prague, vienna, and budapest with taylor sounds

 At the start of this year, I thought I'd be spending my spring break with the Taylor Sounds in Puerto Rico. That was the plan, but over the summer as Taylor tried to make connections and plans with people in Puerto Rico, nothing was happening or working out. It was in that state that our director, Dr. Rediger, got invited to direct a European Honors Choir in Prague, Czech Republic, which "just happened" to be planned for the same dates as Taylor's Spring Break! Ultimately, our plans as a group shifted, and we concluded that the Lord had ministry prepared for us in Prague, Vienna, and Budapest instead of Puerto Rico! When we received this news, to say we were ecstatic would be a huge understatement. Honestly, if I could have chosen anywhere in the world to go on a ministry tour, I likely would have chosen this area!

Dr. Rediger and two music major students got to go to Prague several days before the rest of us, so our group arrived the day of the honor's choir's last rehearsal day. We arrived in Prague at 9AM after almost 24 hours of travel (Prague is 6 hours ahead of us here in the Eastern Time Zone). Here are some pictures of Prague:

Old Town Square

This famous astronomical clock first installed in 1410 has a figure of one of the twelve disciples come out at each hour and also includes an astrolabe, a zodiacal ring that indicates the sun's position, and a form of calendar.

 After an afternoon tour of Prague, our group went to the Christian international high school in Prague where the honor choir rehearsals were taking place. We got to meet the high schoolers there, have dinner with them, and have a talent show in which our group performed some of our 50s repertoire from our Valentine's concert, and they performed some of their favorite songs from their high schools. Christian international high schools from Russia, Turkey, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, and elsewhere all had students participating in this honors choir, and many of them were missionary kids. I was so pleasantly surprised at how open and eager to connect with us the kids were! I absolutely loved getting to spend time with them - they were truly amazing kids. I was shocked to find that a guy named Kurt Siegel, who had gone to my high school in my tiny hometown, was in the honors choir (his parents are missionaries in Russia)!!!

The next day (Sunday) we got to attend a service and sing a few songs at the International Church of Prague.

 

I honestly felt so at home at this church - the worship was so meaningful, the people so loving and encouraging, and the sermon impactful. I loved meeting missionaries and visitors there, connecting so easily as all part of Christ's Church! It was so neat how we were able to encourage the congregation, yet we left probably even more blessed and encouraged by them! For Sunday lunch we got to have some traditional Czech food. When we ordered we had no idea the meat we had coming to us...

 

On the left is a huge knee of pork on that turning skewer thing, in front is my 1/4 of a duck, and to the right is a knee of lamb! It was all really delicious even though we had to wait like 2 hours for it to come, ha! After lunch we had a little bit of time to explore the city, and then in the late afternoon we went to a beautiful cathedral near the center of Prague and watched the honors choir's excellent final performance! We joined them for a few of the songs we also knew, and the acoustics were amazing to sing in.

In the morning we rode a bus about 4.5 hours to Vienna. I tried the classic Wiener Schnitzel (Weiner is Vienna) which is a fried pork tenderloin, and it was great! Then we had the privilege of seeing "The Magic Flute" opera! Operas are so commonplace in Vienna, it only cost us 12 Euro for balcony seats, yet it was a phenomenal show! Unfortunately it was all in German with no subtitles, but appreciating the incredible musicians and voices was more than enough to keep me entertained! In the morning we headed for Schonbrunn Palace and took a tour of the inside (no pictures allowed) and explored the gardens outside:

Next, we headed for the International Christian School of Vienna. We performed almost all of our repertoire there, and the high school students who had been in the honors choir joined us for the songs they knew, which was really cool! The audience was mostly students, parents, and some teachers. The students absolutely loved our performance, grinning and expressing their excitement so much throughout. I thrive on responsive audiences, so I loved that.
Marie Engle, a good friend who graduated with me from Pettisville High School, is studying abroad in Vienna for the year (studying opera), and she came to our concert then gave me a night tour of the city center and the main buildings - all lit up, they were so stunning! I stood in front of basically every place she took me with my mouth hanging open... We also shared some of the famous apfelstrudel in a cafe and thoroughly enjoyed catching up as it had been almost 2 years since we'd been together! :)

 

 The next morning two missionaries to Vienna who were Taylor grads gave us a mini-tour of some of the main sites of Vienna, then we split into smaller groups...

 This beautiful mosaic of the Last Supper had tiny square centimeter tiles, and was displayed in a smaller cathedral which was away from the main touristic sites. It was so refreshing and peaceful to go to a church which was not full of picture-taking, souvenir-seeking tourists, and to actually take the time to sit and just bask in the presence of God that was so tangibly in that place.

 

The group I walked around with ended up being Abigail who is in Sounds and is from Budapest, and our director Dr. Rediger (middle) and her husband. It was quite special :)

 Next we drove to the city that quickly became my unexpected favorite of the three, Budapest, Hungary. Here are some sight-seeing pictures:

Although you can't really see it, this is the treasure of the St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest, St. Stephen's arm. They even parade it around once a year...

 

This became one of my favorite cathedrals I've ever been to.

 

Most of my favorite memories from the trip, especially of ministry, come from Budapest. Originally our director was only going to ask a few members of our group to go to the Christian International Budapest high school in the early morning (6:30AM is already way too early for me even before jet-lag!), but when she asked who would go we all were practically begging to go, so we all ended up going! I really appreciated this about our group, we all really were there for the ministry above all else. So we got to join the high school choir two mornings, singing with and teaching them. We also got to sing in two of the school's chapel sessions, share cafeteria lunch with the kids, and perform an evening concert at the school, as well. We also got to perform at a church and a Korean cultural center - I loved it all!

Something I noticed and thought about a lot on this trip was the huge difference in the state of my own heart when we performed, especially compared to my Freshman year in Chorale when I remember being really frustrated with how little I could actually think about what we were singing because I was so focused on just getting everything right. This trip I knew I needed to be very intentional about maintaining my own times of fellowship with the Lord on my own each day. For much of the trip I did this, and what a difference I felt! I carried an awareness of the Lord's presence with me, and felt especially equipped and joyful as we shared our music. Each time we performed I was so full of joy! While we sang our director would usually begin each song and then sit down and stop directing, because we could continue on alone. This gave us opportunity to look out at the individuals in the audience while we sang. I was blessed again and again, seeing everything from smiles, to closed eyes and hands outstretched, to weeping, to awe. I felt deep connection with individuals as I shared with all my heart our songs' stories and declared the truths they contained. I would pray that God would highlight people to me as I looked out, and then I would have opportunities to speak with them after performances. I met so many incredible people and found that we performers and our audiences were mutually blessed and encouraged each time we glorified God through our music. He came and touched so many!

We also had one impromptu performance that meant a lot to me while in Budapest. Our whole group walked to a small convenience store one evening from our hotel to buy snacks. A Hungarian man and woman pair were running the store, and they spoke almost no English. Yet they were kind to us, and even gave us some free cakes to try. As we left, I gave the woman a CD of our recorded songs from last year and tried to communicate to her that it was us singing on it. Then someone asked if we could sing for her then and there, and we did! She so listened so intently and mouthed the words as we sang, trying to figure out what we were singing. She loved it. We said goodbye and started to walk out, only to find the man of the shop outside standing by his car with the door open, playing the CD I had given of our singing. The song playing was called "Without Love," taken from 1 Corinthians 13. He was standing there with a look of awe on his face, and continued to do so as members of our group began to sing along. He looked so grateful as it finished, and he shook our leaders' hands, pressing them to his forehead as he said what must have been many thanks in Hungarian.

Our final day in Budapest was such an amazing way to end. Some of the high school students led us like tour guides from the top of the castle hill, all the way down the hill, overlooking the river and city, and then across the river as the sun set and evening came:

 

   

We said our goodbyes to the high school students, then enjoyed two more amazing treats, a Hungarian Folk Music and Dance show, then dinner on a boat on the Danube River.

 

Finally, here are a few pictures of our group that a guy named Andras Kim, one of the high school students, took for us:

I feel incredibly blessed to have had this experience which combined three of my most favorite things: Europe, music, and ministry. I come away with enriched relationships, new friends, memories and photos of some amazing places, and most importantly, knowing that God was glorified and worked in the hearts of many (including my own) through our music ministry.

If you supported me financially or with your prayers as I was on this trip, I thank you yet again! You have partnered with us and with God, and he has done some really awesome things with that partnership :)