Guest Blog: 'The response to the whole tour has been entirely positive'

Chris Swain, Musical Director of the Wycliffe Choral Society in Gloucestershire, has just returned from a summer choir tour to Riga: “Everyone absolutely loved Riga and Latvia,” he said. “It’s hard to think how anything could have been improved on this trip – it was superb in every way! The response to the whole tour has been entirely positive."

Chris went on an Inspection visit ahead of his tour which made all the difference.

“The inspection visit in November was hugely beneficial and made the whole process of planning the concerts and itinerary so much more straightforward. I knew for instance, that people would enjoy Turaida having been there before.

“The concert in St. John’s Church was certainly a success, the audience response was very heartening and we appreciated the gift of flowers for our soloist and me. This is a lovely venue in a great location with a fine four manual organ. Our organist was in his element. All three venues were appropriate for our group – we enjoyed singing in all of them and our performances improved markedly over the three concerts which was very satisfying and everyone ended up feeling proud of themselves.

“We were blessed with a sunny warm day in Turaida, which made it especially memorable and I was so glad that we included Rundale – all those who came found it most interesting. Everyone found the canal trip relaxing and enjoyable. Our members did lots of different things in their free time, including the Occupation Museum and the Art Nouveau and we all enjoyed wandering round the Old Town.

“Aija, our tour manager, was on hand every step of the way to assist and liaise as necessary. She could not have not have been more helpful and was always willing to go the extra mile. She gave us a wonderful insight into all things Latvian, dealt with every eventuality calmly and professionally, had a lovely sense of humour and even sang the Latvian equivalent of ‘Happy Birthday!’ We all became very fond of her. She was a real gem!”

Wycliffe’s tour was organised by corporate members Club Europe Concert Tours, who have been a specialist music touring company since 1980. For more information visit www.clubeurope.co.uk/music-tours or call Freephone 0800 496 4996.