Katelyn Gibb tours Europe with CSC women's choir

2011 Apr 7

It may seem fitting that word arioso means airy, literally speaking. When Arioso, Chadron State College's women's choir, went on tour this spring, they took to the air.

Arioso delivered more than a half-dozen performances while touring the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria in March.

The 11-day European journey which ended March 14 is believed to be the first-ever performance tour on foreign soil for members of the CSC music department. The 12 members of Arioso were joined by director Dr. Una Taylor, music professor Dr. James Margetts and his wife Colleen, and two student assistants. Katelyn Gibb of Chappell, Neb., is one of the students who participated in the tour.

Taylor said the trip met the goal of broadening the students' perspective on the world. Not only did it help them find similarities and differences between cultures, but it also built camaraderie within the group.

"It's a learning experience that can't really be quantified or graded," she said. "We had some wonderful guides and learned a lot about European history. We expanded the horizons for these students both musically and culturally. The history and architecture is incredibly breathtaking," she said.

One of the first highlights of the journey was an afternoon performance for an audience of 200 at the St. Nicholas Church in Prague's Old Town Square.

"It was a beautiful church, but it was really cold," she said. "We sang in our dresses and it was about 30 degrees in there."

Near the end of the trip, Arioso sang at a choir festival in Pomaz, a community on the outskirts of Budapest. When the festival's director discovered Arioso was planning to sing a song by one of Hungary's most famous composers, Zoltan Kodaly, she asked Taylor if other choirs could join in the performance. The result was a performance featuring about 50 singers of multiple choirs singing the song simultaneously in two languages.

"Hearing singers of so many different backgrounds unite for one piece of music was an amazing experience," Taylor said.

She said the students enjoyed a balance of performing and sight-seeing throughout the voyage. They witnessed first-hand the beautiful old buildings, scenic landscape and many sites that were ravaged during years of war.

The choir performed on the stage of the Esterhazy palace in Eisenstadt, where Franz Joseph Haydn was a court composer during the 1700s. They also visited Salzburg, the home of Mozart. Other stops included the Prague Castle, the largest coherent castle complex in the world, and an opera in Vienna.

"Many of our students come from towns in sparsely populated areas and haven't had the opportunity to broaden their world view," she said. "When students are able to see more of the world and other cultures, when they meet people who speak three languages to their one, it widens their perspectives."

Ashley Rushman, a member of Arioso from Gurley, Neb., said she enjoyed Prague most, but lists a traditional dinner in Vienna as the trip's highlight. The group was serenaded with folk music of the Austo-Hungarian Empire by a violinist and accordion player.

"They played a bunch of songs for us and everybody got into it," she said. "And the food was delicious."

Rushman said she'll also always remember the performances.

"We got to sing in the big cathedrals and the acoustics were amazing," she said. "Everybody would stop to watch us, ask where we were from and applaud like we were rock stars."

In order to fund the trip, the group tapped a variety of resources. In addition to some college funding, they developed and sold cookbooks, raffled items and sought donations. The trip was arranged by Tour Resource Consultants, a company which has the motto "Musicians Serving Musicians."

"It's common for music performers to travel. How far you go is just a matter of degree," Taylor said. "We do an annual performing tour locally, but there are a lot of opportunities to perform either around the United States or abroad. I hope we can take more trips such as this one in the future."

The trip to Europe was a first for Taylor and all but two of the students, she said.

"The students were very excited about going to Europe," she said. "We all got along well. The itinerary went as planned and the weather cooperated. The group sang well and the students were good ambassadors for the college."

--Justin Haag, CSC Information Services

Find photos of the tour at http://tinyurl.com/3shzjnm