Rory Hodgson

The Music Tour was a fantastic experience for me and helped to shape my skills as a musician. It gave us the opportunity to learn from professional musicians from Italy that we would not have had access to otherwise.

The highlight of my tour experience was definitely learning so much about music and the Italian music scene from professionals in the various workshops and concerts that we attended. The many concerts also gave us the unique experience of performing in some of the most well-known and highly regarded performance venues in the world, which really helped boost my confidence in my performing skills.

Going on the tour made me realise that a career in music won’t restrict me to working in Australia and that I can aspire to pursue a career abroad in the future. Overall, the Music Tour was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I would highly encourage everyone interested in music to consider going on the next one. 

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Dashiel Drury

The Music Tour was truly an unforgettable experience! Undoubtedly the tour highlight for me was our Vatican choir performance in St Peter’s Basilica. International school choirs rarely get to perform in venues so steeped in grandeur and history, so I felt incredibly lucky to be there.

Another highlight of the tour was the choir workshop at the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. The opportunity to learn from some of the best choir masters in the industry was invaluable. In particular, the choir learned how to blend their sound and project in a large concert hall, and this certainly enhanced our choir performances in Rome.

The most unexpected highlight of the tour was the choir’s impromptu performance of Hadyn’s Sanctus Mass in the stalls of the Colosseum. Performing in such a public venue built the choir’s collective confidence in singing to large audiences in unconventional spaces.

Isabella Heriot

From the gorgeous, winding streets of Orvieto, to the golden, glistening ceilings of the Vatican, the 2023 Italian Music Tour was an experience I will never forget. Each day was packed with sightseeing, workshops, performances and, of course, souvenir shopping!

One of my favourite moments of the tour was in Florence when we split into smaller groups to go shopping with our friends. We had so much fun trying on clothes together and walking through all the jewellery shops on the Ponte Vecchio. This trip also gave me the opportunity to become closer with my current friends and develop new friendships with people in other years.

Our last (and best) concert of the tour was in Santa Maria della Visitazione, known as Vivaldi’s church in Venice. Although it was emotional knowing this was our last performance and that the tour was nearing its end, it was a magical experience. Singing and playing with all my friends in the place of my favourite childhood composer was a dream come true.