The Germantown Academy Singing Patriots will tour Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary from Thursday, March 14-Saturday, March 23 where they will sing in cathedrals and venues in Krakow, Olomouc, Bratislava, and Budapest.
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“There is nothing beyond singing in Europe in some of the most beautiful cathedrals in the world and hearing the acoustics in those spaces,” said Upper School and Middle School Choral Director Charlie Masters, who also serves as the Upper School Performing Arts Department Head. “For a choir to get on a plane and go to Europe and do that is pretty much the holy grail of choir world.”
The European Tour is the culminating project for the Singing Patriots elective class.
“It really is the premiere culminating project of the class,” said Masters. “When you step back and look at the macro it's even bigger because we do this every four years. It really is a huge capstone project and experience. Any student who is interested in music and singing throughout their four years in the Upper School gets at least once chance to be a part of that if they want to be. It's a cool opportunity in of itself, and musically speaking, for choir music, it really doesn't get any better than this.”
The Singing Patriots tour, An American Celebration of Music in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, is music they have been working on for the last two years.
“There are pieces in our program that we performed last school year and there are pieces that we performed this school year,” said Masters. “It's cool to see the excitement and all this hard work start to come together.”
One of the highlights of the trip will be the singing Patriots joint concert with First High School of Krakow’s (FHSK - Poland) choir in Krakow on March 17. The two choirs have held joint concerts, both in Krakow and Fort Washington, every two years dating back to 2007.
Throughout the trip, students and chaperones will also have the opportunity to do some sightseeing and participate in group tours.