Each summer, American Music Abroad brings together students from across the country, many of whom have never met before, to form traveling ensembles.
They spend a few days rehearsing together, building friendships, and transforming from strangers into a cohesive band and choir. Then, they board a plane headed across the Atlantic.
In partnership with Peak Group Travel, which acquired AMA a few years ago, these trips take students on a two-week tour around Europe. Along the way, they perform five or six concerts in breathtaking venues—from centuries-old cathedrals to bustling public squares.
We spoke with Beth Beccone of Peak about her trip this summer, joining the students.
What are some highlights from your recent trip?
First off, seeing the choir perform in Salzburg at the cathedral where Mozart was baptized. I mean, how often do you get to even be there, let alone hear a choir perform there, and hearing their voices was just magical. And watching the regular tourists walking in, people stopped and sat in the pews and really listened. To see how music translates across language boundaries, geographic boundaries, was really special.
You could even see the students really change. Watching them grow from the beginning of the tour to the end was one of the highlights, too. You can see how they get more confident with even checking into a hotel, advocating for themselves, fighting for the right foods they might need at a restaurant, or just navigating crowds and how to move in the world.
And performing in small towns, we got to go to the top of a glacier in July, so we were able to have a snowball fight in summer. That was pretty magical. And there was one town where the whole town came out. I think there was over 300 people in the audience. Not only did they enjoy the concert, they insisted on two encores. The mayor was there, he gave out gift bags, and the students were just eating it up. You could really see them understanding the impact that this had on themselves and also the community they performed for.
I’m sure seeing students from different schools come together is a highlight as well.
That’s the other thing, watching them emerge, because some kids were the only person from their school. Watching them navigate that and grow and learn about a different part of the country, or even just a couple towns over. So, now they have that connection, and when they see them at a marching band event in the fall, or a state competition, they’ll recognize each other, and they have already have a connection. I watched a crew of young men that were from six different schools, and they found each other and created their own subgroup within the group. It was really fun.
For teachers are reading this, how can they get their students, or schools involved?
We will find room for them. If a director was interested in having their students participate, they would just contact AMA and say, “Hey, I’ve got three students that would be perfect for this.” They do have to be recommended by their directors, but all they need to do is contact Bruce, and he would make sure they get assigned to the correct tour, geographically. And some of the students go through the SYTA Youth Foundation for scholarships, because this is a perfect trip to apply scholarship funds to.
Written by Josh Veal, Editorial Manager for Teach & Travel.
