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May 18, 2017
EYO Open Rehearsal and Information Evening TOMORROW!
EYO’s annual Open Rehearsal and Information Evening for prospective new players and parents is taking place TOMORROW, Friday 19th... 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 2017, EYO will travel to Budapest in Hungary where they will perform three concerts. Please do read the full report of last year’s tour to Köln and Aachen by orchestra member Victoria Szymanska below.
Info about EYO TOUR 2017 for EYO players and parents can be found in the Tour FAQ’s
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EYO 2016 Tour – A View from the Orchestra
EYO TOUR 2016 – AACHEN & KÖLN
No teenager enjoys waking up at 5 o’clock in the morning, but on Thursday 19th August as soon 
as 60+ players assembled for the EYO tour outside Twyford School and boarded the bus they were buzzing with excitement. The exhausting 12 hour journey to Germany was made less painful by a movie marathon of James Bond films. Let’s hope next year we are treated to some Disney movies for some light relief!
Our trip to Germany was divided into time to explore Aachen, Altenberg and Cologne (the venues of our concerts), rehearsals and performances. One of the highlights of our free time was a scavenger hunt in Aachen. Our wickedly imaginative tour leaders sent us on a 3 hour hunt to complete various tasks such as to take a picture of a traditional German meal, buy the biggest food item we could find for 1€ and a video of us holding a fitness class in the main square. Our physical endurance continued on another day, when after an exhausting hike we found energy to play a bit of rugby and netball with the only spherical object we happened to find, which was an orange! During our day spent in Cologne, some of us enjoyed having a taster of German culture in the cathedral, whilst others preferred a taste of the mouthwatering local delicacies like pretzels and gingerbread.
As the week went on, not only did our musicality improve and augment but so did the size of our audiences and their applause. A symphony of cheering and clapping followed our final performance in Aachen where we played to a packed church, after which we enjoyed a well deserved fancy dress party. EYO players make wonderful Hawaiian goddesses and Where’s Wally characters, just to name a couple! The atmosphere on the journey home was considerably calmer and the level of exhaustion was such that most people slept through the entire journey… this is the sign of a perfect EYO tour!
Victoria Szymanska