By Molly M-D, Year 13
At the start of July, the Chamber Choir went to Venice for our end of year tour, singing in multiple churches, and exploring Italy during the day. There were so many brilliant highlights!

On the first day, we rehearsed at school in the morning, fine-tuning our pieces for the concerts, where we were able to perform in front of the whole school, as a practice. We then got on the plane to Venice Marco Polo Airport and then had another hour on the coach to Padua, where we arrived at our hotel. The rooms were very spacious and had good lighting (noted by many of the students, which was a bit bizarre), but we all had an early night in preparation for the busy tour ahead.

On the second day, we had free time in Padua where many of us visited the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua, exploring the Romanesque / Byzantine architecture, and the relics inside. We then hopped onto the coach for 45 mins, before arriving at Chiesa di Sant Antonio Abate where we rehearsed. We then headed to dinner for our first Italian meal which everyone was very excited about. However, we didn’t realise the amount of food we’d get. Everyone was very full after the first course of pasta (because we all thought it was the main), making us very full for the concert. Mr Guthrie even had to leave between courses to walk laps of the local park!). Despite this, and the sweltering heat in the church, we all performed extremely well and were very pleased to be a part of the local music festival in Padua.

On the third day, we visited the Scrovegni Chapel, built in 1300 on part of the elliptical foundations of the Roman amphitheatre. Everyone was mesmerized by the depictions of Jesus’ life, which were shown throughout the chapel. We then walked to Abbazia di Santa Giustina, which was one of the prettiest churches that many of us had ever performed in, being in the shape of a cruciform and being the seventh largest church in Italy, being 118.5 metres (389 ft) long and 82 metres (269 ft) wide. We rehearsed here then returned to the hotel for dinner, where we were all a lot more prepared for dinner, compared to the previous night. We then went back to the church where we performed to a much larger crowd than we were anticipating. It was a real honour that we were able to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of a monk’s service to the Abbazia.

On the final day, we were all excited to get the waterbus into Venice, finally seeing St Mark’s Square. We had a guided tour, where we surprisingly didn’t get lost, despite everyone being hot and bothered. We learnt about the island’s history and finished in Vivaldi’s Church. This was very moving as he helped abandoned or orphaned girls perform music. The highlight of this for Mr Guthrie was that he was compared to Vivaldi! We then went to Chiesa di San Stae, ready for our final concert in Italy. The most unusual part was that Mr Ryan and Kat had to climb up a rope to get to the organ. Definitely an unforgettable experience. This concert was in a very beautiful church, being on the waterfront of Venice, making it a very memorable way to finish off the tour. We then got on the waterbus out of Venice – making our way back to the airport.

Overall, the trip was an amazing experience for all of the chamber choir and such a memorable way to end the year.