After all of the planning, all of the coordination, the excitement, and the hoopla, it’s hard to believe that the tour has ended so quickly. But last night’s performance at the Centre of Culture in Lublin (Centrum Spotkania Kultur) was the final stop on this tour. The hall was completed in 2015. Its construction was a psychological triumph for the city, as it replaced a hall that had languished half-built throughout the 1980s and later opened in the mid-1990s as a scaled-back version of the originally conceived design. This concert was also sold-out — a delightful way to end the tour. This was a monumental experience for the orchestra. JoAnn Falletta called it “one of the most exciting weeks of my life.” Musicians enthusiastically documented the experience on their personal social media accounts. The entire organization is thankful for everyone who’s supported and followed our journey. We hope we made you proud. We thank you for the chance to do so. We expect to have more for you, including a post from cellist Robbie Hausmann about playing at Auschwitz in memory of his great-grandmother, so do keep checking back!
 Hello from the future: inside the Center for Culture, Lublin. |
The Center’s exterior is a giant marquee. |
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A poster at the Center. Our tour was presented by the Beethoven Easter Festival. |
Our program. |
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A view from the sold-out house! |
 And a view from the wings. |
 Celebration time! |
 Violist Valerie Heywood and violinist Diana Sachs raising a glass to a successful tour. |
 Cheers! |
 More celebration! |
 In harmony: cellist Feng Hew and her husband, violinist Shieh-Jian Tsai, got to experience the Poland tour together. |
 Look at those smiles! |
 Viola power! JoAnn Falletta backstage at Lublin with some of the section. |
 Everyone else’s work is over, but the ops crew has another big job ahead of them. Remember our posts about palletizing, shipping, and getting everything inspected? They’re doing it all again! |