A Tour of Italy for RL’s Glee Club

On March 15, 72 RL boys—along with four faculty chaperones—departed Boston for Italy, to enjoy a week-long, spring break tour of music and culture. On day one, the group first sang Mass at Santa Croce in Florence before heading to San Gimignano, where the Latonics drew a crowd busking, and the Glee Club sang a second Mass at San Agostino. That Monday offered a slower pace, as the group embarked on a city tour of Florence in the morning, before enjoying a free afternoon to explore the city independently in smaller groups.

Next, the boys and faculty headed to Siena, where they packed a lot into two days. En route from Florence to Siena, they stopped to visit the Corsini Estate in the beautiful Tuscan countryside. There they enjoyed a tour of the villa and the wine and olive oil production facilities—enjoying an olive oil tasting prior to lunch! After arriving in Siena, the singers gave their third performance of the tour at San Francesco—another wonderful acoustic experience. They then continued their Franciscan theme by traveling to his hometown of Assisi, where they performed in the San Francesco Basilica in the morning and took a tour of the city in the afternoon. Since all roads lead to Rome, the group concluded their Italian adventure there, with a visit to the Vatican and the powerful experience of singing at St. Peter’s Basilica. Our special thanks, for planning and leading a successful, memorable trip, goes to faculty chaperones Rob Opdycke, Kerry Brennan, Michael Beam, and Alex Pellegrini.