This past summer, choir and orchestra students traveled to Belgium, Austria, France, Switzerland, and Germany for American Music Abroad. AMA is a program that allows American musicians the chance to perform in front of audiences around the world.

“Abby [Treece] and I have taken French before and we both love playing our instruments so we thought it was an opportunity that we couldn’t pass up,”  senior violinist Erin O’Hara, said.

AMA gave Patriot musicians the chance to sing or play instruments in countries with wide varieties of culture. When they arrived in Dinkelsbühl, a small town in Germany, students were greeted with a welcoming ceremony with trumpets.

Sophomore vocalist Gracie Hall, junior cellist Abby Treece, and O’Hara all agreed that their favorite country to visit was Austria. “The people in Austria are so nice and their culture is so interesting,” Hall, said.

“Austria was so beautiful and was definitely my favorite place,”  O’Hara said.

Orchestra and choir students were able to learn and perform six to seven songs for AMA. “‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ sounded so epic, it’s just amazing. That was played with a band so it was a full orchestra,”  O’Hara said.

“It was so dramatic,” Treece said, “and ‘Stars and Stripes Forever’ was our encore piece, which the crowds loved.”

Prior to leaving, student practiced for nine hours a day for three days at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania. “We had meals and at night we slept, but it was pretty much practicing for the trip all day long for a few days,” Treece said.

Orchestra and choir performed in a wide variety of venues, from performing outside in the open air to inside large cathedrals.

“The open air places were the best for performing, O’Hara said. “Playing in the orchestra while we were surrounded by mountains was the coolest experience.”

Not only did AHS musicians learn all that they could about music, they learned a lot about travel in general. From flying to being around lots of people, students were taught about life in different cities and what they had to do to get around.

“We learned how to be smart travelers while we were away for sure,” answered O’Hara. “We had to be smart with our money and find our way through the airport.”

“One of my favorite moments while we were away was when we were in Austria and were able to go on the gondolas in the mountains, that was so pretty,” Hall said.

For the conclusion of their trip, AMA students celebrated by playing songs on the piano while dancing around to the music. It was a bonding experience and an end to a summer trip that each girl agreed they would treasure forever.