Basel Day 1: First Impressions

Jet lag was no match for YPC's first day in Switzerland! After landing in the Zurich airport on Tuesday morning and gathering all of our things, YPC made our way to Basel by bus, where we went straight to the Münster Cathedral to meet our contacts at the Festival and begin preparing for an exciting and busy week. Gabby from Concert Chorus writes:

"Oh my gosh. I'm running on two hours or less of sleep, but I'm still very excited about this trip so far. It's been awesome! We started our first day in Switzerland in rehearsal. The boys amazed us with their rendition of She Moved Through the Fair. Almost made me cry a bit (almost!). After we had rehearsal, we filmed a short segment for TV and then got lunch at the cafeteria of the school by where we stayed. If all the food in Switzerland is as good, I don't think I'm going to fit back on the plane!"

YPC rehearses at Basel's Münster Cathedral for the first performance of tour: a spot on Swiss television!

"Despite the great food and productive rehearsal, the best parts of my day were tasting German pastries and reuniting with the Little Singers of Armenia choir. We first met the Little Singers of Armenia at a choral festival in Sweden in 2012 with YPC. When I spotted them here today, some of the singers caught my attention and told me that they remembered me! They even remembered one of the songs that we sang. In response, I mentioned their wonderful rendition of Steam Heat at the festival. Switzerland is awesome sauce!"

--Gabby, 18 years old

YPC singers meet their homestay families for the first time with the help of one of our hosts, Christoph (far right)