SING TO THE LORD: PRAISE GOD WITH
SONG IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC
GOAL:
To provide a combination singing and sightseeing vacation, organized
especially for the amateur chorister who wants to perform sacred music in
some of the finest late Gothic and Baroque churches while at the same time
experiencing the beauties and magic of Prague and the Czech Republic, with
a
side trip to Germany.
DATE:
SUMMER PROGRAM: July 2, 2005 - July 14, 2005
WINTER PROGRAM: December 27, 2005 - January 5, 2006
TARGET GROUP:
Members of church and community choirs, their families, and friends looking
for an aesthetic, fun-filled and affordable holiday in one of the most
beautiful countries in Europe.
MUSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
There are no auditions. All who register as singers will be members of the
choir. However, in order to achieve the musical objectives of the director
and to ensure personal satisfaction, those enrolling as singers should be
able to read music, have current or recent choral or solo singing
experience, and be comfortable singing serious sacred music in Latin,
English, German and a small amount of Czech.
REPERTOIRE:
At this time, the major works selected for 2005 are:
PSALM 149 - ANTONIN DVORAK; AVE MARIA - LEOS JANACEK
MASS IN B FLAT - JAN HUGO VORISEK;
WEINEN, KLAGEN, SORGEN, ZAGEN - J.S. BACH
The final selection of repertoire is to some degree dependent on the
enrolment. Other repertoire may be added to complement these works.
MINIMUM REGISTRATION:
30 Singers. In order to ensure a good musical balance, competent amateur
singers from the
choir and participate fully in the rehearsals and the tour. For 2005, the
organizers are hoping to recruit close to 60 singers. If we exceed this
number the organizers are prepared to offer a second tour later in the month
of July.
Spouses, partners, children and friends are welcome on the tour. However,
non-singers must be aware that the tour is built around the rehearsal and
performance schedule of the choir. Every effort will be made to plan
complementary events for non-singers during the time that the singers are
rehearsing.
CONCEPT:
When amateur singers tour, they usually do so as members of an existing
ensemble. However, many singers are members of choirs, which, for a variety
of reasons, do not travel. This program allows individual singers to make
the decision to tour, themselves. Under this scheme, participants arrange
and pay for their own transport to and from
individual vacation. They arrange surface transport to a designated hotel,
in which accommodation has been booked for them to their specifications. At
this point, they become members of a touring musical ensemble, joining other
singers from various countries who have the same objective.
The music for the tour is distributed in advance; the cost is included in
the registration fee. Singers are expected to do extensive individual
preparation prior to starting the trip. For the first few days of the trip,
between 10:00am and 1:00 pm, singers rehearse the repertoire. Every
afternoon and evening, they sightsee and visit some of the marvelous sights
of
participants will have a chance to hear many fine free or modestly priced
concerts in
the scheduling of one of the performances in
church in which J.S. Bach wrote some of his greatest works.
Once the first performance is given, shorter additional rehearsals will
occur at the discretion of the Musical Director. All performances will be in
held in churches and cathedrals. The performances will be either concerts or
worship services. The venues and performance dates are guaranteed; the size
of the audience is not.
At the end of the tour, people overnight in Prague for the last evening of
the tour and will depart the following day either to return to their homes
or continue their journey.
SPONSORING AGENCY:
Club Tours Agentur - Prague's oldest and most experienced organizers of
cultural tours of the Czech Republic. Check out their website www.clubta.cz
MUSICAL DIRECTION:
Mr. Michal Svarc of Club Tours Agentur is pleased to confirm that Mr. Peter
Dent of Vancouver, Canada will continue as Musical Director. Mr. Dent has
conducted musical ensembles on several tours of the Czech Republic. He has
developed a close working relationship with Club Tours Agentur. Mr. Dent is
well known in Canada as both a choral conductor and a jazz musician. In
2002, Mr. Dent's Choir, the Pacific Singers received the highest mark in its
category during the inaugural Prague International Folk Song Festival. For
the past two summers, Mr. Dent has led over 40 Canadian Singers from Quebec
to British Columbia in "Sing to the Lord" tours.
COST:
SUMMER: 1350 Canadian Dollars
Cost includes hotel, breakfast and either lunch or dinner with complementary
beer or wine, all transfers, the services of a certified guide, special
events, concert venues and organization.
REGISTRATION:
To register, please contact:
Club Tours Agentur cta@iol.cz
or
Peter Dent peterdent@cablelan.net
Tel: 250-539-3594