MUSYCA’s 2027 Summer Tour: Austria and the Czech Republic
Updated: 22 hours ago
Some places seem to hold music in their stone streets, church arches, opera houses, and mountain air. In the summer of 2027, MUSYCA will follow that sound across Austria and the Czech Republic on a tour filled with concerts, history, and unforgettable cultural experiences.
The journey will take the choir from Vienna to Salzburg and Prague, with stops in historic towns and landmarks connected to Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, and The Sound of Music. Along the way, singers will have the chance to perform, explore, listen, learn, and experience two countries where music is part of daily life.
A musical route through the heart of Europe
Austria and the Czech Republic offer a rare mix of beauty and musical depth. Grand capitals, alpine scenery, old town squares, cathedrals, and quiet side streets all tell part of the story.
For MUSYCA, this tour will be more than a sequence of destinations. It will be a chance to connect performance with place. A song learned in rehearsal takes on a different meaning when it is sung near the same streets where great composers lived, worked, and heard music around them.
The tour program will include concert performances as well as time to experience local culture. Singers can expect a rich balance of music, sightseeing, and shared discovery. Each city will bring its own character, from Vienna’s elegance to Salzburg’s mountain setting and Prague’s dramatic skyline.
Vienna will offer a powerful beginning
Vienna waits for you! American singer-songwriter Billy Joel has a personal connection to Vienna. His 1977 song “Vienna” was inspired by his first visit to the city, where he went to meet his father, whom he had not seen since childhood. In the song, Vienna becomes a metaphor for slowing down, appreciating life, and allowing time to unfold.
Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, and Strauss lived and worked here. Their names appear on streets, buildings, museums, and monuments throughout the city. Walk through Vienna's historic center and you quickly discover that its musical history is not confined to a museum. It is part of the city itself.
American singer-songwriter Billy Joel also has a personal connection to Vienna. He first visited the city in the 1970s to meet his father, whom he had not seen since childhood. The experience inspired his 1977 song “Vienna,” in which the city became a metaphor for slowing down, appreciating life, and allowing time to unfold. Joel later described Vienna as a place where things began to make sense for him.
Vienna is also a city to enjoy at a slower pace. Between musical landmarks, there are coffeehouses, gardens, palaces, museums, and lively streets. A walk through the old city can turn into an informal lesson in European history. The Vienna State Opera stands along the famous Ringstrasse. Concert halls fill the calendar with performances. Churches that once echoed with the music of great composers continue to serve as important musical venues.
For our choir tour, Vienna provides a natural starting point. We begin our journey in one of the places where the classical music tradition we perform was shaped.
On the Road to Salzburg
Leaving Vienna, the landscape begins to change. The journey toward Salzburg takes us through the Austrian countryside toward the Alps.
The smaller towns between the major cities offer another perspective on Austrian history and culture. Historic squares, churches, castles, and old streets reflect centuries of life and local traditions.
Salzburg will bring Mozart and mountain scenery together
Salzburg has many connections to music. It is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, home of the internationally renowned Salzburg Festival, and the setting for many of the filming locations of The Sound of Music. The historic center is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Mozart was born in Salzburg in 1756 and spent his childhood there. His birthplace on Getreidegasse is now a museum, and other places connected to his life include the Mozart Residence and the Mozarteum. Mozart's music remains central to Salzburg's cultural life, with concerts and performances taking place throughout the year.
The city is also home to the Salzburg Festival, founded in 1920. Its major venues include the Great Festival Theatre, the Felsenreitschule, and the Haus für Mozart. The festival has become one of the world's best-known celebrations of opera, classical music, and theater.
Then there is The Sound of Music. The 1965 film was shot in and around Salzburg, including Mirabell Gardens, Nonnberg Abbey, Leopoldskron, and Hellbrunn. The famous gazebo from the film remains at Hellbrunn Palace.
The connection to the real von Trapp family is also part of Salzburg's history. Maria von Trapp was a novice at Nonnberg Abbey before becoming governess to the von Trapp children. The family later formed the Trapp Family Singers and achieved international success after emigrating to the United States.
Historic towns will shape the journey between cities
The musical and cultural history of Austria and the Czech Republic extends well beyond their major cities.
Historic towns throughout the region preserve medieval and baroque architecture, churches, monasteries, castles, bridges, and traditional town squares. Many have their own musical traditions, festivals, and cultural institutions.
Traveling through these communities offers a broader view of Central European culture and of the ways music has developed within local communities over generations.
Prague will close the tour with beauty and grandeur
Prague is a city that rewards walking. Its historic center is filled with churches, towers, courtyards, narrow streets, and centuries-old buildings. The Charles Bridge crosses the Vltava River, connecting the Old Town with the historic Malá Strana district.
For musicians, Prague has another attraction: Mozart. Mozart's relationship with Prague was unusually strong. His The Marriage of Figaro was enthusiastically received there, and in 1787 he traveled to Prague to conduct the premiere of Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre. The theater is still standing and remains one of the city's important historic landmarks.
Prague also played a major role in Miloš Forman's 1984 film Amadeus. Much of the film was shot in Prague, using its historic buildings and streets to recreate 18th-century Vienna. The Estates Theatre itself appears in the film.
There is a fascinating bit of film history here: when you visit Prague and recognize a scene from Amadeus, you may actually be looking at Prague standing in for Vienna.
But Prague's musical identity is not just about Mozart. The city is closely connected with Czech composers such as Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák. Their music played an important role in the development of Czech musical culture, and their legacy remains an important part of the city's artistic life.
A tour built around music, culture, and shared experience
A musical tour through Central Europe is different from simply visiting a series of famous cities.
In Vienna, we encounter the great composers of the classical tradition. In Salzburg, Mozart's birthplace, the Salzburg Festival, and the landscapes of The Sound of Music come together in one city. In Prague, Mozart's opera history meets the world of Amadeus and the Czech musical traditions of Smetana and Dvořák.
The places themselves become part of the story.
A church is no longer simply a beautiful building when you know that music has been performed there for centuries. A street becomes more interesting when you realize that a composer once walked along it. And a familiar film scene takes on a new meaning when you are standing in the landscape where it was actually made.
For MUSYCA, the 2027 journey will bring together music, history, architecture, film, and the experience of traveling together.
And, of course, there will be one thing connecting the entire journey: the music we carry with us.
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