Photos from Final Two Concerts

Rehearsal at Smetana Hall



Final Concert at Gewandhaus

Organ Concert Excerpt in Leipzig, Germany

While on a walking tour of Leipzig, some of the CYSO students were lucky enough to enjoy J.S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor at Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas Cathedral). Here is a short excerpt.

Hindemith - Symphonic Metamorphosis at Filharmonia - Wroclaw

We're Back!

Everyone arrived safely and we had a great time.

Stay tuned for more pictures and videos later this week!

Hello from Leipzig, Germany

Hello Friends and Family and Greetings from Germany!

We are a couple hours away from our final concert in the Gewandhauskasse. The hall is very beautiful and the orchestra sounded great at the dress rehearsal this morning. We are looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow in Chicago. Please stay turned to the blog in the coming weeks. The staff will be posting more photos and videos of the tour.

See you soon!

Yay tour

Yay tour. Yay elevators! Weee!!

From Trevor in Prague

Hello all CYSO parents, staff, and families!

The weather here has been absolutely fantastic, and (as far as I know) everyone is having an amazing time. This is certainly an inspiring and life-changing experience. I can't wait to tell all my friends and family at home about this wonderful trip. Unfortuately, my computer time is limited to 10 minutes, so I have to go. Best wishes for all of you in cyber-space!

-Trevor Mowry

Europe Is Fabulous!

It's my first time in Europe, and it's definitely been a fantastic experience -- despite a certain lack of sleep. Not only are Europeans really appreciative of classical music, but all of the history that abounds makes even the most casual walking trip a fascinating trip.

I'm really excited to continue the trip and to explore Prague tomorrow!

-- Rachel Greene

Europe Is

Prague, here we come!

Hello from Prague!
We just arrived in the Czech Republic today after a long bus ride through the picturesque countryside. Our concert yesterday was so much fun and I think we're all looking forward to our next program this Thursday. So far, travelling in Europe has been wonderful! Learning bits of Polish and exploring Polish cities and culture has been a blast.
Mira
(cello)

Having fun in prague

having fou here in Europe. Warsaw was really nice it was like a mini chicago. warclaw was fun to it was very interesting. But we've just gotten to Prague and the scenery is great and the orchestra has been playing great.


Havin fun,
Amir-Derrick Lamar Gray

Prague

Hey everyone this is Shane from the horn section! We just arrived in Prague, as I'm sure everyone has, and it's amazing! There are trees everywhere here! And elevation, something I'm sure everyone back in the Midwest is exceedingly jealous of. But regardless, it's been a ton of fun here; there's so much history and culture! And, of course, the group is spectacular!

I suppose my time is up (considering it's 10:05 out here, so I should probably let the next person on...so wse'll post more later!

From Aaron Kibbler

We just arrived in prague. The whole tour has been awsome so far. The concerts have been good so far (wraclaw was better than warsaw). Just writing to say hello.
Aaron

The Female Voice of the Horn Section

This is Amy and Shelly-the backbone of the horn section. This trip has been amazing so far... the language barrier has been a bit rough-but we've managed. Hanging out with the five guys in the section has been an interesting experience. Lets just say we've had more than our share of sectional bonding time. We're looking forward to exploring in Prague and Leipzig and have enjoyed our performances in Warsaw and Wroclaw.

From CYSO member Max Cuneo-Grant

CYSO tour is thouroughly enjoyable. We have just arrived in Prague, and although our hotel is not in the town center, it's really nice and much fun is being had by all.
Max Cuneo-Grant

This is percussionist Colin Fleming

So far, the CYSO Tour has proven to be one of the most fun trips I have ever taken. The towns we have gone to and the stuff we have seen are nothing like America and it is very cool to have this experience. I am very glad that I was given the opportunity to go on this trip.

First night in Prague! -Betsy

Hi this is Betsy from the violas! Here we are on the first day in Prague. Our hotel is pretty far away from the center of the city, so we haven't seen much yet. But tomorrow, we are getting a tour of all the sights. So far, we have hit Warsaw and Wroclaw in Poland. Poland was a strange mix of beautiful old architecture and bland grey buildings from the Soviet Rule. The hotels were nice and the cities were very inviting. The countryside was beautiful, as well. I'm very excited to see Prague tomorrow and to move on to Leipzig again in a few days. We will soon be home to tell all the amazing stories of our trip!

A final lesson in Poland

In two words, the tour thus far has been absolutely amazing! Poland was an incredible country to visit with a diverse history and culture, and I can hardly wait to learn about Prague! While many of us have experienced Europe through a new perspective these past couple days, several of us have learned other additional lessons.... 20 kids in one elevator is not condusive to a properly working lift. I'm sure the tour will continue to be great, and we will learn many more things!

Poland- In Conclusion

Our tour got off to a great start in Poland. Warsaw and Wroclaw were both very beautiful with their parks and old town squares, and I ate lots of ice cream and pierogies. Since I knew absolutely no Polish, I was worried about being able to communicate. However, I developed a basic vocabulary that kept me afloat: czesc= hello/ goodbye, woda= water, ludy= ice cream, and bankomat= ATM. Our concerts have also gone smoothly, my favorite being the Wroclaw concert. Now I can't wait for tomorrow when we get to explore Prague!

Hi everyone! We just arrived in Prague and what we've seen so far is beautiful. Although Poland was absolutely amazing, it had a different feel because it was completely demolished during WWII and was rebuilt to look historic whereas Prague survived the war and looks, for the most part, the same as it has for centuries. So we are all excited to check out the old buildings and other historic sites. We will keep you updated!

The CYSO tour has been absolutely amazing so far. The city we are in now, Prague, i think is definetely going to be the highlight. Most everything here is very different from Chicago especially the architecture and the way of living. Everything on this tour has been the most wonderful thing of my life! When the dreaded end of this tour comes it's going to be extremely hard to leave...

-Danny Taubenheim, trumpet

Dobry den from Prague. We have finally arrived after long anticipation in Prague. We are very excited to have time to shop and enjoy the sights here. We had a long day of traveling but most people slept on the bus so it was pretty peaceful. It is beautful outside tonight so while the woodwinds have a sectional, the rest of the orchestra is hoping to take a walk outside around the hotel. I am enjoying everything we have seen and done. We are all anticipating the upcoming concerts because we have been seeing posters about our concert all over. I cannot wait to see more tomorrow. Keep watching the blog. -Catherine Crilly, violin

Our Name in Lights at the Filharmonia

Czesc! This is Chris Sitton, yet another cellist, but we're cool. So our concert in warsaw was amazing and the Chopin Academy was really nice. The audience at the concert was very responsive to our performance. We wound up playing TWO encores and they still wanted more! The hall might have been smaller than normal, but the applause was worth it. Tomorrow is already our next performance and hopefully it will be just as good, if not better!

Hi this is Sarah Berger, cellist of cyso. So far the tour is rather intense, but nevethertheless the experience is amazing. Our first concert was last night in Warsaw and for it being the first it went alright. Tomorrow is the next concert in Wroclaw and we're hoping for a better performance!

Traveling to Wroclaw, Poland

Rehearsal at the Chopin Academy (Warsaw, Poland)

CYSO Tour Poster in Warsaw, Poland

Walking Tour in Warsaw, Poland

CYSO Tour Now is Wroclaw!

Hi all!

Thanks for all of your amazing comments~we're keeping all the students updated with your news and well wishes! Check out some of these really great videos from Warsaw. We've got some of the city walking tours, a video of the posters in the city centers, a bit of the rehearsal at the Chopin Academy and a clip of the orchestra stopping for lunch on our way to Wroclaw. The hotel here is lovely and we know the city has a lot to offer. Tomorrow is the concert at the Filharmonia. Stay tuned! PS-to all the parents out there, all the students are here and accounted for.

Greetings from Warsaw! ("Varsava")

Hey everybody,

This is Robin Kesselman, bass, and I'm writing to you all from the lobby of our polish hotel. We just finished our last rehearsal before we have our dress at the hall tomarrow morning. We've been seeing posters up on kiosks all over town for the concert -- the cyso rockstars have hit eastern europe.

We've been having a lot of time to explore this amazing city. Warsaw is not at all like what I thought it was like and my 3 words of polish are slowly coming along. Everything from the food, the people, the language, and the sites are totally new and I can't wait to see the next stops on the tour!

I'm sure you'll be hearing from more of us soon.

--Robin

The transition to Poland was pretty interesting. To ease the transition we had Polish KFC for lunch today...who knew KFC doesn't always serve fried chicken?

Views from the Sky

Sunrise @ 37,000 Feet



De-planing

Old Town Square - Warsaw, Poland

We've Arrived

We are all here safe and sound and at our first rehearsal. As guests in the hotel stop by outside the rehearsal room doors the orchestra begins with Beethoven we are again reminded of how truly unique and gifted each of these young musicians are.

Today some of the group was able to explore Warsaw, Poland's cultural area "Old Town" where the city thrives. Just walking past these remarkable old buildings and trying our first taste of Polish cuisine we realize that we have truly "arrived" in every sense of the word.

Please stay tuned for photos and word from individual students!

Joshua's ready...are you?

All of us at CYSO are packed and ready to go! We hope you are as excited as we are to go on this wonderful tour. The chance to visit these amazing cities and perform in world-famous halls doesn't happen everyday! Just take a moment to think that in 48 hours we will have our first rehearsal in Europe! Thanks to everyone who came to our send-off concert at Millennium Park.