Our first full day in Prague started at 6:30 a.m. and went non-stop until 11 p.m. We are all well, and will send more details as time allows.

Reprinted from Thursday's Press Democrat

By Diane Peterson

Staff Writer

As a preview of its upcoming European tour, the Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra serenaded shoppers at Santa Rosa's Downtown Market on Wednesday night with strains of Dvorak and Mozart, plus the themes from "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "West Side Story."

The musicians, who were flanked by corn dog and barbecue stands, used clothespins to hold down their music in the wind as they played for an enthusiastic, casually dressed street crowd.

They will celebrate the orchestra's 50th anniversary later this month during a nine-day tour, starting in Prague in the Czech Republic and ending in Leipzig and Berlin in Germany. While in Berlin, the orchestra will perform a joint concert with the Potsdam Youth Orchestra of Germany.

"What better way to end my career with an orchestra than going on tour with many of my best friends," said principal cellist Anna Tedeschi, 17, of Santa Rosa. "I'm really looking forward to playing with musicians from a different country."

The musical program includes works that were composed by artists who lived and worked in those cities " works by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Dvorak " plus a medley from Bernstein's "West Side Story."

"Mendelssohn spent much of his professional career in Leipzig, where he was the conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra," said Richard Loheyde, youth symphony conductor. "We're going to have master classes with the musicians in that orchestra."

Most of the 62 musicians will carry on or check their instruments on the airplane, but the bulky cellos, basses, tubas and timpani will have to be left behind.

"It was cheaper to rent them there than to pay for the seats," explained Margie Harrison-Smith, the Santa Rosa Symphony's Director of Education.

During the past 18 months, the youth orchestra has raised more than $350,000 to cover the tour costs, which add up to $3,300 per musician. The students raised much of the money themselves by playing gigs at weddings and parties while their parents organized auctions and a golf tournament.

Among those parents lending support were Simon and Kathleen Inman of Inman Family Wines, whose daughter, Meredith, plays principal horn in the youth orchestra.

The Inmans donated magnum bottles of their 2006 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, which Meredith helped make. The specially etched bottles sold for $150 each and raised $10,500 to help underwrite scholarships for the tour.

"Music education is such an important thing," Kathleen Inman said. "The kids in this group are really amazing ... Having music education helps to make you that way."

This Sunday, the fund-raising efforts will conclude with a Bon Voyage Concert at 3 p.m. at Sonoma Country Day School's Jackson Theater. The program includes Mendelssohn's "Hebrides Overture," Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World," and Mozart's "Don Giovanni."

In honor of its 50th anniversary, the youth orchestra will invite 30 alumni musicians from the past 50 years onstage to perform Dvorak's "Slavonic Dances" together.

That piece will be conducted by Bob Williams, a longtime Santa Rosa Symphony violinist who also conducts two of the youth orchestras. Williams first played with the Junior Symphony in 1964.

Tickets to the concert are $12 general and $10 students. They are available at 546-8742, santarosasymphony.com, or at the door, 4400 Day School Place, Santa Rosa.

The tour departs June 17 and returns June 25. During the tour, the young musicians will blog about their experiences here at orchestra.pressdemocrat.com.