The School’s neighbours must have wondered what was going on when, at 4.30 am on the Tuesday after Easter, Addison Road was full of coaches, musical instruments, excited children and sleepy parents. Half an hour later they might have wondered if they had imagined the whole scene as by 5 am the streets were silent once again. But they had not been dreaming: 116 pupils and staff were off to Heathrow to begin the journey to Prague for our tour with the Vaughan’s Choir and Orchestra.
Arrival at Heathrow and checking in for the flights is always one of the most stressful moments on a School trip: has a name been spelt incorrectly? Has someone been missed off all together? Will they accept the instruments? Czech airlines did not seem keen on our trombones, charging £20 for the pleasure of taking them on board, but British Airways were far more relaxed about the nine foot high double bass case, waving it on with no charge. All were soon checked in and we arrived at Prague Airport without incident and were soon on our way to the Hotel, the perfectly respectable Hotel Duo on the outskirts of Prague.
Lunch followed, our first encounter with the rather unusual Czech cuisine - the standard of the food was not a high point of the trip, although there were enough servings of chicken and chips to keep everyone going. A quick meeting and then we were off into Prague for a tour of the main sites. We visited Prague Castle with the spectacular St Vitus Cathedral, crossed the Charles Bridge, ending up in the Old Town Square where we were able to watch the famous Astronomical Clock put on its animated display on the hour. Dinner was served in the Black Sun Restaurant, an underground beer hall style establishment that proved a good way to end the first day. Our return to the Hotel saw lots of very tired musicians making their way wearily to bed.
Wednesday began with more sightseeing, as we travelled to Petřín Hill, the location of an Eiffel Tower style observation point, which offers spectacular views of Prague. The hall of mirrors proved popular also before we walked down into the town once again for a quick Lunch. Everyone then boarded the coaches for the trip out to the town of Tabor, about an hour and a half away, which was to be the location of our first concert. There we rehearsed, the boys singing and playing for the first time in over a week. All seemed to be in good shape and following dinner at a local restaurant it was time for the concert. The Tábor Municipal Theatre was the venue, a large and rather luxurious theatre and we were all rather taken aback to see that several hundred people who had gathered to listen to us perform. Audiences on School trips are often rather small but this was not to be the case in the Czech Republic where our excellent representatives had ensured large and appreciative audiences for us wherever we went. The concert was very successful, with Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto (performed by Sarah Innes, James D’Costa and Edward Taroghion) followed by the Mozart Requiem. The very warm reception we received after the concert was to be typical of the reaction of the audiences to our music making all week.
We were not the only visitors in Prague on Thursday as Presidents Obama and Medvedev were arriving to sign a nuclear arms deal. We were heading away from Prague though, luckily as the city was gridlocked due to its visitors; indeed our coaches were late arriving as they were held up by President Obama’s motorcade. Eventually we were on our way to the town of Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou, stopping off enroute for lunch at the World Heritage Site Telč. On our arrival at Jaroměřice we were given a guided tour of the Eighteenth Century chateau before preparing for the concert and mass in the adjoining Basilica of St. Margaret. The Schola sang for Mass, concelebrated by Father Dominic, before the concert, with music by Handel and Dvořák alongside the Mozart Requiem. The Basilica was unfortunately rather cold and so the pupils performed wearing their jumpers and coats but this all added to a happy and relaxed atmosphere making for a very enjoyable performance again very well received by packed audience. Dinner in a local hotel was welcome before we made the long journey back to Prague.
Friday began with a trip to Prague Zoo before we returned into central Prague for some free time spent taking Lunch and buying gifts. Gathering again we went to the venue of our final concert, the splendid Church of Saints Simon and Jude. The Church has been converted into a full time concert hall (it is the home of the Prague Symphony Orchestra) and it provided a beautiful setting for our final concert, a performance of Mozart’s Requiem to an audience of more than 400 people. This was a very fine performance as having had the opportunity to play the work several times had allowed for the music to become very confident and secure. The audience were very generous in their applause, clapping until every single last performer had left the stage. We then went to meet the cruise ship for our farewell dinner cruise on the Vltava. The pupils presented the staff with generous gifts and there was a very happy atmosphere indeed as the trip drew to a close.
The following day, Saturday, saw everyone gather and head off to the airport where, successfully checked, in all 116 of us made our way back to Heathrow and back to the School. Thus ended one of the most lovely music trips we have undertaken, one that will perhaps be best remembered for the high standard of the music-making inspired by the very large and receptive audiences we encountered everywhere that we performed. Congratulations and thanks to all involved in what was a lovely few days.