by Marisa Loranger, CollegiateLife Editor.
“To be able to sing and perform works in the very spaces that the composers lived and worked, now that’s really significant,” explains Tim Hendrickson, Delta College’s director of choral activities.
Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Rothenburg, Munich, Neuschwanstein, Salzburg, Spittal an der Drau and Klagenfurt are some of the cities that Delta College choir students will get an opportunity to visit.
The Delta College Choral and Chamber Choir will be traveling to Germany and Austria, July 1-14, 2016. At least 30 students are expected to make the trip across the globe which can be very costly. The price per person is $4,600, which includes round trip airfare, hotel stay, two meals a day and a round trip ground coach from Midland to Detroit Metro Airport.
“For many of our students, this will be their first time in a plane – certainly the first time out of the country – and I think it’s extraordinarily significant that a two-year college choral program has the ability to do something like this,” explains Hendrickson.
Delta Choral and Chamber Choir students will be traveling with the Midland Center for the Arts’ Midland Choral and Camerata.
During the 14 day trip, they will be touring around Germany and Austria as part of the Choral Festival.
Bernie Nowak, the secretary for the Choral Association explains, “I’m really excited and also kind of nervous. I have never been that far from home but I’m looking forward to the traveling. I have always wanted to travel the world and i think this is a great start.”
Delta Chamber Choir and Midland Camerata are combining forces to compete in an international competition. For this competition, choirs need to be invited to compete and participate.
“We’re considering doing some Mozart, some Bach and some Brahms. Well you see, we’re going to be in the very cities where those three composers started their careers. So it’s pretty fascinating that we’re able to perform in the spaces and in some cases the very structures that these works were composed in and first performed,” explains Hendrickson.
To receive enough money for the trip, the choir’s will be hosting two choral concerts this semester. Saturday, Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. will be their first concert. The choir will perform in the Lecture Theatre (G160). Tickets are $10 and all the proceeds go toward the trip.
Their second concert is their holiday concert. Saturday, Dec. 19 at 8 p.m. Tickets will also be $10 and the performance will be held in the Lecture Theatre.
Tickets can be purchased from choir students before the event or at the door the day of. Tim Hendrickson can also be contacted for tickets at (989) 686-9373.