Guess who will be taking great care of you in Europe in 2010: Barbara

Dear members of the CIC 2008 Italy Tour, I am pretty sure you recall Teresa's lovely colleague Ms. Barbara Holl who stepped on the coach for the last few days of the journey as a second tour manager. Barbara, a native of Austria, will be your tour manager for the CIC 2010 Tour to Central Europe and is very much looking forward to seeing old friends again and meeting those new to the touring group.
Barbara holds a teaching degree in German and Biology, speaks four languages fluently and made her passion for travel her career. We are honored to have her on board for some of our very special tours in the third consecutive year.

UA Schola Cantorum singing at Göttweig

Thank you for a great meeting

Dear Singers and Friends of the Carolina International Chorale, it was great seeing all of you that went to Italy with the group last summer again and nice to meet fellow singers interested in traveling to Central Europe on the next CIC performance tour in the summer of 2010. Thank you for the warm welcome, your questions and suggestions. Please stay in touch.
Auf Wiedersehen, Sandra

"Unforgettable experiences at Goettweig" - from Ember Lanuti

My name is Ember and I am now a member of the Incantato Tours Team. Before I joined the company, I toured with my university choir to Central Europe in the summer of 2008. One of my most memorable times was at the Benedictine Abbey of Goettweig. I felt like we were treated like kings and queens as we were offered a private tour through the monastery with Pater Justus, the museum was full of beautiful art and history but more importantly it had original compositions by Haydn and Beethoven on display. He also allowed our fellow student and accompanist to play on the organ in the cathedral. It was so special to see the cathedral at night and to have a personal concert on their beautiful, enormous organ.

Goettweig is situated on the top of a mountain, which offers one of the most beautiful panoramic views I've ever seen. Here are some pictures from the perspective of my camera last summer. This is a picture of my friend and I (on the right) with Pater Justus, at the end of our personal tour through the monastery and museum.

This is a monastery that carries on with their Benedictine style of life but has adapted graciously to the 21st century. This was made obvious on Sunday morning after their traditional mass there was a contemporary service held outside and the whole congregation was full of motorcycles and their riders. Although it was alarming to hear all the bikes roaring up to the courtyard, it was moving to be able to witness this - it was a beautiful experience.




While staying at Goettweig, we were able to take strolls along the Danube in Duernstein and to
take a hike up to the ruins of a castle fortress, which happens to be where Richard the Lionhearted was imprisoned during the Crusades.

Here's a silly picture of my friend acting like she was locked up in the same place as Richard. She'd kill me if she knew I posted this! =)

Last but not least, we had a wonderful experience performing in the sanctuary. It's a beautiful spectacle for the audience but also for the singers. I firmly believe that each venue offers something different to each piece of repertoire. My musical experience was definitely enhanced while singing here. The space is very much alive and is great for classical music, especially for an orchestra. Here is a picture of the sanctuary during our performance. In this picture, the choir is singing Bach's "Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied" - split into two choirs spanning both sides.

Incantato Destinations: Prague, Czech Republic

Prague got its name by being the threshold between the Slavic and Germanic worlds.

St. Vitus Church - Cesky Krumlov

The St. Vitus cathedral shares with the castle the peninsula created by the river Vltava, thus creating an impressive architectural feature that characterizes the town.

The castle tower symbolizes the secular ruling power and the region of its influence; the church tower of St. Vitus then personifies the might of the holy Christendom which from medieval times functioned both as a counterpart and complement of the worldly powers.

This Gothic church was built in the 14th century and was rebuilt from 1407-1439 and sits at the top of hill in the village. Both towers can be seen from any point in the village.

St. Vitus has wonderful acoustics and the townspeople are eager and demonstrate great love for music and talent.