Italian Adventures: A recap of the choir’s Italy trip

Shawnee Mission East Choir took their bi-annual international trip for the first time since 2018 due to COVID’S travel restrictions.

All members of the Choralier choir had the opportunity to go and over 80 students ended up going, including junior Gray Sullivan.

Sullivan was immediately interested in going and started saving money for the trip by working more or babysitting. 

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Sullivan said. “I’ll never be singing with my high school choir in cathedrals in Italy again.”

The choir sang in various places through both scheduled concerts or impromptu performances which teacher Ken Foley called their “flash mobs.” They flash mobbed everywhere from outside the vatican to their dinner restaurant.

They had three scheduled concerts throughout the trip where they wore their concert attire and robes and performed for around an hour. They’re first scheduled concert was in Basilica di Santa Trinita in Florence, then St. Francis’s Bascillica in Assisi and ended the tour at Basilica di Sant’Agnese in Rome.

Choralier and junior Hartley Graham’s favorite memory from the trip was singing in St. Francis’s Bascillica.

“The way it rang off the ceiling is something we could never recreate here,” Graham said. “It’s something none of us will probably ever be able to hear again.”

Besides singing, the Choraliers also got to see iconic Italian spots such as the Colosseum in Rome and the Duomo in Florence. They also had two local tour guides that were with them the whole trip on things like bus rides to destinations, walks through the city or dinners to teach them things you can’t find at a tourist spot. They taught them smaller cultural things such as to never drink a cappuccino past 11 a.m. and also the history of landmarks they were walking by.

Junior Anna Joyce has been anxiously waiting to go on the choir trip since her brother went in 2018. He talked about the beauty of Italy and everything he got to do, making Joyce excited to see the country and learn about the culture.

“My favorite thing on the trip was our free time when I could go explore the city and learn first hand about things,” Joyce said. “I loved trying all the food and seeing how it varies from ours and the different clothes trends when shopping”