First picture from finale concert: WRA sings at the Mirror Hall of Foz Palace in Lisbon

What a magical venue for the last formal concert of the 2012 Western Reserve Academy Choir and Ensemble Performance tour to Spain and Portugal: Under the direction of Mrs. Margaret Karam and Mr. Edward Wiles, the finale concert took place at the beautiful Mirror Hall of Palacio Foz in Lisbon on Tuesday, March 20. Incantato Tour Manager Stefania sent the above feature photo from her iphone. 

The neo-classical Palácio Foz was designed by the Italian architect Francisco Xavier Fabri and built shortly after the great earthquake in 1755, for the Marquês de Castelo Melhor. It was purchased by the Marquês de Foz in 1886 when it received the first of many facelifts. It now houses, among other things, the Headquarters of Lisbon’s Tourist Information centres and an art gallery. It is magnificently decorated on the inside and the ballroom features outstanding paintings by Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro (1857-1929), one of the leading painters of his generation and a master of realism in Portugal.

Sunday's highlight: Retracing WRA history at La Rábida Monastery

Another highlight awaits the WRA group today.  On Sunday, March 18, 2012, the choir and ensemble from Hudson, Ohio will visit and perform at the La Rábida Monastery. After the noon mass, the students from Western Reserve Academy will present a concert under the direction of Mrs. Margaret Karam and Mr. Edward Wiles - a very unique event for the Franciscan monks that otherwise do not get very many visitors from abroad.
La Rábida Monastery is the First Historical Monument of the Spanish Peoples, as well as Humankind Patrimony and the third declared National Monument in Spain, as early as 1856. And there is a strong and unique connection between La Rábida and Western Reserve Academy. Mrs. Karam explains:
“The cross that hangs in our Chapel actually has the name "La Rabida" and formerly hung in the church where Columbus prayed before setting sail...it seems that Spain brought it to the US as part of the World Expo at the turn of the 20th century, and then sold it to pay off bills from that event. A benefactor of the school bought it.”

It will be quite a special moment when the students can talk to the Franciscan monks about that very cross and show it to them – if only on cell phones or cameras.

Katia, Incantato's concert manager Spain and Portugal continues: Let me add a little about the importance of the Monastery in the Columbus adventure:
LA RÁBIDA: WHERE COLUMBUS DREAM WAS MADE POSSIBLE
After eight years being unsuccessful in Portugal, where Columbus was trying to get royal sponsorship for his new route to “the India”, he arrived into Spain in 1485. Then Columbus decided to leave his son Diego in Huelva, with some family, and to travel to Cordoba, to present his idea to the Catholic Monarchs. But he was not successful either. And this took him six long years.
Poor and without any more possibilities, he came back to Huelva in 1491. Then, in his way to board a boat to France, he stopped in La Rábida Franciscan Monastery, where he would be hosted for free - as he was broken. Here you have a pic of the room where he should stay.
And surprisingly, it was in La Rábida Monastery were Columbus got finally a good audience and the key contacts for his final travel.La Rábida Monks had many links with the sailors’ world, as they were in charge of the religious affairs of all the Atlantic islands. And Columbus explained them all his idea.

You can see this very famous painting from Cano de la Peña depicting this very moment.
Columbus had long conversations with Fr. Marchena, and possibly told his “secret” intentions to Fr. Juan Perez, who gave him a support letter for the Queen Isabella. The Royal answer was an invitation to be received “with new and decent clothes, and a horse” in Granada. The Catholic Monarchs were victorious at the Reconquest final battle in Granada. And there Columbus had a – finally!- successful meeting with Queen Isabella. He told her the “secret” possibilities that this trip could bring... and they signed a contract (Capitulaciones de Santa Fe). Columbus then came back all the way to La Rábida Monastery, to get ready for the most incredible trip of the Era…
As you might suppose, none of the sailors around the area would believe his words, and even when he had the money, he was lacking the crew for this boats… Then the monks were once again the key. They introduced him to Alonso Pinzon, a shipyard owner who had the money and enthusiasm to support Columbus and contacted other VIPs for him. Supposedly, Columbus had to share also with him the “secret” intentions of his adventure to gain his confidence. With all these supports, Columbus could finally enroll a crew for the trip to the unknown America… mostly from the areas nearby La Rábida, Palos de la Frontera…And still for his following sailings, most of the crew were local inhabitants of the area… a long long long sailing tradition!
By the way, do you know the secret intentions that pushed Isabella so much to support Columbus trip? No less than the Lands of the Great Khan, the Mongol Empire! And she was just finishing the “Reconquest” of Spain!

WRA in the media for Toledo Concert today at Iglesia de San Pedro Martir, 7:30 pm. March 14th

Dear friends,
We are all excited about WRA debut in Toledo today, and here you have some samples of the media about the Concert. Among them we find the most read newspapers and news agencies of Spain and the region. (abc, Europa Press, 20minutes)
We cannot upload the press prints at this time, but here if you click in the headers below, you will be linked to the pages!

- El Coro y Conjunto 'Western Reserve Academy', en Toledo

- Concierto coro y conjunto Western Reserve Academy

- La iglesia de San Pedro Mártir acoge el concierto de «Western Reserve Academy» 

- La Iglesia de San Pedro Mártir de Toledo acoge este miércoles el concierto del Coro y Conjunto 'Western Reserve Academy'

- La Iglesia de San Pedro Mártir de Toledo acoge este miércoles el concierto del Coro y Conjunto ‘Western Reserve Academy’

Exchange program: Orchestra, Director and venue: Auditorio del Conservatorio Profesional de Música de Córdoba

Dear friends,

Here you can see a video of the Youth Orchestra from the Professional Conservatory of Cordoba.

Maestro Manuel Pérez directs the ensemble, in their Auditorium, last year. Even when the ensemblewill not be the same, here you can find the Director Manuel Perez, and the venue were WRA Choir and Ensemble will perform a Joint Concert as finale for the Exchange Program, on March 16th, 2012. The Auditorium has 296 seats.

Concert for Piano and Orchestra, Tempo II Adagio, from E. Grieg, with Soloist Anton Dolgov, on October 28th, 2011. We hope you enjoy it!

You find the three videos of the concert at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u445B6_EFBE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li6shAFVMe8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u445B6_EFBE&feature=related

WRA will be featured in the choir for High Mass at Iglesia Colegial del Salvador in Sevilla, Saturday March 17th, 8 pm.

The Iglesia Colegial del Divino Salvador (Collegiate Church of the Divine Savior), will host the WRA group to celebrate High Mass on Saturday, March 17th at 8 pm.
Iglesia del Salvador, as it is usually called, is the second largest church in Sevilla after the Cathedral and is considered on of its most important temples. This imposing church is among the most visited monuments in the city.
This very place was always used for religious purposes: as early as during Roman times there was a Basilica here which was substituted by a Christian church in the IV century. Later on, in the Arab-dominated times, the Great Mosque was built on its remains and becoming the main mosque of Seville. The Ablutions Courtyard and the base of the tower are remains from the ninth-century Arab building.
The reconquest by the Christians converted it back to a Christian church and by 1340 the Parish Church of the Saviour was settled here. That building was substituted by the one you see today.
Construction work began in 1674 with architect Stephen Garcia and ended in 1712 with Leonardo de Figueroa. The interior style is Sevillian Baroque. It is decorated with sculptures and paintings by famous local artists:
- The main altarpiece, dating back to the 1770s, was done by Cayetano de Acosta
- The Christ's Love sculpture, by the very famous Juan de Mesa, dates back to  around 1620
- Paintings of St. Christopher by Martinez Montañes, 1597
- Sculptures of the Passion of Jesus, also by Martinez Montañes, 1610
Martinez Montañes was a very important artist, among the best of his time. You can find his sculpture in the square Plaza del Salvador, by the church.
You can find more information at
http://www.inspain.org/en/sites/divinosalvadorchurch.asp
http://sevillapedia.wikanda.es/wiki/Iglesia_del_Salvador_%28Sevilla%29

WRA Concert in Córdoba, March 16th, at 7:30 pm, Joint Concert with the Orchestra of the Conservatorio Profesional de Música de Córdoba "Músico Ziryab"

As a great finale for their exchange program with the Conservatorio Profesional de Música de Córdoba, the WRA Choir and Ensemble will perform in a joint concert with the Orchestra of the Conservatorio "Músico Ziryab" in a wonderful venue: the auditorium of the new headquarters of the Conservatorio de Córdoba.
Just recently opened for this academic year 2011-2012, the new building of the Conservatorio hosts the most modern equipment of all of Spain's conservatories. The government has paid over 7 million Euros for the building, with over 7000 sq. meters, including 51 individual instrument classrooms, 24 individual study carrels, choir classroom, drums classroom, orchestra classroom, four music classrooms, a library, a sound library, and of course the administrative offices.
The Conservatory has some 1212 students this year: 546 in elementary music levels and 666 in middle music levels. The number of teachers is also high: 122 professionals are in charge of the teaching.
The new auditorium is also impressive: 296 seats in a very good acoustic venue will make a warm and brilliant concert possible for our musicians.
For more information, you can visit the Conservatorio webpage

Incantato Tours presents: WRA first Concert Venue in San Pedro Mártir Church in Toledo

The Western Reserve Academy Choir and Ensemble, under the direction of Mrs. Margaret Karam and Mr. Edward Wiles, will perform at Toledo’s San Pedro Mártir Church on Thursday, March 14th, 2012 at 7:30 pm.

Located in the heart of the city of Toledo, the Convent of San Pedro Mártir's first stone was laid in the 13th century. Since then it underwent a large list of enlargements and renewals until the 17^th century, now almost like a little city within itself. The Convent has become one of the most important and rich convents in the city of Toledo. Toledo was the capital of Spain for many centuries, and one of the most important cities in Europe during the Middle Ages. San Pedro Mártir convent was designed, painted, scarved and decorated by the finest artist of each century living by the Spanish Court.

The building is especially noted for its splendid mudéjar (Moorish) style tower, and its magnificent graves and praying sculptures, including the Counts of Melito that inspired the legend "The Kiss" by Gustavo Adolfo Becquer. Three different styles can be found in this important convent complex: mudejar, renaissance and baroque.

In its period of greatest splendor, the monastery extended along the streets of San Clemente and San Pedro Martir, and even jumped over the street. For this reason the church had to be open from sunrise to sunset in order to facilitate the passage of pedestrians. Even being so big, its size and importance cannot be grasped from the outside, as it is surrounded and limited in its facade by other buildings such as the San Roman church.

The building has three cloisters: the Silence cloister, the Royal cloister and the Orange-trees cloister. The Royal cloister, designed by the very famous artist Alonso de Covarrubias, has three slender levels. The lower arch is semi circular, with mirrored black stone in the spandrels, very typical of this architect. The upper galleries are dinteladas, using an Alcarria typical feature in its ionic capitals.

The current monastery church was started in 1605 under Nicolas de Vergara. The temple is built in a Spanish Reinassance style, Herreriano, as the most important building of that period. In 1607, after the death of Nicolás de Vergara, Juan Bautista Monegro took over the construction.

The church entrance was the last work to be completed: topped with shields from the Crown and the Order of Preachers, corresponding to a classical altarpiece scheme and heavily influenced by the El Escorial Monastery. Three sculptures by Jacques del Rey can be seen at the entrance: San Pedro Martir, as well as Faith and Charity in dialogue.

Inside the temple the main highlights are the altarpiece and the Choir, with Monegro influence and hand-carved by Giraldo de Merlo. The painting of the altarpiece was entrusted to Juan Bautista Maino. His exceptional work of the Easter-Nativity, Epiphany, Easter and Pentecost, and the figures of Saint John by the banks now belong to the Prado, although the Convent maintains its fresco Glory in the choir loft.

The building had various uses after the seizure as a Museum, a Pantheon of illustrious Toledanos and as a charity center. In 1969 the building started to be used as a University facility for the main Complutense University of Madrid at the time. Today the building houses the Faculty of Juridical and Social Sciences at the University of Castilla-La Mancha, the region of which Toledo is the capital city.

Nowadays the cloisters and church are used for many of the most important events and official ceremonies of the city of Toledo, for example for the visit of the Royal Family of Spain, the recording of the Buñuel film "Tristana", or the Three Cultures Festival, to name a few.

References:

http://www.turismocastillalamancha.com/arte-cultura/monumentos/toledo/convento-de-san-pedro-martir/

http://www.toledo-turismo.com/turismo/contenido/conociendo-la-ciudad/donde-mirar/monumentos/edificios-publicos/san-pedro-martir.aspx

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convento_de_San_Pedro_M%C3%A1rtir_%28Toledo%29

http://www.latribunadetoledo.es/noticia.cfm/Vivir/20120122/san/pedro/martir/levanta/ultimo/telon/038C0C0D-0769-96A5-273B2877BFAE29AE

WRA Incantato Highlight Concert in Calvi: Stabat Mater I

WRA finale Italy Performance Tour venue: St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, Saturday, March 27

What a perfect way to end the 2010 Western Reserve Academy Performance Tour to Italy - the choir and ensemble under the direction of Mrs. Karam and Mr. Wiles, are the featured guest performers for High Mass on Palm Saturday, March 27, at 5:00 pm. The musicians from Hudson, Ohio who are traveling with Incantato Tours from March 17 through March 28, will be concertizing right near the beautiful Altar of the Chair.
Here is some information on this amazing place:
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter is located within the Vatican City. St. Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world, holding 60,000 people. It is the symbolic "Mother church" of the Catholic Church and is regarded as one of the holiest Christian sites. It has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian world" and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom".
In Catholic tradition, it is the burial site of its namesake Saint Peter, who was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus and, according to tradition, first Bishop of Rome and therefore first in the line of the papal succession. Tradition and some historical evidence hold that Saint Peter's tomb is directly below the altar of the basilica. For this reason, many Popes have been interred at St Peter's since the Early Christian period. There has been a church on this site since the 4th century. Construction of the present basilica, over the old Constantinian basilica, began on April 18, 1506 and was completed on November 18, 1626.
St. Peter's is famous as a place of pilgrimage, for its liturgical functions and for its historical associations. It is associated with the papacy, with the Counter-reformation and with numerous artists, most significantly Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475-1564), an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer. Michelangelo took over a building site at which four piers, enormous beyond any constructed since the days of Ancient Rome, were rising behind the remaining nave of the old basilica. He also inherited the numerous schemes designed and redesigned by some of the greatest architectural and engineering brains of the 16th century.
Incidentally there are over 100 tombs within St. Peter's Basilica, many located in the Vatican grotto, beneath the Basilica. These include 91 popes, St. Ignatius of Antioch, Holy Roman Emperor Otto II, and the composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Exiled Catholic British royalty James Francis Edward Stuart and his two sons, Charles Edward Stuart and Henry Benedict Stuart, are buried here, having been granted asylum by Pope Clement XI. The most recent interment was Pope John Paul II, on April 8, 2005.

Full house for Western Reserve Academy Choir & Ensemble in Calvi

What a special night it was for the WRA singers and musicians! The students performed to a full house in the beautiful baroque church of Calvi dell'Umbria, a small town perched high upon the hill where the mayor had warmly welcomed them with a special tour prior to the performance and a reception afterwards in the town hall. The audience was very moved by the concert and rewarded the groups under the direction of Mrs. Margaret Karam with minute-long applause. Vice-Mayor Luca thanked the travelers for coming to his town and hoped that the students one day return with their own families. "It was our honor to have you here tonight. Thank you for sharing your gift of music, we will never forget you." As a special souvenir, Mrs. Karam also received a painting that was created during the concert by local artist Valvan. He titled it "Libertà!".

WRA Concert Venue: Santa Maria Assunta Church in Calvi dell'Umbria on Thursday, March 25

On March 25 at 8:30 pm, Incantato Tours & Concerts is going to present WRA at Santa Maria Assunta Church in Calvi dell'Umbria.

Calvi dell'Umbria is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Terni in the Italian region Umbria, located about 80 km south of Perugia and about 20 km southwest of Terni. The area was inhabited in Roman times, but developed as an urban center only in the High Middle Ages. Calvi was a fief of the Orsini and then of the Anguillara families. The main attractions are the church of Santa Maria, with an elegant Late Renaissance baptisal font, and the church of Sant'Antonio. In the neighborhood are the remains of a convent erected by St. Francis in the early 13th century.

The picture is from the official website of the town.

WRA first Italy Performance Tour venue: Basilica di San Marco in Venice, Friday, March 19

Incantato Tours proudly presents the first WRA Italy Performance Tour venue: the Basilica di San Marco in Venice will welcome you on Friday, March 19, at 6:45 pm.

The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice. It is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture. It lies on Piazza San Marco adjacent and connected to the Doge's Palace. Originally it was the "chapel" of the Venetian rulers, and not the city's cathedral. Since 1807 it has been the seat of the Patriarch of Venice, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice. For its opulent design, gilded Byzantine mosaics, and its status as a symbol of Venetian wealth and power, from the 11th century on the building was known by the nickname Chiesa d'Oro (Church of gold).
The first St Mark's was a temporary building in the Doge's Palace, constructed in 828, when Venetian merchants stole the supposed relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist from Alexandria. This was replaced by a new church on its present site in 832; from the same century dates the first St Mark's Campanile (bell tower). The new church was burned in a rebellion in 976, rebuilt in 978 and again to form the basis of the present basilica since 1063.
The spacious interior of the building with its multiple choir lofts was the inspiration for the development of a Venetian polychoral style among the composers appointed maestro di cappella at St Mark's. The style was first developed by a foreigner Adrian Willaert and was continued by Italian organists and composers: Andrea Gabrieli and his nephew Giovanni Gabrieli and Claudio Monteverdi.

We proudly present: The WRA Incantato Concert Postcard

Over 2000 of your custom designed Incantato concert postcards have been printed and are currently distributed locally in Italy to announce the 2010 WRA Performance Tour to Italy. We sure hope you enjoy seeing them here and look forward to having the hard copies in hand after your arrival abroad. Incantato Tours takes great pride in providing the fine ensembles traveling with our organization with professional marketing materials to ensure the local audiences are aware of your coming.