Vienna – Summa Cum Laude Festival Opening Ceremony

Another lazy morning and then some more time exploring the city! Agnes took some keen site seers on a walk up to the castle! The girls were keen to sing some more and thought the castle might be a good location for a flash mob! Back to the hotel to check out and we were on the bus headed for Vienna. It wasn’t long before we crossed into Austria. A quick language and history lesson from Agnes and we soon arrived to our next hotel to check in. We were then back on the bus and heading into the Musikverein for the opening ceremony of the Summa Cum Laude Festival. 31 ensembles from 30 countries are participating and the opening ceremony was simple amazing!  A mix of beautiful music, introduction of each of the ensembles and the singing of the SCL Anthem to finish.  This is one of the most significant music venues in the world and the girls had their first look at were we will be standing to sing tomorrow.  After the ceremony the girls and staff took the bus back to the hotel (I stayed for the conductors welcome briefing) and had a rehearsal in the hotel.  I returned later that evening to find that we now have some new choralography for Sihayhumba which I’m looking forward to seeing tomorrow (hopefully before we perform it).  Dinner in the hotel followed and off to bed.  Tomorrow is a big day for the choir and we are excited to perform in some more of these beautiful spaces in the city of music!