Each year since 2005, one of Groton’s three primary musical ensembles has gone on tour, most often internationally. A year after the jazz band began the tradition with a tour of Japan, orchestra played throughout Switzerland in 2006. In 2009, they traveled to China, and in 2012, South Africa. Jazz band and choir have also performed in Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Groton voices and instruments have reverberated across every continent except Antarctica (we’ll leave that one to the polar bears).

Global education music trips combine great opportunity with ensemble bonding and service. Groton students have performed in venues from the Sydney Opera House and the Pretoria National Botanic Gardens in South Africa to small villages in rural China, playing for everyone from sold-out audiences dressed up for the night out to young children in sundresses and flip-flops. Regardless of where they play, one finding remains certain: music speaks all languages.

Two years ago, Groton sent the jazz band to Cuba, where they lived and breathed Cuban culture—think salsa lessons, tours, a visit to the Museum of the Revolution, and live Cubop music—broadening their “musical horizons,” as Christine Bernard ‘17 says.

For the 2015 trip, the music department opted to break the triennial pattern and send all three groups to New York City during long weekend together; due to numbers, choir did not attend.

Some highlights of the trip included playing in a joint concert with a New Jersey private school “Battle of the Bands” style, getting a lesson from Stefan Ragnar Hoskuldsson, the first flutist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and attending a performance by Arete Warren, whose late husband was a member of the Form of 1952.

During their stay in the city, student musicians also attended two operas, toured the Lincoln Center, and witnessed a performance by Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Dianne Reeves. Taking a break from music, the group visited the 9/11 Memorial. The New York trip encompassed everything a music GEO trip aims to incorporate: performances, music education, and opportunities to learn about the region.

This summer, the cycle will pick up where it left off with the chamber orchestra’s upcoming tour of central Europe. Accompanied by Ms. Lanier, Ms. Ginsberg, Mr. Terranella, and viola teacher Ms. White, twenty-five Groton musicians—as well as three students from outside programs to fill the seats of those who are unable to go on the trip—will fly 4,000 miles across the Atlantic.

From June 12 through 22, Groton musicians will play in and explore Budapest, Vienna, and Prague, three major players in the world of classical orchestral music. Students will walk the same streets as famous musicians who lived in Vienna, including household names like Mozart and Beethoven, and hear their strings echo in Budapest and Prague, where many famous ensemble pieces found their footing. Budapest and Prague will offer Groton students firsthand insight into current refugee situations, giving true meaning to the term global education.

In addition to performing for larger audiences than the typical Groton concert, the orchestra will have a chance to learn from a Hungarian orchestra conductor. The nature of these music trips inspires performers to work hard and polish their pieces, and as such, this summer’s trip will begin with two days of on-campus rehearsals before the group takes flight.

Beginning with Budapest, the chamber orchestra will perform in the aforementioned European capitals, as well as Brno, the capital of Moravia in the Czech Republic. The trip itinerary includes visiting an opera at the Vienna State Opera House, as well as chances to explore each city and experience each one’s unique culture. Groton students will meet peers in Biedermannsdorf, Austria, and while in Budapest, they will experience one of the city’s famous mineral baths.

Christine Bernard will be strapping an airline tag on her saxophone case for her second music-related global ed trip. Departure is two months away, but Christine said, “I am extremely excited to go to the home of many legendary musicians and composers like Mozart and Beethoven.”

Among the orchestra’s tour repertoire will be Beethoven’s “Piano Trio in B Flat” and Mozart’s “Overture to Don Giovanni.” Pieces by Paul Trapkus and Aaron Copland will bring some American tunes across the pond.

Ms. Lanier, music trip chaperone extraordinaire, loves the relaxed atmosphere of music trips. Over the years, she’s enjoyed that the group has “the opportunity to enjoy time together without needing to rush off to the ‘next thing.’” Students have the chance to focus on their music without schoolwork on their minds, all the while performing for “really supportive, usually large audiences.” The friendliness continues offstage—Ms. Lanier values the “meaningful interactions with the local people,” whether they be “sharing a meal, playing music together,” or teaching Groton students traditional music and dance.

In recent years, Grotonians have played alongside Cuban companions and experts. They’ve danced through the language barrier with Xhosa speakers in South Africa. They’ve shared music with residents of Soweto. This summer will be time to experience the musical world of central Europe.