Concert Choir raising funds for trip to Austria

The UTSA Concert Choir has been invited by the mayors of Vienna and Salzburg to represent Texas in the American Celebration of Music in Austria in late spring, as part of the year-long celebration of the 250 th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s birth.

“This is an amazing invitation for UTSA and for our talented students, many of whom have never traveled outside the State of Texas ,” says Dr. Daniel J. Gelo, dean of the College of Liberal and Fine Arts. “As they perform throughout Austria , our students will learn more about the region’s rich musical and cultural heritage.”

Dr. Gelo and a group of volunteers are seeking donations from alumni and friends of the University to help support the expenses of the 10-day trip for this “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” for some 57 UTSA students.

The choir’s itinerary during the European tour includes Prague and a visit to Terezín, A Czechoslovakian concentration camp where thousands of Jews, many of them children, were held and eventually sent to their deaths in Auschwitz . While at Terezín, UTSA Lyric Theatre students will perform Brundibár, a children’s opera by Hans Krása that deals with the theme of good overcoming evil. Brundibár was actually part of a Nazi propaganda campaign designed to demonstrate to the outside world how well the Jews were treated, that they enjoyed music and lived idyllic life in the “model ghetto.”

UTSA Lyric Theatre director Dr. William McCrary learned four years ago of the opera, which was originally performed 55 times in Terezín by the children in the camp, and has been planning a production ever since. The invitation to the UTSA choirs to the celebration of Mozart’s birth provided a unique opportunity for Dr. McCrary’s students to perform the opera in its original locale.

The UTSA group will depart San Antonio for Munich , Germany , on May 25 and then will travel to Salzburg , Mozart’s birthplace, for an evening concert on May 27 as part of the 2006 American Celebration of Music in Austria . On May 29, the group will perform again in Vienna and then will travel to Prague for a June 1 evening concert with the Prague Radio Orchestra. The next day, they will tour Terezín, where they will also perform Brundibár , and return to San Antonio on June 3.

To make a gift to help support this great cultural opportunity for the choirs, check out giving options at http://www.utsa.edu/development/GiveToday.

3/17/06

For more Giving news, visit http://www.utsa.edu/development/news.