(Firenze), Italy - Susquehanna Valley Chorale

Peter Tiboris, General Music Director and Artistic Director
PRESENTS
“Secondo Festival Annuale dei Grandi Cori Americani Città di Firenze ”
Second Annual
The Great American Choral Series
in Auditorium di Santo Stefano al Ponte
Florence (Firenze), Italy
Friday, June 3 – Sunday, June 12, 2016
10 Days / 9 Nights
Open To All Choirs Who Are Interested in
Great Works in A Great Place
Who is famous from Florence/Firenze? Sculpturist Benvenuto Cellini, Dante. Sculpturist Donatello,
Florence Nightingale, Director Franco Zeffirelli, Gucci the designer, Leonardo da Vinci, Luigi
Cherubini, Niccolo Machiavelli and Roberto Cavalli.
Firenze-“Breathless Beauty”
MidAm International, Inc. · 132 West 36th Street, 4th Floor · New York, NY 10018-6903
Tel. (212) 239-0205 · Fax (212) 563-5587 · www.midaminternational.com
Subject to change without notice
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2016 THE GREAT AMERICAN CHORAL SERIES
Registration Deadline: June 1, 2015
Featuring these Major Italian Choral Works
Rossini's STABAT MATER
Puccini's "GLORIA" from MESSA DI GLORIA
Verdi's STABAT MATER & AVE MARIA
Vivaldi's GLORIA
and special performances of
Christopher Tin's " The Drop That Contained the Sea”
conducted by Sue Fink (European Premiere)
Robert Cohen's “Alzheimer’s Stories” (Italian Premiere)
Conducted by William Payn (Susquehanna Valley Chorale)
Dan Forrest's Requiem for the Living
conducted by the composer, Dan Forrest (European Premiere)
Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina
www.orcafi.it
Giuseppe Lanzetta, Founder and Music Director
Peter Tiboris, Principal Guest Conductor (Direttore Ospite Principale)
www.petertiboris.com
http://www.petertiboris.com/personalflorence.html
&
World Class Soloists
Auditorium di Santo Stefano al Ponte, Firenze
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2016 THE GREAT AMERICAN CHORAL SERIES:
Itinerary
(As of 3/17/2015)
Day 1 – Friday, June 3, 2016
 Arrive in Firenze. MidAm International, Inc. staff and Custom Travel of Firenze staff will meet you at
the airport and transfer you to Adriatico Hotel (http://www.hoteladriatico.it/), or Rivoli Hotel
(http://www.hotelrivoli.it/en/), or Adler Hotel (http://www.hoteladlercavalieri.com/), or Baglioni
Hotel (http://www.hotelbaglioni.it/index_eng.html) for check in. These are the four residency
hotels located in central Firenze. (A decision as to which hotel you will be assigned to will be made
by February 1, 2016.)
 7:00 PM-8:00 PM: Organizational meeting at hotel with MidAm and Custom Travel of Firenze staff
 Remainder of evening free to stroll central Firenze and dine.
Day 2 – Saturday, June 4, 2016
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Breakfast
9:30 AM-12:30 PM: Rehearsal with piano at the residency hotel.
12:30 PM: Lunch on-your-own.
2:30PM-5:30PM: First Tour: Duomo Complex, House of Dante, Piazza Signoria, and Church of Santa
Croce; Entrance fee, bus, professional guide, personal broadcast microphones, and hearing devices
are all included.
Tour Description: Duomo Complex – House of Dante - Piazza Signoria – Church of Santa Croce
A short walk from the hotel and you will find yourselves in Piazza del Duomo, Florence’s religious heart.
Here stands the Duomo ( Cathedral ) and its imperious Brunelleschi’s dome, one of the city’s great
symbols, flanked by its freestanding Giotto’s campanile or bell-tower. In the Cathedral’s shadow stands
the Baptistery, Florence’s oldest religious building, a place of spiritual and artistic importance for well
over a thousand years. Some of the many works of art produced for these buildings over the years have
been removed for safekeeping to the square fourth major component Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, a
museum tucked away behind the cathedral.
Walking south from Piazza del Duomo along the pedestrian area, just between Piazze del Duomo and
Piazza Signoria, a labyrinth of narrow streets lead to House of Dante. Built to commemorate the 6th
centennial of his birth, it stands in the middle-age area surrounded by the buildings that were familiar to
him: the tiny Dante’s church built in 1000 where, according to the tradition, Dante met Beatrice his
“muse”; Church La Badia Fiorentina, the oldest Monastery in town built in 978; and il Bargello, a palace
built in 1255, as the seat of the Podestà, the city’s main magistrate. Later it became a law-court, prison,
torture chamber, and is nowadays one of the most important Renaissance sculpture museums in Italy.
Where Piazza del Duomo serves as Florence’s religious heart, the city’s second great square, Piazza della
Signoria has long been its civic focus. It is home to Palazzo Vecchio, the seat of city government for seven
centuries, and plays hosts to several notable pieces of public sculpture. Dominating the square is the
fortress-like Palazzo Vecchio, started in 1299, initially housed the Priori or Signoria, the city’s ruling
council. Loggia della Signoria on the piazza’s eastern side was begun in 1376, and is an open-air museum
for two major and several minor pieces of sculpture. The “Perseus“ by Cellini (1545 ) and the “Rape of the
Sabine women “ by Giambologna intended simply as a study of old age, male strength and female beauty.
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Another short walk and you get into the broad square of Santa Croce, Florence’s most compelling church,
is not only an artistic shrine (frescoes by Giotto, stone-work by Donatello ) but also the burial place of
which 270 of the city’s most eminent inhabitants, among them Galileo, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and
Rossini.
Tour descriptions courtesy of Custom Travel of Firenze, Italy)
Piazza Signoria
Santa Croce Interior
 6:00PM: Return to hotel.
 Evening free to stroll central Firenze and dine.
Day 3 – Sunday, June 5, 2016
 Breakfast
 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM: rehearsal in hotel
 Afternoon and Evening free to explore and stroll central Firenze and dine.
Day 4 – Monday, June 6, 2016
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Breakfast
8:30 AM-noon: Rehearsal in hotel
Break for lunch on your own
2PM-7:30PM: Optional “Tour to Historic Pisa”: to the Leaning Tower, the Duomo, the circular
Baptistery, and Santa Maria della Spina. The cost of this tour will be announced by February 1,
2016, and it is not included as part of the package.
Piazza Dei Miracoli
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
 6:00 PM: Return to hotel.
 Evening free to stroll central Firenze and dine.
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Day 5 – Tuesday, June 7, 2016
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Breakfast
9:30AM-12:30PM: Rehearsal in hotel.
Lunch on own.
2:00PM-5:00PM: Second Tour: A guided general tour of Santa Maria Novella Church, Academy of
Fine Arts, and Duomo Complex; Entrance fee, bus, professional guide, personal broadcast
microphones, and hearing devices are all included.
Tour Description: Santa Maria Novella Church – Academy of Fine Arts – Duomo Complex 
A short walk from the hotel and you will be at Santa Maria Novella that ranks just behind Santa Croce,
Florence’s most important Church. The mother church of the city’s Dominican order was founded in 1246.
Both the façade and the interior are outstanding, the latter home to a trio of captivating fresco cycles and one
of the most influential paintings of the early Renaissance.
The first fresco cycle lies in Cappella Strozzi. Sponsored by the banker Filippo Strozzi (1489), the paintings are
by Filippino Lippi and deal with episodes from the life of Strozzi’s namesake.
The second and most important cycle, a work by Ghiralndaio is ranged around the chancel. Commissioned by
a banker Giovanni Tornabuoni, the themes are “Life of John the Baptist “and “Life of the Virgin” (1485).
Masaccio’ fresco “The Trinity” (1427) was one of the Renaissance works in which the new idea of mathematical
proportion was successfully employed.
From Santa Maria Novella, a walk through the elegant and fashionable shopping area (formerly the banking
area during the Renaissance) and you reach the Academy of Fine Arts. Only the Uffizi is more visited than the
Galleria dell’Accademia, whose crowds are lured by the most famous Renaissance image of them all:
Michelangelo’s David.
Carved from a single piece of thin and fault-riddled marble by Michelangelo at the age of 26 in 1501, the statue
remained in Piazza Della Signoria until 1873. Its theme of David and Goliath was chosen for its parallels with
Florence’s recent history, evoking the city’s belated liberation and its ability to withstand more powerful foes.
Away from David the gallery contains other Michelangelo’s works, “St Matthew”, and four “Slaves”, all
uncompleted and intended for the tomb of Pope Julius II.
The Tour will finish at Piazza del Duomo and the great Cathedral.
(Tour descriptions courtesy of Custom Travel of Firenze, Italy)
Santa Maria Novella Exterior
Santa Maria Novella Interior
 6:00PM: Return to hotel.
 Evening free to stroll central Firenze and dine.
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Day 6 – Wednesday, June 8, 2016
 Breakfast
 Explore Florence on your own/ Shopping
 3:30PM-5:30PM: Generale with full orchestra and soloists.
 7:30PM: Concert in the Auditorium di Santo Stefano al Ponte
Peter Tiboris conducting the Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina in Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, Italy, 2013
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Day 7 – Thursday, June 9, 2016
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 Breakfast
 Morning and afternoon free for shopping, exploring, and leisure or schedule permitting a full day
optional tour “Siena and San Gimignano” The cost of this tour will be announced by February 1,
2016, and it is not included as part of the package.
Piazza Del Campo in Siena
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Day 8 – Friday, June 10, 2016
San Gimignano
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 Breakfast 
 9:00-noon: Third Tour: Ponte Vecchio and Uffizi Gallery; Entrance fee, bus, professional guide,
personal broadcast microphones, and hearing devices are all included.
Tour Description: Ponte Vecchio – Uffizi Gallery
A short walk along the bank of Arno River and you will be facing Ponte Vecchio, built in 1345. With its load
of overhanging shops and buildings, it is one of Florence’s most familiar images.
Over the centuries it has survived countless floods and the havoc of war and civil strife. In World War II it
was the only bridge spared during the Nazi retreat from the city.
Galleria degli Uffizi holds the world’s finest collection of Renaissance paintings. All famous names of
Italian art are here, not only the Renaissance masters but also painters from the country’s early medieval,
Baroque, and mannerist heyday. The building that houses the collection was built in 1560 and spreads
across some 80 rooms. Any brief description can only touch on its absolute highlights.
The prelude to the collection starts with the medieval Giotto and Cimabue’s “Maestà”, followed by the
gothic works of Simone Martini and Gentile da Fabriano who paved the way for the Renaissance with
Masaccio, Paolo Uccello, Piero della Francesca, and Filippo Lippi precursor of the sophisticated Botticelli ‘s
“Primavera” and “Birth of Venus”. Leonardo’s mystery will appear in his “Annunciazione” and the
unfinished “Adoration of the magi“.
As you progress and walk through the centuries, you will see not only the painting by Michelangelo, the
“Tondo Doni”, but also Raphael’s early work “Madonna del Cardellino” and the mature portrait of Pope
Leo X. Influenced by Rapahael, Titian’s “Venus of Urbino”, one of the most explicit nudes in Western art is
also here. Caravaggio’s “Medusa” and “Sacrifice of Abraham and Isaac” bear the standard in marked
contrast and introspective portraits.
(Tour descriptions courtesy of Custom Travel of Firenze, Italy)
Subject to change without notice
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Uffizi Interior
Uffizi Exterior
Ponte Vecchio
 Return to hotel.
 Afternoon and evening free to stroll central Firenze and dine.
Day 9– Saturday, June 11, 2016
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 Breakfast 
 9:00-noon: Fourth Tour: Santa Trinita, Pitti Palace, and Boboli Gardens; Entrance fee, bus,
professional guide, personal broadcast microphones, and hearing devices are all included.
Tour Description: Ponte Santa Trinita – Pitti Palace – Boboli Gardens 
Walk across Ponte Vecchio keeping an eye at the Corridoio Vasariano, the covered passage-way built for
Cosimo dei Medici to link Palazzo Vecchio, political residence to Palazzo Pitti, private residence, across
the river.
Few palaces are as colossal as the Palazzo Pitti. Built in 1460 by the Pitti family, a banking dynasty, the
project was so financially draining that the family was forced to sell it; it was bought and further
enlarged by Cosimo I Medici. Today it contains a cluster of museums, of which the most important is
Galleria Palatina , home to much of the Medici’s collection.
Orientation around the gallery’s many rooms can be confusing. The collection’s real highlights lie in the
ornate state rooms where the paintings are arranged four or six deep. The Gallery has no fewer than 12
works by Raphael, among which are “Madonna of the Chair” and the “Veiled Woman”.
Several penetrating portraits figure among the 14 paintings by Titian. The most celebrated is “Portrait of
English Man” and “Mary Magdalen”. The many other painters represented include Caravaggio, Filippo
Lippi, Andrea del Sarto, Rubens, and Tintoretto.
Behind the Palazzo Pitti lies Florence’s principal park. Giardino di Boboli was created by Cosimo I
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Medici in 1549 and open to the public in 1766. The park’s trees, formal gardens, walk-ways, and
fountains provide a green and peaceful retreat.
(Tour descriptions courtesy of Custom Travel of Firenze, Italy)
Boboli Garden
Palazzo Pitti
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 Return to hotel.
 Afternoon free to stroll central Firenze
 8:30PM: Finale dinner at Osteria Dei Baroncelli
Osteria Dei Baroncelli
Day 10 - Sunday, June 12, 2016
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 Depart by coach for Firenze airport to return home.
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Residency Costs and Payment Schedule:
Total cost is €1850 Euros (For example: at an exchange purchase rate of 1.25 = $2313) per
person, based on double occupancy. This includes events, accommodations, transfers, & all tips,
gratuity, and VAT taxes described in the day to day itinerary and specifically itemized on the “inclusions”
page. This price does not include airfare to Firenze. Single supplement occupancy is € 3150 Euros (€1300
additional). Note that single rooms are limited. Triple rooms are occasionally available and the cost per
person is the same as double room occupancy, €1850 Euros per person.
At the time of the FIRST DEPOSIT with MidAm International, Inc., your dollar exchange rate for your
ensemble will become fixed and firm in dollars, and this dollar amount is computed based on the
exchange purchase rate for that day. From this point forward the dollar amount for this program will
remain unchanged, regardless of whether the dollar weakens or strengthens for the remainder of your
payment deposits. This tour is priced in EUROS because travel services in Europe are paid in EUROS not
dollars.
Spouses, friends, and families are welcome to be part of the residency. The package described here
applies to them as well.
DEPOSIT DEADLINES:
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$400 per person on or before June 1, 2015 (final cost in dollars for this package is fixed and
firm for all of your payments at this time based on the exchange purchase rate on that day).
$400 per person on or before December 15, 2015.
$500 per person on or before March 15, 2016.
Balance due on or before May 1, 2016.
ALL CHECKS ARE PAYABLE IN US DOLLARS TO: Susquehanna Valley Chorale Please indicate
"Firenze Trip" on the memo line. If you choose to pay via credit card, please call the SVC office at
570-547-0455
Kelly Beard
Executive Manager
Susquehanna Valley Chorale
P.O. Box 172
Lewisburg, PA 17837
All deposits and payments are non-refundable and non-transferable to the group’s unpaid balance,
should an individual cancel their participation. Cancellation insurance, therefore, is recommended.
Please visit www.travelexinsurance.com or call 1-800-228-9792 to inquire about trip
cancellation insurance.
If MidAm International, Inc. cancels this tour, all monies will be refunded.
AIRFARES TO FIRENZE ARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PARTICIPATING ENSEMBLES & INDIVIDUALS.
If your air arrival is at an alternate airport (Milan/Rome), you need to arrange transport to Firenze at
your own cost which we can provide an estimate.
If you are a US citizen, a valid passport is required but no visa is required.
If you are NOT a US citizen, please check with your embassy regarding entry requirements to Italy.
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Land Package Inclusions (for each residency package):
PERFORMANCE/ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION:
1. One public performance with orchestra and soloists.
2. Distinguished guest conductors.
3. Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina.
4. World-class soloists.
5. Professional accompanists and language coaches.
6. Audience management of concerts in cooperation with Custom Travel of Firenze, Italy.
7. National and International press coverage.
8. Internet posting and updating.
9. Concert photograph sent to each director by Aug. 1, 2016.
10. Complimentary concert DVD sent to each director of their concert (pending approval of the
Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina musicians union).
11. Publicity, management, and audience development of your concert in Firenze.
12. Complimentary concert poster given to each participant at the conclusion of the tour.
LODGING/GROUND TRANSPORTATION/BOARD:
13. Nine (9) nights in Firenze, double occupancy at some of the following or similar: Adriatico Hotel
(http://www.hoteladriatico.it/), or Rivoli Hotel (http://www.hotelrivoli.it/en/), or Adler Hotel
(http://www.hoteladlercavalieri.com/), or Baglioni Hotel
(http://www.hotelbaglioni.it/index_eng.html). Single occupancy is € 3150 Euros (€1300 Euros
additional) when singles are available. Triples are in limited supply, and the cost per person is still
€1850 Euros per person.
14. Package includes all local taxes, gratuities and Value Added Tax (VAT).
15. MidAm International, Inc. and Custom Travel of Firenze personnel on site in the hotel during your
residency.
16. MidAm International, Inc. manages all travel details during the tour on your behalf with Firenze's
Custom Travel of Firenze, a company whose expertise is in concert music travel for incoming
ensembles.
17. Nine (9) breakfasts.
18. Finale dinner at Osteria Dei Baroncelli (June 11)
19. Bus transfers to all tours, rehearsals, and concerts; as needed. Airport transfers will be available on
June 3, upon arrival and June 12, for departure to and from the Firenze airport.
NOTE: If you arrive or depart in Milan or Rome (rather than Firenze), additional bus transportation
can be arranged and billed on your final invoice. If your group arrives in Rome, one 50 passenger
bus to Firenze costs 1050 euros plus 30 euros Bus City Pass ONE WAY; if your group arrives in
Milan, one 50 passenger bus to Firenze costs 1185 euros plus 30 euros Bus City Pass ONE WAY.
20. English-speaking guides.
21. Escorts on busses from all locations.
22. One free land package based on 30 full-paying package people (#31 is free).
23. Assistance with purchasing international flight tickets to and from Firenze when requested.
TOURS (see description in itinerary – Entrance fee, bus, professional guide, personal broadcast
microphones, and hearing devices are all included.).
24.
25.
26.
27.
First Tour: Duomo complex, House of Dante, Piazza Signoria, and Church of Santa Croce;
Second Tour: Santa Maria Novella Church, Academy of Fine Arts, and Duomo Complex;
Third Tour: Ponte Vecchio and Uffizi Gallery;
Fourth Tour: Santa Trinita, Pitti Palace, and Boboli Gardens.
Subject to change without notice
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Land Package Exclusions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Your round-trip air fare to Italy.
All lunches and dinners (except the finale dinner on June 11).
Purchase of your choral music.
Optional one-day tour to PISA, which is invoiced on your last payment for those who choose to go.
Optional one-day tour to Siena and San Gimignano, which is invoiced on your last payment for
those who choose to go.
(Optional programs 4 & 5 will be announced by February 1, 2016 with costs and detailed descriptions. For
those choosing either or both optional tours, the costs will appear on their final invoice.)
Kelly Beard
Executive Manager
Susquehanna Valley Chorale
P.O. Box 172 , Lewisburg, PA 17837
E-mail: svc@svcmusic.org
Office #: 570-547-0455
Subject to change without notice
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