Preliminary plans have been set for 180 music students at High School North to travel to Germany next November to learn and perform at famed European theaters and opera houses. Music teacher Jon Enz and assistant principal Melissa Levine met with the Board of Education curriculum committee and school district’s senior administration, including new assistant superintendent for curriculum and assessment Martin Smith, on December 5 to outline the trip.
The proposed trip would take place from Tuesday, November 6, to Monday, November 12, and would consist of touring the German cities of Berlin, Dresden, and Leipzig. One potential highlight of the trip would be visiting Leipzig on the 23rd anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9.
Several stops in Berlin and Leipzig would include places where Johann Sebastian Bach wrote and performed. Plans for three concerts are in the works: one in Dresden at the concert hall of Hochschule, noted for Carl Maria von Weber’s performances; an afternoon concert in Leipzig at the Thomas Kirch (church), a landmark for Bach; and an evening concert in Berlin on the last day of the trip.
Other destinations will be the Zinger Palace and Semper Opera House in Dresden; in Berlin the Charlottenburg Palace, Holocaust Memorial, Brandenburg Gate, and Rathaus Schoeneberg — where John F. Kennedy delivered his famous 1963 speech.
At the curriculum committee meeting, board member Richard Kaye told Levine and Enz that it would be a great idea to show footage of JFK’s speech to students before they embark on the trip. He also brought up another idea: contacting Congressman Rush Holt’s office to have students visit the U.S. embassy in Berlin and possibly hold a performance.
Kaye expressed one concern: the cancellation and refund policy that the tour company would have in its agreement with WW-P in the event of an international crisis such as a terrorist attack. Kaye told Enz and Levine that he would not want students to lose any money that they invest in the trip in case there was a global impact on flying overseas. Smith shared details of refunds made when he had arranged trips to France and Spain for the Edison school district in November of 2001.
The total per-student cost of the trip would be $2,095.
