the most enjoyable experience ever.

Brittany H: Singing in spectacular halls with amazing, awesome, supercrazy, wonderful friends.

Lydia: Being in such an amazing city with such amazing people and such amazing European boys....like Fritz.

Gillian: most awesome time at the charity concert for the Summa Cum Laude...so much fun.

Brittany P: I loved watching different choirs perform at the closing ceremonies.

Alisha: I really enjoyed the extremely amazing views of nature throughout the whole trip and singing in the most spectacular concert halls.

Marika: I loved meeting all of the different choirs and seeing all the amazing concert halls.

Lauren: I loved meeting choirs from around the world especially the Chinese choir. I love Austria.

Elena: I loved all the views of the alps and mountains, etc, and the new culture and people.

Natalia: What can I say....it was a kickbum end to seven years!

Adaoma: I enjoyed spectacular singing from all the different choirs especially in the Mozarteum. An amazing trip overall.

Melissa: chicken, pasta, chicken, pasta, Austria Trip 2009.

Claire: There have been so many great moments, however, I must say my fav moment was the feeling you get on the Hauly when you get too close to the end and you dig you fingers into your friends arm and then relief rushes over you when you realize you are still alive. This trip has been the most amazing experience of my life. Thank-you.

Eleni: The most memorable experience of this entire trip was Fritz!

Meaghan: I loved my room mates, our tour guide, the cute European guys, and going to MacDonalds.

Alison: We got to go to the most musically inspiring place in the world, travel with our most terrific friends, we sang our BEST (and looked it too) made new friends and thoroughly enjoyed each other.

Katherine: I'd have to say that the one thing I will never forget is our best performance ever at the Musikverein. Best choir moment of all five years.

Hyacinth: # 1 The concert at the church in the country side. It was just wonderful and created lots of happiness. The best performance I have been in. #2 Tripping down the stairs three times in four days.

Emma: Such a great experience. DNA changing! This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and we definitely made the best of it. Thanks so much to everyone for making this possible. We needed every ounce of effort...and we got it! Everyone contributed equally and it was all worth it.

Emily: This was an amazing trip. One of my favourite ever. There were too many amazing moments to write but something that definitely stands out is the friendships that have grown and the musical experience I will never forget. I love you MCC!

Mallory: This trip was fantabulous! I never been to Europe before so this trip was really awesome. I have to say that I love the pictures, laugh and love and Austrialian choirs (definite highlights). I love you guys. PS Fritz said and did a lot for us too.

Ross: The laughs, the love and the group. PS all we had was chicken, pasta and what seemed to be pasta fed chicken.

David: Unbelievable! From the scenery to the music (and not to mention the Polish orchestra).

Alanna: Great music, lots of laughs, amazing scenery. WOW! Could it get any better?!

Kiera: This has been an amazing two weeks. It was filled with music and beautiful surroundings. I will never forget it. Everyone has gotten closer and made new friends and that will last forever. I'll never forget this trip!

Nicola: This trip has been so much fun. And guess what my new favourite thing to eat is....schnitzel. It is amazing. The scenery is soooo cool and the people are soooo polite.

Allison: Trading pins for cool Chinese decorations and the whole gala dinner. I'll miss those of you who are leaving and to the rest I will see you next year. I hope we will have just as much fun as we did on this trip.

Konrad: Amazing sites, fantastic music, and fun times have made this trip awesome!

Cantus Salisburgensis

2009-07-10T15:42:00.000-07:00

July 10

Today was a music day. We had an early rehearsal on our own at the Mozarteum. What an amazing place to sing in. The acoustics were really nice and once again lots of gold mouldings. We had an early lunch where the welcome dinner was held last night and then it was back to the Mozarteum for the joint rehearsal. The orchestra played on stage and all the choirs sang from their seats.

We had a nice break from the music mid afternoon ....we went shopping, our favourite pastime. Dinner and quick change into formal uniform and we were on our way back to the Mozarteum for the evening concert. All the choirs sang for 12 minutes on their own and the concert began and ended with the joint pieces.

We listened to choirs from Russia, Austria, USA. Some were youth choirs and some adult choirs. It was a wonderful mix. The concert finished with the orchestra playing and all the choirs singing the Hallelujah Chorus. The concert lasted over three hours so now we must quickly get to bed as we have another concert at 10:00am tomorrow.

Three more sleeps and we'll be home.

The Hills are Alive.....

2009-07-10T05:50:00.000-07:00

July 09

Today was a day straight out of a movie! We started with a tour of the sites of the film, Sound of Music, including the glass gazebo where Leizl (and most of the choir) sang "I am sixteen going on seventeen". We learned about the real Von Trapp family, and caught a glimpse of thier home! We saw beautiful panoramic views of the mountains and towns below and visited the site of Maria's wedding in the film, the church at Mondsee monastery. We sang in the church!

After a great lunch, a rehearsal and some relaxation time, we got dressed in our formal uniforms and headed to St. Peter's Church for the opening ceremonies of festival. An ecumenical service was held and each of the participating choirs performed a piece. It was interesting to see the wide range of ages and musical styles. the evening concluded at the restaurant Sternbrau, where all the participants congregated for a buffet dinner. It was a challenge to get food as there was a single table fo food for over 300 choristers, but it gave us time to mingle and meet the other choristers. We are looking forward to a few more days in Salzburg. :)

For July 8

2009-07-09T04:33:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Our last night in Vienna we changed into our uniforms and headed to the gala finally of Summa Cum Laude Festival. After the winners concert featuring orchestras and choirs from Canada, Slovenia, Germany, Australia and even China, we went to the Mayor's grand hall with beautiful gold, blue and silver ceilings to have dinner and mingle with the other competitors. We took lots of pictures, traded pins, good luck charms and other multi-cultural bobbins. It was the experience of a lifetime that will not be forgotten.

We woke up early, checked out of our hotel and headed out for Salzburg. After 2.5 hours we stopped at an iron mine in Erzberg. We had lunch outside under a clear blue sky at the bottom of the mountains. Driving through the mountains was an experience that will stay with us forever! Seeing the clusters of villages all with red roofs in the valley below, the enormous green mountains with streams running down them.

After lunch we headed to the mine where we all put on sunshine yellow jackets and hard hats and then we climbed aboard the huge sunshine yellow truck. the big tonka truck bed that normally carries huge rocks was rigged to take passangers. We climbed higher to the top in the sunshine and saw little lakes in the mountain created by mining.

Next we went to visit the largest monestary library in the world....and boy it was beautiful with domed painted ceilings, white walls decorated with gold moulding. There were 2 floors with a hidden staircase. some of the books date back to 1522! The monestary is still active with 37 monks although we didn't meet any.

We reached the hostel in Salzburg a little late so it was a quick settle in, dinner and a rehearsal before bed. 9 days down and 5 more to come. Look our Salzburg. The Mississauga Children's Choir has arrived!

Later gators!

E=MC2

2009-07-07T14:52:00.000-07:00

Hey Parents, Family and Friends:

After eating an exciting continental breakfast, we lazily made our way up to our rooms in order to prepare our luggage for tomorrow's voyage to Salzburg.

This excitement was soon coloured by a choir meeting where Mr. Bell informed us that we had not placed top three at the competition. However, we performed extraordinarily achieving a personal best for ourselves. Personal bests are more important than competitive results. After this we travelled to the House of Music, an experience we will never forget. As for lunch, chicken or pasta.....not today. Half the choristers ventured to their homeland, MACDONALD's and the other half went to a fancy shopping mall and bought a lunch in the grocery store that consisted of freshly made sandwiches and delicious fruit. Next we visited the Mozart House and learned about the history of the world famous protege. Now we are leaving for a fun filled evening at the Musikverein for photo-shoots followed by gala concert and dinner at City Hall with the Mayor of Vienna and the other choirs.

Our next blog will be from Salzburg, when we find internet connections.

Love and kisses

2009-07-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

Guten Tag Liebe Eltern:

We have just finished our performance in the Musikverein concert hall. The children sang absolutely wonderfully, the best performance in years and in the most amazing venue that you can imagine. The hall is truly the "golden hall", the gold leaf paint was almost dripping off every surface. The choristers certainly rose to the occassion.

It has been hot and a little humid, not ideal for late night practices but they have ALL been very professional.

The Austrians certainly love their music; the audiences have been very knowlegeable and appreciative.

We are all having a truly life-enhancing, stimulating and really enjoyable time. It will take months to process all we have seen, done and laughed over!

We hope you are all well!

Herzliche Gruesse,

Tom

SCL workshop & performance

2009-07-05T10:06:00.000-07:00

Hi Parents and family:
Well its been another amazing day here in Austria. Wake up call came at 7:00am and after breakfast we were off to the University of Music. With choristers from Australia and China, we attended a workshop led by Steen Lindholm, who taught us a Danish folksong; a workshop about Austrian composers led by a horn player from the Vienna Philharmonic; workshop singing in German a yodelling nonsense song.
Lunch was at a local restaurant. Not to worry, we ate all our vegetables and had fresh fruit salad.
After lunch we boarded tour bus that took us to the Liechtenstein Museum to perform in the most beautiful hall the choir has ever performed in. Following a fantastic concert, we visited the galleries and had a chance to shop in the gift store. One of the most memeroble artifacts was a chest valued at 29.7million euros and paintings by van Dyke, Rubens.
Now we are heading back to hotel for dinner and to get ready for tomorrow.
We love you and can't wait to share our adventures with you.
xox...your kids
PS- even though we are having a lot of fun......we miss you.

Opening Ceremonies for SCL

2009-07-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

Hey parents, family and friends!
We had antoher exciting day in the capital of music. Our morning began with a delicious buffet breakfast followed by a hardworking and productive rehearsal. We rehearsed our entire repertoire for the upcoming concerts and other choral events. Afterwards, we ventured in and around Stl Stephen's Square in order to do a little Viennese shopping. Followoing this we were welcomed into the Summa Cum Laude Festival by a lovely choir, speeches and organ music. We are meeting friendly people from all over the world - Canada, Australia, Iraq, China, Latvia, Poland, Austria! It really was a day to remember!
Now we are busy getting ready for tomorrow.....laundry!

Haydn Haydn and more Haydn

2009-07-03T13:07:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!!
Today was a mixture of bus-riding, walking, picture-taking and eating. We started off with a guided tour, going through the centre of Vienna, including visiting St Stephen's Cathedral, a colourful multi-tecturized apartment and many other picturesque views.
We then had lunch at the Einstien Restaurant where we had weiner schnitzel with rice and it was amazingly delicious. Apple strudel for dessert!
After lunch we got back on the bus and drove to Eisenstadt where we toured Esterhazy Palace. They had the Haydn Phenomenon exhibition. We had a personal guide take us through his history. Later on we had about 45minutes for shopping.
We had dinner at the Haydnbrau restaurant and it was delicious. After a long, fun but tiring day, we boarded the bus and drove back to our hotel.
Love
your chorister

Melk Abbey, Danube Cruise, and Krems

2009-07-02T12:23:00.001-07:00

Hey you guys!
We started the day out bright and early this morning by leaving Munich on our way to Vienna. We passed near to the Alps, and saw many absolutely beautiful sights. Everything is so green! We then first stopped at Melk Abbey on our way, about two hours after starting, for a quick tour of the monestary, as well as a short performance of Hebe Deine in the spectacular cathedral of the Melk monestary. We then had a quick lunch, and then departed for our boat cruise. We were just on time to catch our boat, and it was a spectacular ride- the day was a little too warm for for some of us, but the natural breeze on the river boat kept us all feeling perfect. It was on the Danube River, too, which is world-famous and therefore a thrilling experience. It stopped along the way, and we got to see many terrific river-side sights. We finally got off at Krems, where we boarded our bus again - it followed our boat cruise, meaning the boat was purely for fun - and drove a short distance to a city gate, beyond which we were given a half-hour of shopping time. Admittedly, it wasn't as much time as we'd surely all have liked (except the boys), but I guess it's better this way, at least for our wallets.
We then boarded our bus one last time for the day, and continued on our way to Vienna. We arrived at the hotel after about two hours since our last departure from the shopping city, and were thrilled to find it such a beautiful place! We settled into our rooms, ate dinner shortly after, and then did our duty, the purpose of our travel - we rehearsed. Mr Bell took pity on our tired states, however, and it wasn't too terribly long. Not that we didn't get anything done, I promise we did. Finally, the rehearsal was done, and it's free time for all and then it will be lights out. Cheers!

Munich Germany - we have landed

2009-07-01T10:32:00.000-07:00

Had a terrific, uneventful flight arriving on time! Fritz our tour manager met us at the airport and we boarded our deluxe, airconditioned, brand new motor coach which we will have for the duration of the trip. Arban our driver is skilled and is manouvering us through the narrow streets with great ease. The sun shone all day as we toured downtour Munich, had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, visited a castle, toured the BMW museum and all sorts of stuff will tell you about later.
Arrived at the youth hostel early; got settled in our rooms; went down to buffet dinner and then had short rehearsal. We are now heading to showers and bed and looking forward to an exciting day two.

Departure Day

2009-06-30T10:50:00.000-07:00

The day we have been anticipating for months is finally here. Our bags are packed and we are airport bound. We will hug and kiss our families goodbye and then be off on our Germany / Austria adventure!
Next time we blog we will be in Europe! We promise to have fun and keep you posted on our activities as soon as we have an internet connection!

Austria Tour Parent Meeting

2009-06-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

When: Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Time: 8:20 pm
Venue: Westminster United Church

Austria Tour Fundraising Car Wash

2009-06-06T18:30:00.000-07:00

The sun shone and the temperature was warm, perfect combination for a successful car wash and BBQ. Choristers and families washed cars and prepared and sold refreshments. All in a days work as the MCC prepares for Austria. Thank-you to everyone who helped, especially the Graham family for all the organizing.

Next Austria Tour Parent Meeting: Tuesday June 9th at 8:20pm

Austria Tour Parent Meeting

2009-05-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, May 19, 2009
8:30 p.m. Westminster United Church
Agenda: Tour Handbook

Tour Information Forms Submission Deadline

2009-04-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

Kindly fill out the following forms and submit on or before
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
1. Emergency Contact Information Form
2. Health Information Form

Passports Update - If you have made any changes to your passports in the past 12 months, please provide a photocopy on or before
Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Austria Tour Parent Meeting

2009-02-27T06:37:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 8:30 p.m.
Westminster United Church