Enthusiastic students chatter amongst each other as they board their flights, which will take them across the globe for a week in Ireland. There they will perform traditional Irish music and take in the beauty of the country while learning all about its culture and history.

Every two years the music department plans such trips to different states or countries, as they provide students with an opportunity to perform music in a new environment and to learn about that environment while making priceless memories, and for this year’s trip, the music department decided to take their students overseas.

“We’ve got a couple of tours of a few castles, taking some riding tours around some of the towns and sites, and we’re going to spend a day working on a farm and experiencing that, and we’ve also got three concerts planned,” said band director David Bechard.

According to Mr. Bechard, he and the choir director Mr. Telschow decided on going international for this year’s trip because Mr. Bechard wasn’t able to plan one last year, as it was his first year of teaching here at SFHS. It was Mr. Telschow’s idea to go big this year, so they decided on Ireland because it is the “Gateway International trip”, since most of the people there speak English. With it being such an exciting and grandiose trip, our students involved in the music department have a lot to look forward to.

“I am mainly excited for the food – I love trying new food – I like to learn about music culture, so like kind of experiencing what other countries like about music – because there’s actually some differences – and we’re performing at a couple of different churches and a couple of different schools, and I think it’s going to be really interesting to meet the people,” said Jacob Dethmers, a junior in choir.

For many students, including myself, it will be an incredibly unique experience, since many of us don’t travel to other states or countries all that often.

 “I’m looking forward to traveling and just sightseeing because I’ve never traveled anywhere,” said Samantha Dunphey, a junior in the wind ensemble.

Samantha says that she has been spending her Saints Time practicing her clarinet with the rest of the Ireland band on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in order to prepare for the trip. But of course, we won’t be performing exclusive our music exclusively in Ireland.

“Tonight, at 7:00 pm, in the Saint Francis High School PAC – you do not want to miss it – the band will be there to play, the choirs will be there to sing, and we are going to give a domestic concert for all of the friends and family that can’t come with us on the tour, so we really really want a big crowd there to make sure that we have a great experience, that we’re playing and singing for an audience, and we really get a feel for what it’s going to feel like when we get out to Ireland,” said Mr. Bechard.