EGR students perform cello in Europe

East Grand Rapids yet again expands their talents abroad when Abby Schneider ‘17 and Anna Baerman ‘18 went to Austria and the Czech Republic to play the cello and viola respectively.

Anna and Abby helped set up numerous independent recitals at the end of last year, where they performed for people who donated to them to fund their trip.

On June 15 this summer, Abby and Anna left the US for eight days with the Grand Rapids Youth Symphony for their first international tour. The duo performed with 50 other musicians from the GRYS, and traveled to four different European cities.

“The experience in general was incredible-Austria and the Czech Republic are really rich in classical music culture because several composers were born and raised in that area of Europe,” Schneider said.

In Vienna they performed in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, where locals paid a fee to see the symphony play. After that, they took a bus to Salzburg, Austria where they performed in another church. The final stop was Prague, Czech Republic, where they performed in the famous Czech music museum.

“Performing in Austria and the Czech Republic was really cool because even though they are so different from the US, music is appreciated just as much (if not more). We visited many musically historic museums and buildings, like Mozart’s House,”  said Baerman, “that was so exciting because many of the pieces we performed were composed by Europeans, like Mozart.”

A very proud moment, and interesting experience for the Grand Rapids Youth Symphony, East Grand Rapids symphony and orchestra, and of course, these two students.