By Rick Steves
Tribune Media Services

(Tribune Media Services) — Jolly olde England and the Emerald Isle of Ireland continue to enchant and entice, even with the pound whomping the dollar nearly two to one. Here’s what to expect if you visit in 2008.

Full Article Here

Along the magnificent English countryside, stop see these historic remains

By Don Willmott

Updated: 8:44 a.m. MT Oct 8, 2007
There it is in the distance: a crumbling castle or skeletal church wall majestically perched on a seaside cliff or rising silently from the middle of a windswept moor. Get closer, and walk through the vaulted archways. Run your hands along the carved stones. That’s what history feels like.

Visiting a scenic British ruin is one of those quintessential European experiences, a chance to reflect on natural and architectural beauty and to ponder the passage of time. Britain wears its old age well, and at its most scenic ruins, echoes of the past are always in the air. It’s enough to inspire romantic verse. Just flip through your dusty poetry anthology and reread Wordsworth’s “Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey.” You’ll get the idea.

You can walk in the steps of King Arthur at Tintagel Castle, set high on the Cornwall coast. You can climb the remnants of the battlements of Scotland’s Urquhart Castle and scan Loch Ness for mysterious ripples on the surface. At Linlithgow Palace near Edinburgh, you can wander through what’s left of the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots.

Click here for full article

Our recent tour to Ireland and Scotland was a great success. This was our third tour with Music Celebrations. Our tour manager was the best we have ever had. Both he and the bus driver became part of our group and quickly became dear friends. Our concerts were fantastic! The concert in Bray (south of Dublin) was a ball! This was definitely our performance highlight. Full house (300 people) and we developed a relationship with the audience that seldom happens. It was a smooth trip and I would be happy to serve as a reference for Music Celebrations.

Elaine Ostrander
Worthington Civic Band

Charleen Earley
Published 07/06/2007 - 6:48 p.m.
Antioch Press

When Liberty High School choir director Sue Stuart wanted to find a place to take her two choirs, she had only two requirements: it had to be a foreign place, and its residents had to speak English.

The task of navigating through a strange land is confusing enough, so communication was top priority. She also wanted her choirs to gain an appreciation for travel.

“My goal was not only to perform in a foreign country, but to give the kids a smorgasbord of England and Wales so they would want to come back and visit there again,” said Stuart, who has taught for 31 years.

Click here for full article

The Missouri Southern State University Chamber Choir, under the direction of Dr. Charles (Bud) Clark recently returned from touring Ireland, Wales and England as part of the American Celebration of Music concert series. While on tour, the Chamber Choir was able to have joint concerts with local choirs in Bray, Cardiff and London, which went over exceptionally well.

Thanks to all of you for your hard work. We were well taken care of. Your on site staff was superb (can’t say enough nice things about our tour manager!) and my interaction with your office was great as always! This tour was what I have come to expect from MCI – EXCELLENCE!! I am more than willing to serve as a reference!

Dr. Bud Clark
Missouri Southern State University

The following article was found on CNN. All participating groups in the Somerset Youth Choral Festival will have a chance to visit Bath and sightsee in this beautiful city.

Spiritual hotspot a hit with Brits, tourists from around the world

As a spiritual hotspot since before the Romans, Bath, England, can once again serve up a near-religious experience, thanks to its new spa. The Thermae Bath Spa opened last summer and has proved to be a hit with stressed-out Brits and tourists from all over the world.

The thermal hot springs have lured Georgian nobles, Romans and even ancient Celts for over 2,000 years. Don’t worry - it spews out at the rate of 240,000 gallons a day, so the bath water has been changed quite a few times.

In the region celebrated for Jane Austen and tales of legendary King Arthur sits the beautiful town of Sherborne, site of the 2008 Somerset International Youth Choral Festival.

Participating Youth Choruses will be housed in the prestigious Sherborne School and Sherborne School for Girls. It is here where most meals will be had and where the Festival rehearsals will take place. On campus is the wonderful Sherborne Abbey, where the choirs will perform individually and together for a very appreciative audience of the citizens of Sherborne before moving on to Wells for the Festival concert in historic Wells Cathedral.

In his book England’s Thousand Best Churches, Simon Jenkins lists Sherborne Abbey in the top 18 of England’s churches and credits it with some of the finest vaulting in the country. He writes, “I would pit Sherborne’s roof against any contemporary work of the Italian Renaissance”.

We are very excited about the upcoming festival and know that the Sherborne experience will certainly be a highlight for many of the singers.

Music Celebrations is pleased to announce the Somerset International Youth Choral Festival, to take place July 7 - 11, 2008. The festival chorus will consist of 300 mixed youth singers (SATB) as well as treble singers (SA) from North America and Great Britain.

The celebration will be under the artistic direction of the incomparable Dr. Z. Randall Stroope, as well as the eminent Ronald Corp.

Dr. Z. Randall Stroope

Ronald Corp

The rehearsals and festival performance will take place in Historic Wells Cathedral, which has maintained a choral tradition virtually unbroken for over 800 years.

Wells Cathedral

At the heart of the county of Somerset in Southwest England, Wells embodies all the charm and attraction one dreams of when imagining the English countryside. All accommodations will be at the elite private Sherborne School in the nearby town of Sherborne. Participating singers will be able to explore other nearby delights in Somerset, including the ancient Roman city of Bath. Choirs will also have the chance to spend time at Stonehenge en route to Somerset.

For information on registering a choir to take part, please contact us!

Choirs raise voices for high school trip
BRENTWOOD: Vocalists perform at Liberty High School

LIBERTY HIGH SCHOOL choir groups performed Sunday afternoon at a concert staged to pay for a trip to England.

The concert held at the Liberty High School Performing Arts Center featured Voices in Harmony, a group of about 90 men from the Bay Area who performed a four-part harmony barber shop quartet-style. Singers in the group range in age from 15 to 90.

The Liberty High School A Capella Choir and the Liberty Chamber Choir also were featured.
The choir groups must raise about $250,000 for the trip to London, where they will participate in the American Celebration of Music in Britain. Between 65 and 70 students are expected to participate in the U.K. program.

A special thanks to the many choirs that participated in the 2006 York Minster International Choral Festival. Every participant came away with a rewarding experience. We are glad that everyone had a great time and we are looking forward to working with you again!

To learn about upcoming Choral Festivals that Music Celebrations is organizing, please visit our Special Events site.

For two consecutive years, The CHORALE, from East Central Illinois, put MCI in charge of their summer vacation!

Representing the State of Illinois in choral performance in Scotland, The CHORALE, with Scottish folk singer, Jean Redpath as our guest, definitely had ‘the Scottish experience’. After our Fringe Festival Concert in Edinburgh, a gentleman in full Scottish regalia told our singers, “we Scots know fine music, and we heard it tonight.”, That kind of response . . . priceless.

There was a lot of singing going on - The CHORALE, Jean Redpath, Jean and Julie, The CHORALE, Jean and the audience, and everyone ending the evening together with “Amazing Grace”. The audiences at each venue went out of their way to show appreciation for the sharing of the music, and sought out the singers and myself for lively conversations at the end of each concert.

Our singers were thrilled with this performance tour - - the marvelous venues, (Paisley Abbey, Iona Abbey, Stirling Castle, Dunkeld Cathedral, St Giles Cathedral and Canongate Kirk), the enthusiasm and warmth of the those who came to hear us, excellent food and places to put our heads at night, an outstanding tour director and driver, the fine weather, the sense of history, and - - - - oh my, the scenery! The Scottish countryside certainly turned in its best performance for our benefit.

The MCI staff, both in this country and the UK, were finely tuned to our needs and helped us craft a memorable musical experience for our singers and the audiences. John, Carol, Alison, Dan and everyone who answered the phone when I called, were accommodating at every turn. We felt well cared for and connected in a very personal way.

-Julie Beyler, Music Director, The CHORALE

The Children’s Chorus of San Antonio recently returned from touring Paris and England. In Paris, the Chorus performed in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame and La Madeleine where they enjoyed receptive audiences of 200 – 300 at each venue. In the UK, they visited Canterbury, London, and York, where they participated in a festival with Doreen Rao.

Unforgettable concert venues, great food, wonderful accommodations, schedules that ran so smoothly - our summer tour to France and England was all that and more! Thank you for coordinating our 2006 Tour and for the many details MCI handled for our trip. We appreciate all that you did on our behalf. Everything that MCI arranged more than met our expectations. It was an amazing experience all the way around; thank you so much.

Sincerely,
Marguerite McCormick, Artistic Director, Children’s Chorus of San Antonio

By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent, Telegraph.co.uk
(Filed: 04/10/2006)

Canterbury Cathedral is falling apart at the seams, with chunks of masonry dropping off its walls and a fifth of its internal marble pillars held together by duct tape.

The extent of the building’s disrepair was revealed yesterday at the launch of a global campaign to raise £50 million over five years for urgent and long-term renovation and conservation.

The cathedral, the mother church of worldwide Anglicanism which was founded in 597 by St Augustine, was the scene of the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170 and has survived extensive bombing of the city during the Second World War.

But Allan Willett, the chairman of the trustees, says it is now facing its biggest challenge — serious corrosion and pollution.

“Despite its 900 turbulent years, it is the next few years that represent this cathedral’s time of greatest danger,” he said.

Click here for full article.

MCI staff in front of Wells Cathedral

The BBC is reporting a £2m facelift for Wells cathedral (about $3.5M US Dollars).

Six million pounds is to be spent upgrading facilities at Wells Cathedral including opening corners to the public for the first time.

The two-year plan includes knocking through a wall to create a doorway so that visitors will enter the cathedral the same way as pilgrims 600 years ago.

A new education centre is also part of the plans and a restaurant will be moved to an upper-floor.

The project was officially launched by former Bath MP Lord Patten.

“We’re being able to open up spaces in the cathedral that the public hasn’t seen for centuries,” said the Very Rev John Clarke, Dean of Wells cathedral.

“It’s al all-round vision of what the cathedral can provide in the 21st century,” he said.

Two million pounds still needs to be raised for the work to be carried out.

“I very much hope the success that’s already been achieved will help Wells get over the finishing line and raise the money still required,” said Chris Patten.

Known as England’s smallest city, Wells, situated at the foot of the Mendip Hills, has charm, interesting shops, snug hotels, decent restaurants and St. Cuthbert’s Church, a parish church so impressive that it is often mistaken for a cathedral. Those things, alone, would make Wells worth a visit. But it has more to offer than just that.

The real jewel of the city is the walled precinct enclosing twelfth century Wells cathedral, the Bishop’s Palace, an impressive, moated medieval stronghold which was the residence of the Bishop of the Diocese of Bath and Wells, and Vicar’s Close, the residences of the clergy who serve the cathedral.

The cathedral, itself, is notable for several unique features. First of all, its west front, is said to be the finest collection of statuary in Europe, containing 356 individual figures carved out of the cathedral’s warm, yellow Doulting stone. Inside, at the east end of the nave, you will see an unusual scissored arch design of striking beauty, which saved the cathedral’s central tower from collapse. In 1338, the original construction was found to be weakening underneath the tower and something had to be done to support it. About 1340, the Master Mason, William Joy, implemented his ingenious solution of the inverted arch to redistribute the weight on the foundations. It has done its job nicely for over 650 years.

On the outside of the building, facing the Canon’s houses to the north, is a still-working medieval clock (photo at right), originally intended to remind them of the many services conducted during the day at the cathedral. At the top of the long flight of worn stone stairs), leading out from the north transept is the Chapter House, an octagonal building with a stunning fan-vaulted ceiling (see photo below). It is here that the business of running the cathedral is still done by the members of the Chapter, the cathedral’s ruling body.

An enclosed bridge leads from the Chapter House, over the access road, to Vicar’s Close, the oldest, intact medieval street in Europe. Wells’ only Arthurian connection is here, also. Mr. William Hughes, Chancellor of Wells Cathedral in the early 18th century, was the last-known possessor of the burial cross that was allegedly dug up at Glastonbury Abbey in 1191, and he lived on Vicar’s Close.

If your travel schedule permits it, plan to arrive in the cathedral area on Sunday afternoon, about 2 p.m., when you will be treated to a glorious, but deafening, hour-long performance of pealing bells. If you should happen to smell garlic in the air when walking on the lawn in front of the cathedral, that would be the olfactory emanations from the Ristorante Rugantino. Serving everything from pasta to the traditional roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, it affords a good view of the cathedral, and is the perfect spot for Sunday dinner.

A few miles out of town on the A371 West is the whimsically-named town of Wookey, and its namesake cavern, Wookey Hole. This is a fun place to go for the whole family, with cavern tours, paper-making demonstrations and picnic areas and gift shops. Be prepared to stay awhile, though, as the cavern tour takes about four hours.

I’ve just run across some fantastic pictures of Wells Cathedral, site of our 2007 International Youth Choral Festival at this site: Tony Howell Photography.

Enjoy these great shots, and click here to learn more about how to register your choir for the festival.

Samuel Wesley: The Man and his Music by Philip Olleson

Today is Samuel Wesley’s 240th birthday. The son of Charles Wesley, he showed his musical talent early in life. He played the violin as well as the organ, and worked as a conductor as well as a music lecturer. Many of his best-known compositions were written for the church; they include the motet In exitu Israel.

The London Handel House

“Handel is the greatest composer who ever lived. I would bare my head and kneel at his grave” — L.v. Beethoven (1824)

Today is George Frideric Handel’s 321st birthday. Although Handel is a German composer, he lived a large portion of his life in Great Britian. His most famous piece is Messiah, an oratorio set to texts from the King James Bible; other well-known works are Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks. He deeply influenced many of the composers who came after him, including Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.

When your musical group is traveling with Music Celebrations Inernational, there are two Handel houses than can be visited.

In London, the Handel House Museum is where Handel lived from 1723 until his death in 1759 and where he composed the Messiah.

In Halle, Germany, the birthplace of Handel can be visited as part of the Handel Music Museum.

So whether you are participating in the American Celebration of Music in Britian or Germany, Music Celebrations can help your group experience Handel both through visits to the houses/museums, and by arranging concerts at Handel sites. Please contact us for more information.

Benjamin Franklin, European Ambassador

Ben Franklin’s London home opens as museum: The U.S. Founding Father spent years in the capital trying to keep the colonies and the crown united.

By Jill Lawless - The Associated Press

The U.S. Founding Father lived in the British capital for almost two decades before the American Revolution, working to bridge the widening gap between the colonies and the crown.

After decades of neglect and a $5.3 million restoration, his house was unveiled to the public [recently] as a museum dedicated to a revolutionary who spent years trying to keep Britain and its American colonies united.

U.S. Ambassador Robert Tuttle and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw cut a red, white and blue ribbon Tuesday - the 300th anniversary of Franklin’s birth - to open the 18th-century brick home, the Benjamin Franklin House museum….

Franklin lodged in the four- story brick building just off Trafalgar Square from 1757-1762 and from 1764-1775, acting as a diplomat on behalf of American colonists….

The house - which curators call the “first de facto U.S. Embassy” - was the site of many of Franklin’s scientific experiments, including the invention of a musical instrument called the glass armonica, for which Beethoven and Mozart composed pieces….

Of course, Music Celebrations International is happy to include a tour of the Benjamin Franklin House as part of the American Celebration of Music in Britain. Please contact us for more information.

Today in 1965, thousands of people paid their last respects to Britain’s greatest wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill who was buried after a full state funeral.

Silent crowds lined the streets to watch the gun carriage bearing Sir Winston’s coffin leave Westminster Hall as Big Ben struck 0945. The procession travelled slowly through central London to St Paul’s cathedral for the funeral service.

Sir Winston died six days previously, following a stroke earlier in the month from which he never regained consciousness.

A total of 321,360 people filed past the catafalque during the three days of lying-in-state.

The mourners were led by Sir Winston’s wife, Lady Clementine Churchill, his son Randolph and daughters Mary Soames and Lady Sarah Audley. The Queen and other members of the royal family, the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, and representatives of 112 countries packed into the cathedral for the service.

The funeral cortege was accompanied by a 19-gun salute and an RAF fly-past as it began the journey to Sir Winston’s final resting place. At Tower Hill, the coffin was piped aboard the launch Havengore for the voyage up the Thames.

Sir Winston Churchill was the first statesman to be given a state funeral in the 20th century.

You can learn more about Sir Winston Churchill during your participation in the American Celebration of Music in Britain while visiting the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum. Contact Music Celebrations International to learn more.

Today is Benjamin Franklin’s 300th birthday! Music Celebrations International wants to take this opportunity to thank the many groups who are traveling with us to Philadelphia in 2006 to celebrate this anniversary.

There is still time to plan your 2006 concert tour to coinside with the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary! Check out our itineraries in Philadelphia and DC, Philadelphia and New York, and even travel to London and visit the Benjamin Franklin House, the world’s only remaining home of Benjamin Franklin which is opening to the public for the first time on his 300th anniversary!

Please contact Music Celebrations International for more information.

Here are some other ways to celebrate Ben’s big day:

1. Read Carl Van Doren’s classic biography of Benjamin Franklin (known to his contemporaries as Dr. Franklin). If your grade-school recollections have grown hazy, prepare to be caught up in a story you can’t put down.

2. Treat yourself to a vacation: Visit Boston, where Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, and lived until he was 17.

3. Explore Franklin’s life online at Benjamin Franklin: Glimpses of the Man .

4. Take a dip. Franklin was a champion swimmer as a boy, and - two centuries before Jacques Cousteau came along - he created his own swim fins.

5. Write a letter. Franklin was an enthusiastic correspondent, Philadelphia’s first postmaster and the country’s first Postmaster General.

6. Throw a birthday party for Ben. Serve the finest food and drink of his era, and set the musical stage with glass harmonica recordings. Franklin invented the instrument in the 1740s (he called it the armonica); it became the rage of Europe, and both Beethoven and Mozart composed music for it.

7. Curl up in front of a wood stove (another Franklin invention) and read the good doctor’s autobiography. But don’t stay curled up too long. Remember his advice: “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing.”

Today in 1559, Elizabeth Tudor, the 25-year-old daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, is crowned Queen Elizabeth I at Westminster Abbey in London.

The long reign of Elizabeth, who became known as the “Virgin Queen” for her reluctance to endanger her authority through marriage, coincided with the flowering of the English Renaissance, associated with such renowned authors as William Shakespeare. By her death in 1603, England had become a major world power in every respect, and Queen Elizabeth I passed into history as one of England’s greatest monarchs.

While in England performing as part of Music Celebrations International’s American Celebration of Music in Britian, there are many Elizabeathan sites that can be visited like the Tower of London, where Queen Mary I (Elizabeth’s half-sister) had Elizabeth imprisoned and Westminster Abbey where she was coronated.