ITINERARY

Saturday – June 18
Afternoon – Check-in at the ****Amarilis Congress Hotel
Meeting with our guide, rest time.
7:00 pm – dinner and welcome party at the hotel restaurant

Sunday – June 19
9:00 am – after breakfast meeting at the lobby
10:00 am – rehearsal at the hotel
1:00 pm – transfer to the City Centre
2:00 am – choir concert visit
3:00 pm – first sightseeing tour of the Old Town
6:00 pm – dinner at the city centre
8:00 pm – Classical Oratorio Concert (*)
Or Verdi´s festival Prague Opera (*)

Monday – June 20
9:00 am – rehearsal at the hotel
1:00 pm – lunch there
2:00 pm – Bike tour* or tram tour of the city and after 2nd sightseeing tour – Prague Castle
8:00 pm – Prague Laterna Magica theatre visit (*)

Tuesday – June 21
8:00 am – rehearsal
Lunch break
After transfer to Telc UNESCO Heritage Town and Castle
Sightseeing tour there
Accommodation at ****Castle hotel Trest, dinner there
Karaoke party

Wednesday – June 22
9:00 am – rehearsal
After break for lunch, sight-seeing tour and free time
4:00 pm – Trest church – 1st FULL CHOIR PERFORMANCE
Dinner at the hotel
Barbeque with music and dance

Thursday – June 23
9:00 am – rehearsal
12:30 pm – lunch at the hotel restaurant
after: transfer to Bratislava (Slovakia)
Accommodation at the ****Wellness hotel Bon Bon

Friday – June 24
after breakfast rehearsal
12:00 – lunch at the hotel
1:00 pm – sightseeing tour of the city. You will see the Presidential Palace, Eurovea – the modern city center, the National Theatre, a unique Art Nouveau church and others. It stops at Bratislava Castle and the Slavín memorial with their fantastic panoramic views. From the Castle enjoy the view of the historical city centre. Then the tour continues with a drive along the Danube to the magnificent ruins of the Devin Castle, situated above the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers boasting a superb view over the countryside and neighbouring Austria.
Free time for shopping
4:00 pm – boat trip to Vienna and back with speed boat (*)
8:00 pm – Bratislava Opera performance visit (*)

Saturday – June 25
After breakfast rehearsal
12:00 am – lunch at the hotel
City centre visit
5:00 pm – Bratislava Cultural Centre – stage rehearsal
6:00 pm – concert there – 2nd FULL CHOIR PERFORMANCE
8:00 pm – Folklore Performance visit with vine tasting (*)

Sunday – June 26
9:00 am – mass attendance at the St. Stephen´s church
After transfer to Budapest, UNESCO Heritage Capitol of Hungary
2:00 – arrival to Budapest (****Park Inn)
Free time
Dinner there

Monday – June 27
9:00 am – rehearsal
12:00 pm – lunch at the hotel restaurant
1:00 pm – after transfer to the Centre – sightseeing tour of the city
4:00 pm – visit the Széchenyi Bath (Biggest and Most Famous Spa of Europe)
8:00 pm – Danube boat trip with Gala dinner and live music (*)

Tuesday – June 28
After breakfast depart to Cluj Napoca (Romania)
Lunch stop and sightseeing tour at Oradea (http://romaniatourism.com/oradea.html)
Following transfer to Cluj Napoca (http://romaniatourism.com/cluj-napoca.html), the 2nd largest city in Romania, including St. Mihail Cathedral, the Orthodox Cathedral and Botanical Garden.
Overnight in ****hotel Cluj Napoca.

Wednesday -June 29
9:00 am – rehearsal
12:00 – lunch break at Targu
5:00 pm – transfer to Brasov (http://romaniatourism.com/brasov.html )
Special dinner in Brasov
Overnight in Poiana Brasov, 4* hotel.

Thursday – June 30
Rehearsal
Sightseeing tour of Brasov, the largest city in medieval Transylvania.
Driving through the main roads you’ll discover its beauty and picturesqueness, the combination between new and old, blackened stone buildings and red brick chimneys above the coloured tile roofs, over the crenels and buttresses. Old fortification ruins of the former burg, the narrow and tortuous streets, the old baroque houses with their bulky arched gates still, keeps in the downtown the mediaeval patina. Visit to Black Church and St. Nicolae Church with its first school in the Romanian language.
Dinner at the hotel, after “Red and White” Party!

Friday – July 1
Happy Canada Day!
After breakfast rehearsal
Next visit is Bran Castle (http://www.bran-castle.com/), the controversial and contested Count Dracula’s Castle. The fortress-castle was built on 1377 by master masons of Brasov, on high rock, dominating the whole region.
Driving south, stop at Sinaia to visit Peles Castle (http://peles.ro/) – the former summer royal residence. The fairylike beauty of the landscape at the foot of the Bucegi Mountains had fascinated the young German Prince Carol I of Hohenzollern, who was to become the king of modern Romania. The Peles Castle has 106 rooms, an imposing reception hall with fine ornaments of inlaid wood, a gallery of mirrors and a Florentine hall where one can admire splendid Murano chandeliers, a Moorish and Turkish drawing room. The edifice is surrounded by a terraced garden.
6:00 pm – stage rehearsal at the local concert hall
7:00pm – 3rd CHOIR PERFORMANCE
8:00 pm – dinner
9:00 pm – Wine tasting with folk music (*)

Saturday, July 2
9:00 am – rehearsal (for NS hiking tour)
Transfer to Sibiu (http://romaniatourism.com/sibiu.html#highlights)
7:00 pm – arrival UNESCO City Sibiu
Walking sightseeing tour of mediaeval Sibiu including the Main Square, the Small Square and the Liars Bridge.
4:00 pm – stage rehearsal at National House and following
5:00 pm – 4th CHOIR PERFORMANCE

Sunday, July 3
Breakfast, rehearsal
Lunch
Depart for UNESCO City Sighisoara (http://romaniatourism.com/sighisoara.html), the ancient cradle of the Romanians, located in a landscape of peculiar beauty on Tirnave Plateau. Thick walls surround the citadel, having inside round 150 mediaeval houses all of them inhabited. Walking visit of the old town with the Clock Tower, the covered stairs and the mediaeval streets.
Sightseeing tour of mediaeval Sibiu including the Catholic Cathedral, the Orthodox Cathedral, the Evangelical Church, Liars Bridge
Depart from Sighisoara back to Sibiu

Monday, July 4
After breakfast, transfer to Budapest, UNESCO Heritage Capitol of Hungary
2:00 pm – visit of the Deva citadel, stop for lunch
Arrival to Budapest (****Park Inn)
Dinner there

Tuesday, July 5
9:00 am – rehearsal
Lunch
After transfer to the castle, visiting the Royal Castle, the Fisherman’s Bastion and the Matthias Church
3:30 pm- short stage rehearsal there
4:00 pm – Mathias church 5th FULL CHOIR PERFORMANCE
Final party with Hungarian gypsy music, Gala dinner and wine tasting

Wednesday, July 6
After breakfast extra Budapest stay or departure

Highlights
Prague /UNESCO heritage city and castle
Welcome party at the AMARILIS hotel
Telc /UNESCO Heritage, historical city and Castle
Trest /Medieval Castle Hotel, we will stay there!
Castle Garden Barbeque Party
Danube /The “musical” river
Bratislava /Capital city of Slovakia
Budapest / UNESCO Heritage city
Danube Boat trip /Live Music, Fine dining, Sightseeing by Night
Oradea / Baroque Pearl of Transylvania
Cluj Napoca / Historical Centre of Dacia Empire and Ancient Romanians
Sighisoara / Ancient cradle of Romanians, UNESCO Heritage Fortress and Town
Harman Fortified Church / Unique combination of the Church and Fortress
Brasov / Romanian historical city and Castle
Peles Castle / Romantic Castle
Bran Castle / Medieval castle of Count Dracula
Transylvanian Alps / Part of Carpathian Mountains, Romantic Area full of History, Legends and Nature
Sibiu / largest and wealthiest of the seven walled citadels built in the 12th century by Transylvanian Saxons, UNESCO Heritage city
Deva Citadel / medieval Fortress of Deva
Final Party / with Hungarian Gypsy Music, Gala Dinner and Wine tasting

Stay possibilities:
1. Stay (18 nights / 19 days), per person in double or twin is 3.545,- CAD.
Single room surcharge is 905 CAD.
2. Particular stay of Czech and Slovak part (10 nights / 11 days, till June 28th )
Cost is 2398 CAD, single room surcharge is + 547 CAD.
3. Particular stay of Hungarian and Romanian part (10 nights/ 11 nights, from June 26th)
Cost is 2420 CAD, single room surcharge is + 574 CAD.

Price incl.:
Central located **** hotel accommodation
Half board
Choir program (rehearsals, concerts)
All guided tours
Entrance fees
Bus transportation
Parties, special events, all according the schedule

(*) These opportunities involve additional cost. They are optional and not part of the tour. They are included for your information but there is neither compulsory attendance nor requirement that you spend the additional money. They are, however, great value.

Disclaimer: This is not necessarily the final itinerary. However, changes will most likely be a re-ordering of activities or performances. There will be no diminution of the activities and benefits specified.

The Agency sponsored a very successful program, SING TO THE LORD, which provided an opportunity for singers from Canada to form a choir in Prague, engage in an intensive daily rehearsal schedule, and then travel to outlying communities to sing. Past tours have given performances in Budapest, Salzburg, Vienna, Munich, Berlin, Leipzig, Prague, and a number of smaller communities in the Czech Republic. A joint venture between Club Tours and Canadian Choral Director, Peter Dent, this program terminated at the conclusion of the 2014 Sing to the Lord Tour.

Club Tours President, Michal Svarc, is of the opinion that there is still a market for a program which recruits singers from various communities and creates a positive atmosphere for them to come together, make music, and have a focused holiday. As the sponsoring agency, he has engaged Peter Dent to continue as the music director.

Some of the features of the new venture include:

1) Appeal to a wider demographic, particularly the USA and Europe.
2) Performance of a variety of sacred and secular music, from various regions and in various languages.
3) Collaborations with community choirs in the performance locales.
4) Performances in Churches, Castles, and Concert Halls.
5) A tour of 18-22 Days.
6) Approximately 6 performances.
7) Different arrival and departure cities.

PROPOSED REPERTOIRE FOR MUSICA SEMPER VIVA – 2016

FIRST SEGMENT (June 18th – 28th)

Goin‘ Home – Antonin Dvorak (sung in English)

Missa Brevis – Zdenek Lucas (sung in Latin)

Modlitba – Bedrich Smetena (sung in Czech)

Kovar & Vecer – 2 folk songs by Josef Foerster (sung in Czech)

Spruch – Gideon Klein (sung in German)

My Paddle’s Keen & Bright/Land of the Silver Birch – arr: Dent (sung in English)

Give to Me Your Tired, Your Poor – Irving Berlin (sung in English)

Cockles & Mussels – arr: Gene Puerling (sung in English)

J’Entends Le Moulin – arr: Godfrey Ridout (sung in French)

SECOND SEGMENT (June 26th – July 6th)

3 Hungarian Madrigals – Rezso Sugar (sung in English)

Missa Tertia – Lajos Bardos (sung in Latin)

Hortobagy – Gyorgy Ligeti (sung in Hungarian)

Esti Dal – Zoltan Kodaly (sung in Hungarian)

O How Glorious – Healey Willan (sung in English)

Let Us Break Bread Together – arr: Leslie Bell (sung in English)

Song For the Mira – Allister MacGillivray (sung in English)

Come to the Fair – Easthope Martin (sung in English)

En Passant Par La Lorraine – arr: Dent (sung in French)