Over spring break, the Shorewood High School Orchestra went on its first 10-day trip to Europe for sightseeing and performing since 2016. The group, composed of 70 students and 22 chaperones, visited the Czech Republic and multiple cities in Germany. In Prague and Berlin, the orchestra also performed in concert. 

“It was a lot of fun getting to spend time with kids that I usually only hang out with at school out in the vast beyond of Europe,” said Isaiah Dietrich, senior.

The group was a part of several guided tours and visited many famous structures. 

“We had a tour of the castle at Prague, the Saint Charles bridge and we learned about the history of that city,” said Karen Frink, Orchestra Director. “We also saw the music museum in Prague [where] we got to see all the old instruments…from the renaissance and baroque [era].”

After the tours, the students had several hours to themselves as free time to explore.

“My favorite part was probably going around in the cities alone with my friends,” said Chloe Chang, sophomore. “My favorite city was definitely Prague because there was so much to do.”

Frink explained that one of the hardest challenges was making sure that students followed the rules while also having a great experience.

“When you get to the hotel, one of the rules is that kids have to stay in their rooms and they can’t be running around,” Frink said. “[It’s hard when] at eleven o’clock everyone is suddenly hungry and wants to go to the grocery store and they can’t.”

In Germany, the group was able to spend a few days in each city, including Berlin, Wittengberg, and Leipzig.

“We [saw a lot of] former East Germany, so it was really interesting seeing the Soviet history there and the post World War II history,” Frink said.

The orchestra started their tour of Germany in Berlin, where they participated in a bus tour to learn about its history.

“Berlin is the kind of city you could spend three weeks in— there’s so much art and music there,” Frink said.

The main focus during the group’s time in Leipzig was learning about the lives of famous composers and their accomplishments.

“We went to the Bach museum and saw the church where he worked for all those years, and a lot of us went to the Mendelssohn house because Mendelssohn is from Leipzig,” Frink said.

Additionally, the group’s visit to Wittenberg allowed them to enter into the Stadtkirche, or All Saints’ Church.

“We went to go see the church where Martin Luther put up his thesis…it was super fun,” Chang said.

The group performed twice during the trip, once in the Czech Museum of Music in Prague and once in the Pfefferberg Theater in Berlin.

“They were very prepared and they sounded great on tour, and we had some amazing senior soloists play with the group, so the concerts were very special,” Frink said.

Overall, the group was exposed to the various lifestyles throughout the cities and learned how to become better performers through their experience in Europe.

“It was really cool being in a place with a different culture, and while there were things I didn’t like, like having to pay for bathrooms or [when] they don’t give you water with your meal, which I hated, it was overall just a great experience,” Dietrich said.