Performing a two-week music tour across Europe was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for six local teenagers.
Six Topeka West music students returned home June 30 after traveling across Europe performing with about 150 other Kansas music students.
Topekans included Hannah Kamprath, Charlotte Claspill, Emma Shump, Camille Cluke, Colette Cluke and Ali Vanderpool.
Kansas Musicians Abroad
The students participated in the national organization Musicians Abroad, a music tour company that has taken American high schoolers around Europe since 1987. The organization builds state-based groups.
Out of the Kansas group, the six Topeka West students were the only Topekans to participate this year.
Kevin Harry, Topeka West band assistant director and Musicians Abroad staff member, has taken Kansas students on its trip two times before this; once in 2005 and again in 2007.
To participate in the touring band, choir or orchestra students had to be nominated by their music educators. Musicians Abroad staff members then selected candidates from those nominations.
A two-week European excursion
The group visited five European countries — England, France, Switzerland, Germany and Austria.
While traveling, the group visited multiple landmarks and attractions, while also performing in cathedrals and other famous places.
"It was insane because I've never seen such beautiful architecture," Shump said. "I've also never been in a church before. So, my first church was these huge places with the most beautiful artwork, and it was just insane.
"Then to perform in them, it felt crazy because we're used to being in a little gym or a dingy little hall. Well, I didn't think they were dingy, but then I started performing in these churches and I'm like, 'OK, I totally get it.'"
Harry and the students said their favorite place to visit was Switzerland because it was one of the most beautiful places they'd ever seen. Harry said the mountains looked like they were from a painting.
The group said they wished they could have visited the catacombs in Paris.
"You only have so much time, you know," Harry said.
The Cluke sisters brought back a Swiss Army Knife from Switzerland for their father. Shump brought a vintage Littlest Pet Shop toy to take on her adventures.
"We were at the airport, and they were calling someone's name over the intercom," Claspill said. "It was 'Chuck Funk' and we were like, 'This is so funny,' and the lady who was even saying it over the intercom, she couldn't stop laughing, so we named (the toy) Chuck Funk."
Group members took photos with Funk and posed it with iconic European backdrops, such as the Eiffel Tower.
Rekindling a love of music and finding a passion in culture.
Camille Cluke said the trip helped affirm her goal to become a music therapist. She graduated from Topeka West in May and plans to attend Washburn University.
"That was really good," she said. "I'd say it definitely helped me gain back my love of music. I'd say it let me know that it was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life because it was just really cool to perform in these venues where the sound would just resonate in such a way.
"It was just so great and just seeing how the people responded to our performances. It was really sweet."
Shump said this was her first time traveling abroad, and it made her more interested in exploring other cultures.
"I was never like super big on traveling," Shump said. "I was like, 'We're doing this.' I want to go to other places. I want to go back to Switzerland."
Most Popular
Comments / 0