by Vera LeFort On Wednesday we spent the day in Kraków’s Old Town exploring its culture, and ended the evening with our first concert in Poland.   Upon arriving in the city, I was immediately taken by the Wawel (Va-vel) castle overlooking the Wiswa, the longest river in Poland. I was reminded of the extensive

by Lucy Hamann After I stepped into Auschwitz, it felt as though this era of history had been paused, not erased, and not forgotten, but suspended. Frozen in time while the rest of the world moves forward. Driving into the camp, I noticed life continuing outside its gates. People were gardening in their yards, dogs

by Lucy Hamann On our departure day, we started off our day showing up at MYAC bright and early at 9:15 a.m. With us, we had to have all of our luggage, less than 50 pounds. My luggage miraculously made it, weighing in at 45 pounds with room to spare. After loading the buses and

by Lauren Gooden Our concert Saturday afternoon was remarkable. The sounds of percussion and their rhythm were fluid and helped to paint a beautiful picture which mimicked Mr. Simmons conducting. The woodwinds produced soothing lyrical magic that sounded like a bird’s morning song. The brass showcased dramatic and anticipating theme-like sounds that alluded to something

by Giovanna Hughes We flew to Poland! It took my group about 19 or so hours to get to Poland (two hours driving to Chicago, four hours at the Chicago airport, seven hours flying to Germany, two hours at the German airport, and two hours flying to Kraków). The airport was incredibly crowded and stressful,

by Vera Lefort In these past couple of weeks, but especially after our Bon Voyage Concert on Saturday, I felt ready to travel and focus on having fun performing on tour. Our concert was very successful, and all of the feedback I received was filled with nothing but positivity. It made me feel incredibly proud

Hello! Welcome to the blog for MYSO’s 2025 tour of Poland & the Czech Republic. Follow the orchestra on their once-in-a-lifetime journey with daily posts beginning Sunday, July 13. You will be reading the perspectives of several of our tour musicians as they broaden their experiences, and connect with different cultures–and each other. We can’t