Join us for the first Friends of the Library trip abroad! Together with the CCSU University Singers, participants will travel to Krakow and Wroclaw, Poland and to Leipzig, Germany. Friends will be in the audience when the choir performs all concerts; all will participate in guided tours and visit sites related to culture, history and music in the cities we will visit. Additional tours will be arranged for Friends while the Singers rehearse.
Cost of the trip is $2,995.
This price includes round-trip transportation from CCSU to JFK, round-trip international airfare, double-occupancy hotel accommodations, some meals, ground transportation and entrance fees to all planned activities.
Registration deadline: 4:30 p.m. on Monday, February 15, 2016.
Please read carefully the enclosed registration form: Friends of Library – Singers Companion Tour Registration FormSu16
Glimpse of the itinerary:
Krakow, Poland
Krakow represents a great repository of Polish history, art, and architecture. The group will enjoy a guided tour of Krakow, beginning with the Royal Castle and Cathedral on the Wawel Hill, which was remodeled according to the new Renaissance taste in the beginning of the 16th century. It is the place where Polish kings were crowned and buried. Then we will visit the Old Town with the Main Market Square and its magnificent houses and palaces. In the middle of the square is the Cloth Hall-Sukienice. We will also visit the Church of St. Mary, with the famous Gothic Altar by Wit Stwosz, best sculptor of the Middle Ages. We will visit the Jagiellonian University and gain insight into their special collections and manuscript division, including many musical scores. Founded in 1364, it is one of the oldest universities in the world. We will visit the 13th century “Wieliczka” Salt Mine, registered on the Unesco list, and a spectacular Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec, founded in 1044. Both places are on the outskirts of Krakow, where our tourist experience will be enriched by the musical performance and presentation of Benedictine archives and tasting of their special food.
The group will take a side trip to Auschwitz, the largest Nazi German concentration camp, where four million people perished.
Wrocław, Poland
Our next stop will be Wroclaw, the capital of Lower Silesia and Poland’s fourth largest city. It is a city with a fascinating and complex history, dating back to the 10th century, when the Ostrow Tumski islet on the Odra became a fortified Slav settlement. There are now some 100 bridges spanning the city’s 90-kilometer network of slow-moving canals and tributaries, giving Wroclaw its particular charm. Singers will perform in the baroque style Collegium Marianum located in the Wroclaw University, founded in 1702. The group will visit the famous Ossolineum library and have a special tour of the Racławice Panorama, a monumental cycloramic painting depicting the Battle of Racławice, during the Kościuszko Uprising. We will visit the Old Town, with its medieval market square, founded in the 13th century, and Piasek Island, with its Church of St. Mary on Piasek, the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, and the Church of the Holy Cross.
Leipzig, Germany
The last stop will be in Leipzig, which is associated with the best known classical composers. We will visit or get a glimpse of Schumann House, Wagner Memorial, Leipzig Opera House, St. Nicholas School, St. Nicholas Church, Old City Hall, St. Thomas Church, etc. Singers will perform in St. Thomas church, where Bach was once the organist and choirmaster, and is currently the home of the St. Thomas Boys Choir, one of the most famous in the world. We will also visit the Bach Museum. It was once the home of the Bach family and now contains the largest Bach archives in Germany, as well as many mementos of the composer.
Please contact Renata Vickrey any additional questions you might have at vickreyr@ccsu.edu or by calling 860 832 2085.
