Choir students will be saying “Arrivederci” to LZ and “Ciao” to Italy on Wednesday, March 20.

            Of the nearly 240 students enrolled in the choir program, 122 students will be attending the trip to Italy over Spring Break to perform at four different venues throughout the country.

            “First, we fly to Dublin, Ireland because we were not able to get a direct flight at that time of year, but the benefit is that we’re all on the same flight,” said Nick Juknelis, director of vocal music and choir teacher. “Then we fly to Rome and we will be singing at the Vatican. Once we leave Rome, we will head towards Florence, and in between we will stop at all the hilltop towns in Tuscany. Then after we leave Florence, we’ll move to Venice, and between Florence and Venice, we will visit all the walled cities.”

            Although this is not the first time the choir has traveled out of the country, this is the biggest trip they have ever taken.

            Amy Holtshult, sophomore in concert choir, is one of the students attending this trip and believes it will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many of the students.

            “Not many people will have the opportunity to go to Europe, and we’ll be with an awesome group of people too,” Holtshult said. “I’m most excited about singing at the Vatican. It’ll be such an amazing experience.”

            While the choir is going to Italy to visit the historical landmarks and spectacular country as an added bonus to the trip, they have to perform at four venues in only nine days. As Juknelis sees is, with jetlag on both sides, four performances is quite a bit for the group to commit to.

            As well as gaining life experiences while in Italy, Holtshult thinks the choir program will benefit from this trip in other ways.

            “I think all of us being together as one group will bring us all closer and going on a trip like this will probably draw a lot of people’s attention to join [choir],” Holtshult said.

            Even though the choir gets to sing at worldwide famous venues like the Vatican, Juknelis is most excited for the historical aspects of the trip.

            “Right now, the Pope abdicated his seat and he will step down on February 28th. The news is saying they will start the process to select a new Pope between fifteen and twenty days after the 28th, and they hope to have a new Pope before Holy Week starts,” Juknelis said. “There is a really good chance that we’re going to be in Rome when something happens with that.  I think that it doesn’t matter which religion you practice, but I think that as humans we have a big interest in ceremonies and rituals. The fact that we could be in Rome when a new Pope is being selected and performing at the Vatican at the same time, I mean we would just be witnesses to history.”

            Holtshult also thinks possibly being in Rome when the new Pope is being selected would be an amazing and unbelievable experience to be a part of.

            “That would make this trip even more of a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Holtshult said. “Not only would we be able to sing in this beautiful country, but we would get to be a part of a historic event, which is crazy cool.”