Shirley McManus
President, Youth Orchestras of Fresno
Shirley@youthorchestrasfresno.org
August 4th, 2008
2009 Tour Information Letter
Dear YOOF Families,
As some of you are aware, the YPO will be taking their quadannual European Tour this summer, 2009. We are all really excited about this tour and I wanted to take a moment of your time and give you some information.
We will be traveling with Encore Tours, the Youth Orchestra branch of ACIS (American Council for International Studies). Thomas and I are working with Encore Tours to finalize the venues. I will keep you updated as things are decided. There will be an informational meeting on Tuesday, September 2nd . at 6:30 pm. The location will be announced.
The dates of the tour are June 15, 2009 to June 24, 2009. We will be traveling to Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Prague, and Vienna. At present we are performing 4 concerts. We opted for fewer concerts because the purpose is not only to experience performing in front of European audiences, but also to experience the cites and rich music history. This trip will be a memorable experience from all aspects. One venue in which we will be playing is the Dvorak Hall of the Rudolfinum. This is where the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra has their performances. It seats 1,023 and I am told that the tour company plans on filling the venue.
The cost of the tour depends on the number of participants. At present we are hoping to have 90 paying participants and therefore cost would be $3679 each. This amount includes your tour manager in Europe, airfare, taxes, private deluxe motor coach, centrally-located 3 and 4-star hotel accommodations, breakfast and dinner daily, admissions and entrance fees as outlined, organization and arrangement of 4 performance opportunities, travel protection including $2500 in medical coverage, and basic gratuities for your tour manager and drivers. The only additional costs to budget for are beverages, lunches, souvenirs, and any individual’s additional free time activities. Encore provides full pricing, so that there are no financial surprises while traveling. Encore Tours guarantees large audiences. They also take care of all pre-publicity at each location.
To help with the costs, the Board is committed to working as hard as possible by fundraising and securing corporate donors. We have also set up eScrip and the SHARES programs. If you and others sign up, any money that comes in from one of your participants will go towards your trip account. We will also be selling Macy’s day tickets as last year, and we have letters that can be sent requesting help and giving information about the tour. Last time we also had a candle sale that brought in a surprising amount. I am open to any and all suggestions.
In addition, the tour company has donated a trip for two to England that can be raffled. Any raffle tickets that you sell will go directly to your child’s tour account. Encore Tours has had ensembles raise over $27,000 with this fundraiser.
It is the goal of the Board to try to offset the cost for each student. We would love to be able to have everyone participate that wishes to do so.
In order to guarantee this price, YOOF has made the $100 deposit per student for the orchestra. Encore Tours guarantees that the cost will not change, even if the price of petrol continues to increase. No other tour company would give us this guarantee.
I hope that after reading this you will be as excited about this we are. I have no doubt that we will be able to raise the necessary funds to offset some of the cost. This truly is a once in a lifetime experience and everyone learns so much from this educational and cultural opportunity. We hope your child will join us.
Thank you for your time and welcome back!
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