Over spring break, all LZHS choirs flew nearly 14,500 miles to start their tour in Germany and Austria.  

The tour spanned ten days and four cities, including Munich, Oberndorf, Salzburg, and Vienna. They explored and sang at several locations throughout the tour. 

“Singing in all the cathedrals [was] absolutely amazing,” Leo Dupee, sophomore, said. “It sounded beautiful. It was just great, [and] it was really fun but also difficult trying to [sing in] different spaces and figure out all the dynamics.”

The choirs also learned about the history of famous German and Austrian composers, including Wolfgang Mozart and Joseph Haydn, and visited music based locations such as the church where Silent Night was originally performed. 

Aside from learning about music, choir members also had the opportunity to make more friends and bond with each other, according to Sydney Pine, senior. 

“I feel [it] always happens on school trips for me. I ended up bonding with people that I wasn’t expecting to,” Pine said. “I got a lot closer with underclassmen that I knew because they were just the people that were always nearby. It was fun getting to do all these things, but also getting to know each other even better.”

According to Nick Juknelis, choir director, the trip took about two years to orchestrate and was planned to coincide with the school’s production of A Sound of Music, which takes place in Austria. 

Juknelis, who has gone on ten trips with the choir, says this trip was definitely one of his favorites. 

“The best parts of the trip are always the things that aren’t on the itinerary: [when] we have time to eat lunch, [when] we have time to sit and have a cup of coffee, [when] we have time to ride on the bus together, [when] we have free time at the hotel and we play cards,” Juknelis said. “It’s all those other things that really are the highlight.”