All of your preparations should be done BEFORE you arrive at the college.  Once there, we have at most 18 hours of rehearsal to put everything together. Since you will have at least 10 pieces of music to learn, that’s about 1-1/2 hours of rehearsal per piece.  If you are in more than one group you may have as many as 25 pieces of music to prepare!

Once we leave the USA, we’ll have *zero* rehearsals. For that reason, the 3 days at the college will be jam packed with rehearsals, coaching, sectionals, and whatever else we need in order to have a great final product before we leave. The Farewell Concert will actually be a “dress rehearsal” for the Tour, so everyone must be as prepared as possible before arriving.

Now, in Europe … When we perform a Concert, we’ll pull into the venue, unload the coach/trailer, set up the stage, and then ALL the groups will perform. When we’ve finished, some of the cities will have arranged for a Reception!  It’s a great cultural sharing time, and they are very hospitable.

On non-Concert days, the Red Tour will pack in as much unforgettable sight-seeing as possible.  Red Tour band directors do often recommend that brass players keep a mouthpiece in your carry-on for buzzing, but if you do that, make sure it’s an *extra* one so the original never leaves your case.

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All of this will be made clear to you each day. On some days, there will be plenty of time to return to the hotel for a change of clothes. Sometimes, however, you will have checked out of the hotel and your luggage is carried beneath the coaches. On those days, you’ll take your performance clothing on the coach with you; for that reason, it’s a good idea to take along a (lightweight, foldable and very cheap) garment bag. Even a garbage bag would work just as well. Don’t worry – the Staff will tell you very clearly how the clothing works each day of the Tour, and you’ll be reminded about how to prepare for the upcoming day at bed-check each night

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Details will be provided on the final Itinerary provided at check-in when you get to the college. The Itinerary will show the places (at least it will list the town/city) and exact times; keep in mind you’ll be using global time so the Concert time will be listed as “20:30” for an 8:30 PM Concert. We don’t always know the exact places of all of the performances; most towns have a ‘good weather’ and a ‘bad weather’ venue set aside. Some will be very specifically stated on the printed Itinerary. Whenever any questions remain, give a call to the home AMA office.

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