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May 9, 2018
EYO Open Evening this Friday 11th May
EYO’s annual Open Rehearsal and Information Evening for prospective new players and parents is taking place this Friday 11th... Read more
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Annual Tour
Each summer, eyo spends a week abroad. As well as giving the orchestra the opportunity to rehearse intensively and to perform in new environments, the annual tour is a social event: the players have a lot of fun. In recent years, eyo has toured Poland, France, Spain, Belgium and Germany.
In August 2018, EYO will again head off to Europe for three concerts in a yet-to-be-dsiclosed destination. Please do read the full report of the 2017 tour to Budapest by orchestra member Rebecca White below.
Info about EYO TOUR 2017 for EYO players and parents can be found in the Tour FAQ’s
EYO 2017 Tour – A View from the Orchestra
EYO TOUR 2017 – Budapest
This year EYO travelled all the way to Budapest in Hungary for yet another unforgettable tour. After the exhausting 28-hour coach journey we were greeted by a huge fireworks display on the banks of the River Danube to celebrate St Stephen’s Day, which brought the tiring journey to a fantastic close.
On Monday we had an early start to get straight into a day of rehearsals, which were held in a practising monastery, after which I think we were all looking forward to having a meal and finally getting into our beds!
Our time in Hungary was packed full of exploring the culture and history of both Buda and Pest, with an intriguing historical tour along the Chain Bridge and a climb to the top of Buda Castle. We also had a boat ride along the River Danube to reach Margaret Island, which we returned to later in the week to experience ‘one of the best lidos in the world’ (according to Lee), going on water slides and trying to conquer the wave machine. We were given lots of free time to look around the area we stayed in, which included a giant food market and plenty of souvenir shops.
On each concert day we were given free time to take in our surroundings, buy tons of food and practise some of the Hungarian language we had picked up along the way. Vác was a beautiful and quaint town just outside Budapest with plenty of hidden gems, and the audience filled the grand church venue. The Royal Palace of Gödöllö was an unforgettable experience for the whole orchestra. We were given a tour of the palace and told the history of its occupants, with the concert taking place outside by the palace gardens.
I think it’s safe to say the final concert as part of “Bakáts Feszt” was the best of the tour. We were each given microphones to project our sound, the stage was enormous and the audience was electric! The couple of hours’ rehearsal in the immense heat was completely worth it as it was definitely one of EYO’s finest performances.
One of the most memorable parts of tour was the audiences’ reactions to Hungarian Dances. At every venue without fail they joined in and clapped along, and since we always closed with this piece they also cheered and stomped at the end!
This was certainly a remarkable tour for EYO and everyone had a ball! Thank you so much to all those who organised it this year and I wonder what next year has in store…
Rebecca White