Choral and orchestra students travel through Europe

About 60 University of Richmond students spent their spring breaks being welcomed to Eastern European countries with applause and standing ovations.

Richmond's Schola Cantorum, the university's Women's Chorale and the Chamber Orchestra toured Eastern Europe March 5 to March 15 singing in different churches and cathedrals.

"International touring is essential to a vibrant choral program, and to enable the students to really come together, not only personally but also musically," music professor Jeffrey Riehl said.

Schola Cantorum is a mixed voice ensemble, composed of students from various majors who were selected by audition. Thirty Schola members, as well as 19 Women's Chorale members and 12 Chamber Orchestra members went on the trip. They were accompanied by Riehl, the Women's Chorale Director David Pedersen, music chairman Gene Anderson and accompanist Mary Beth Bennett.

The group performed during Sunday Mass on March 8 at the St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, Czech Republic, and also delivered a concert on March 10 at the Church of the Transfiguration in Pezinok, Slovakia. They performed again two days later at St. Catherine's Church in Banska Stiavnica, Slovakia, and concluded the international leg of the tour on March 13 at the Matthias Church in Budapest, Hungary.

The group will perform their tour program on Sunday, March 29 at the Williamsburg Presbyterian Church in Williamsburg, Va., and Sunday, April 5 at Richmond's Camp Concert Hall at 3 p.m.

"We had very good audiences, very enthusiastic audiences, larger than we certainly expected," Riehl said about their tour. The audience in Pezinok gave a long, standing ovation, said Riehl's son, Nathan, a Richmond freshman and Schola tenor.

Riehl created the program in August, with a focus on commemorating the 200th anniversary of the death of composer Joseph Haydn, who died on May 31, 1809, he said. He also wanted to incorporate American folk songs, spirituals and 20th century music into the program, he said, because during his time abroad the audiences have enjoyed hearing American music.

The group also had the opportunity to extend its focus from just music to the cultural experience of the tour as a whole.

"The students got to see art, architecture and these cities in which many of the great musical works of the western cannon were written and performed," Riehl said. "It gives them a really beautiful cultural context in which to understand what's going on in this music and the context in which it was originally written and performed. That's invaluable."

The students did a lot of exploring, went to museums, looked in shops and dabbled in the nightlife, Nathan said.

"I definitely think the trip gave us a greater sense of unity within the group," he said. "We spent so much time together that people got to know each other, and when you know the people you're singing with you feel more comfortable singing with them. We really improved musically."

Riehl said the tour was a success, and he was proud of the students for handling themselves professionally while representing the university and American students as a whole.

Contact reporter Avril Lighty at avril.lighty@richmond.edu