Senior Band International Tours
These tours are all about the music and the people; they are optional, and for all students in our music program, they raise the musical bar.
2020 - Music & Culture of Croatia & Italy
The entire OKM Senior Band program took on an incredible and engaging challenge - to work together over many years of planning, and travel to Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Italy; to bring our music to 5 concerts in Dubrovnik, Medjugorje, Mostar, and the Zagreb Music Academy, with touring in Austria, Slovenia, Split, Zagreb. and Rome. As we've brought Europe Tours to the OKM community for over 20 years, we have seen that it always boosts the entire program: all of our Senior students rise to the higher musical and team challenges, and welcome rigorous rehearsals, tougher music, all with healthy group commitments. That has worked very well again: we are now performing music to incredible levels, across the entire Grade 10-12 program.
Although this tour was cancelled on Feb. 26, 2020 because of too many uncertainties around global travel, our disappointment is tempered by our gratitude: that our students, parents, and admin gave us their trust to take on this incredible challenge, and we are committed to continue to grow and be open to new learning opportunities...we will "hold it lightly", and learn and support each other!
Although this tour was cancelled on Feb. 26, 2020 because of too many uncertainties around global travel, our disappointment is tempered by our gratitude: that our students, parents, and admin gave us their trust to take on this incredible challenge, and we are committed to continue to grow and be open to new learning opportunities...we will "hold it lightly", and learn and support each other!
2017: The Netherlands & Germany OKM Senior Concert Band students retraced the steps taken by Canadian and Allied soldiers into the Liberation of the Netherlands during World War II. We wanted to honour our veterans, and learn the stories of the people, from the 1930's until today. We created and performed a piece called "Regrowth" (which was inspired by our 2005 tour) where music was set to images including our Band students family members who were Canadian veterans, and images of the towns they helped to liberate. We performed this in Holland together with Dutch musicians, in these same towns:
2014: Croatia, Budapest, Italy (Budapest, Croatia: Zagreb, Plitvice, Zadar, Split, Island Brac, Italy: Ancona, Florence, Rome) Continuing our theme of "Purpose, Belonging, and Gratitude" now with our tour of 78 sharing music amongst historical settings in the Adriatic and Mediterranean: Danube river to Buda and Pest; Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion, Medieval Croatian cathedrals of St. Stephens and Archbishop's Towers; National Theatre, UNESCO World Heritage site of Plitvice, Roman Diocletian Palace, Day trip to Island Brac, Ferry across Adriatic Sea to Italy: Ancona, Florence, Rome, Trevi Fountain, Sistine Chapel, The Pantheon, Vatican Museums, Piazza Navona, Colosseum
2011: London, Paris, Wales, and Normandy (Cardiff, Caen, Rouen, Bayeux, Juno Beach, Dieppe, Vimy Ridge). Highlights: Our theme of "Purpose, Belonging, and Gratitude" was applied to the memory of Kelowna soldiers from WWI and WWII. Visiting Juno Beach, Vimy Ridge, and Dieppe, and performing a joint concert with French youth in Dieppe, only a few hundred metres from the beaches where the Canadian (Kelowna) soldiers fell;
2008: Prague, Austria, and Germany (Vienna, Munich, Salzburg, Ellewangen). Highlights: Playing iwth the Ellewangen Orchestra, and hosting their travel to Kelowna; this was probably the biggest tour in SD 23 history, as we had about 20 parents also travel in a 'parallel tour', with a budget of almost $500,000. Sound of Music theme; travel to Salzburg (Mozart's Birth town), Concert recital in Vienna; getting weepy-eyed at an Opera in the Vienna Opera House;
2005: Germany and France (Paris, Versailles, Frankfurt, Saarbrucken. Highlights: Playing our "Regrowth" multi-media presentation about the 2003 Okanagan Mountain Park Fire with 200 musicians near Saarbrucken (100 OKM, 50 French; 50 German); playing each other's National Anthems; learning to disco dance in Frankfurt before our evening dance; Eiffel Tower at midnight; Cruising the Seine River...
2002: Italy, including Rome, Venice, Florence, Pisa. Highlights: Joint concert with Italian youth in Florence; singing arias on gondolas in Venice; Roman Colleseum; Sistine Chapel, Vatican
1999: Japan - Tokyo, and Seoul, South Korea Highlights: Joint concert in Tokyo Bunka School; homestay in Tokyo; hosting Japanese students in Kelowna - Kettle Valley biking, and an Okanagan Lake Houseboat.
2014: Croatia, Budapest, Italy (Budapest, Croatia: Zagreb, Plitvice, Zadar, Split, Island Brac, Italy: Ancona, Florence, Rome) Continuing our theme of "Purpose, Belonging, and Gratitude" now with our tour of 78 sharing music amongst historical settings in the Adriatic and Mediterranean: Danube river to Buda and Pest; Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion, Medieval Croatian cathedrals of St. Stephens and Archbishop's Towers; National Theatre, UNESCO World Heritage site of Plitvice, Roman Diocletian Palace, Day trip to Island Brac, Ferry across Adriatic Sea to Italy: Ancona, Florence, Rome, Trevi Fountain, Sistine Chapel, The Pantheon, Vatican Museums, Piazza Navona, Colosseum
2011: London, Paris, Wales, and Normandy (Cardiff, Caen, Rouen, Bayeux, Juno Beach, Dieppe, Vimy Ridge). Highlights: Our theme of "Purpose, Belonging, and Gratitude" was applied to the memory of Kelowna soldiers from WWI and WWII. Visiting Juno Beach, Vimy Ridge, and Dieppe, and performing a joint concert with French youth in Dieppe, only a few hundred metres from the beaches where the Canadian (Kelowna) soldiers fell;
2008: Prague, Austria, and Germany (Vienna, Munich, Salzburg, Ellewangen). Highlights: Playing iwth the Ellewangen Orchestra, and hosting their travel to Kelowna; this was probably the biggest tour in SD 23 history, as we had about 20 parents also travel in a 'parallel tour', with a budget of almost $500,000. Sound of Music theme; travel to Salzburg (Mozart's Birth town), Concert recital in Vienna; getting weepy-eyed at an Opera in the Vienna Opera House;
2005: Germany and France (Paris, Versailles, Frankfurt, Saarbrucken. Highlights: Playing our "Regrowth" multi-media presentation about the 2003 Okanagan Mountain Park Fire with 200 musicians near Saarbrucken (100 OKM, 50 French; 50 German); playing each other's National Anthems; learning to disco dance in Frankfurt before our evening dance; Eiffel Tower at midnight; Cruising the Seine River...
2002: Italy, including Rome, Venice, Florence, Pisa. Highlights: Joint concert with Italian youth in Florence; singing arias on gondolas in Venice; Roman Colleseum; Sistine Chapel, Vatican
1999: Japan - Tokyo, and Seoul, South Korea Highlights: Joint concert in Tokyo Bunka School; homestay in Tokyo; hosting Japanese students in Kelowna - Kettle Valley biking, and an Okanagan Lake Houseboat.