Scotland tour 2023/Highland Gala

As an appropriate finale to our 2023 season, SYV hosted a splendid Highland Gala event and then a tour of Scotland. Our Gala fundraiser, with tables displaying of an array of tartan and thistle-filled mossy centerpieces, was an evening of fair lads and lassies to be remembered! Our singers repertoire ranged from a salute to the UK with the Beatles’ “Here Comes The Sun” to Scottish homeland favorites like “Go Lassie, Go”, the “Skyboat” song and “Loch Lomond” and beautiful poetry. On tour, the crisp air of Scotland was filled with our music at 4 concerts & boat tour of Loch Lomond. Our first concert, “across the pond”, was in Dunfermline and we were joined by the Dunfermline Junior Chorus and the Keystone State Boys choir from Pennsylvania. Next, we visited the city of Stirling which was rich with quaint cobblestone roads, a Fish & Chips lunch and of course it’s beautiful castle. Our trip was filled with many photo ops to capture the glens, sheep & hairy “coo”(cow) sited along the way. Next our travels took via ferry ride to the Isle of Skye and then the Isle of Iona with a timeless performance at Iona Abbey. Our last two days were spent in Edinburg. We visited the Edinburg castle, the famous Royal Mile and a performed at St. Giles Cathedral. We were all made all aware of how young our own country’s history is having been surrounded by so much spectacular architecture and stained glass. All in all, we found the beauty, history and kindness of the Scottish people to be incomparable. The end of this tour was a special and tear-filled farewell to our founder and Director Genevieve Beauchamp, in Scotland, right where her journey began so many years ago with youth choirs.