OPERA, DANCE, TRAVELFOR THE ARTS CLASSICAL MUSIC SPRING & SUMMER FESTIVALS 2016 ARTS HOLIDAYS www.travelforthearts.com +44 20 8799 8350 [email protected] welcome to the world of OPERA, DANCE, CLASSICAL MUSIC ARTS HOLIDAYS Welcome to Travel for the Arts, the UK’s leading opera, All details including hotels, meals, excursions and tour leaders classical music and dance holiday specialist, established in are hand-picked, and we endeavour to provide the best tickets 1988 for The Friends of Covent Garden. We specialise in available for every performance. Our group tours are exclusive creating bespoke tours for private groups and arranging and rarely exceed 25 in number. We have no upper age limit ‘à la Carte’ itineraries for individuals. for participation and we are fully ABTA, IATA and ATOL bonded to assure quality and complete financial security. We are constantly searching for the finest Opera, Ballet and Classical Music performances worldwide. This brochure We pride ourselves on the personal care we give to our includes the highlights of the 2016 Spring and Summer patrons; many of our travellers are regulars with up to 100 TFA festivals, and we are delighted to be offering you the chance tours under their belts. We hope to welcome you on our of our to visit several new destinations once again. We hope that tours soon! you will find our selection of highlights tempting. www.travelforthearts.com Travel for the Arts for Travel MEET OUR TEAM Travel for the Arts is staffed by a team of specialists with a wealth of experience in travel, music and the arts, who are involved in the planning of every tour from conception to fruition. Our team also travel as tour managers on a selection of tours every year to ensure we always have the most up-to-date knowledge of each destination. GROUP TOURS Richard Savage Poppy Savage is C.E.O at Specialised Travel worked as a concert tour and Travel for the Arts and manager before joining has happily combined a Specialised Travel in 2006 as career as a professional Operations Manager. She is singer with running a now Director of Travel for the specialist music travel Arts and also a Director of the company for over 40 years. charity Opera for Change. Juliet Manners Pablo Basombrío joined the company in 2007, has been working with specialist having worked in Marketing tours since 1998, originally and Communications at in his native Argentina. His the Royal Opera House. favourite composers are Verdi She previously spent 3 and Beethoven, and he hopes years in orchestral travel, to one day take Travel for and is a trained dancer. the Arts to Buenos Aires. Emma Feasey Vanessa Kyriacou joined Specialised Travel in joined the company in 2013 2011 as Operations Manager. and has 20 years’ experience She previously operated tours in the travel industry. She with an archaeological and counts China and India as historical focus, travelling some of her top destinations extensively throughout the and is enjoying expanding her Middle East and Asia. knowledge of opera and ballet. À LA CARTE TOURS Mark Saunsbury has been with Travel for the Arts since 2001 and in travel since 1984. He was initially in retail travel, including four years with Thomas Cook, before moving into tour operating. He spent the 1990s working for a pilgrimage tour operator. WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY We pride ourselves on the quality of our service and are grateful that it is reflected in feedback from you; 98% of our clients say their holiday is either excellent or very good. More importantly, many vote with their feet; three out of four of our travellers are returning clients and their friends. “I have been very impressed by not “Thank you for organising my trip to see and only the undoubted knowledge of the hear such a once-in-a-lifetime combination of staff but also by the efficiency of the operas with brilliant artists in a beautiful city. travel arrangements. I hope very much The operas both got enthusiastic applause… that I shall travel with you again.” you deserve the same.” LES BALLETS DE MONTE CARLO © ALICE BLANGERO DE MONTE CARLO LES BALLETS Mrs C, Buckinghamshire Mr M, Lancashire Call 020 8799 8350 1 Travel for the Arts for Travel EXPERTS IN CULTURAL TRAVEL The success of our tours depends very much on our experts. All our tours are led by travel experts, and many of our tour managers are also professional musicians and music specialists. Below is just a selection of the many people who work with us to ensure that you have the best experience possible. Simon Rees Stephen Carpenter Richard Savage is a freelance writer, led our Mendelssohn in is C.E.O. at Specialised lecturer and translator. Scotland tour in 2015, Travel and Travel For 23 years he was and will be planning for the Arts and has dramaturg at Welsh and leading further happily combined a National Opera. holidays in association career as a professional with us in 2016 and singer with running a beyond. See pages specialist musical travel 28-31 for details. company for 40 years. Carol Savage Patrick Mylon Zita Stockwell is a professional will be familiar to has been leading our concert and opera many of our guests, tours for 26 years and singer, with a degree having tour managed is an expert on many in History of Art from for 7 years. He is a true destinations, particularly London University. opera fan, particularly her native Budapest. of Wagner, and has She is a keen opera and attended 10 Ring Cycles. concert attendee. David Waite Raffaella Golinucci Eva Gordon-Smith is a professional Blue is a freelance is a consultant, Badge Tourist Guide professional Tour lecturer and Blue and also the Founder & Manager and has Badge Guide. She Director of Guiding You worked in the music has been managing Ltd, a tour guiding and business for many years. concert tours in a training company. She also often looks after number of European well-known musicians. countries for 25 years. Special Features MEET THE ARTIST INDEPENDENT TRAVEL We hope the following keys will be helpful in highlighting On selected tours we are For some of our UK tours, we first delighted to be able to offer you rendezvous together as a group some of the special features the opportunity to meet some of at our chosen destination, but we we offer on our tours. the artists you will have seen on are of course happy to help with stage in our included performances. individual travel arrangements. EXPERT-LED TOURS NEW DESTINATION SHAKESPEARE 2016 All our tours are accompanied by professional and knowledgeable We regularly offer tours to new In 2016 we offer tours featuring tour managers, and in some cases, destinations based on our ongoing operas inspired by the works of expert lecturers. research and also on recommendations. Shakespeare to commemorate the 400th anniversary of NO SINGLE SUPPLEMENT NEW PRODUCTION the author's death. We are pleased to offer a selection We are keen to give you the of tours with no single supplement chance to see brand-new for our individual travellers staying productions. Look out for our tours in a double or twin room. showcasing new opera and ballet productions around the world. 2 www.travelforthearts.com Travel for the Arts for Travel “We have been on three of your tours and they have all been excellent. Looking forward to the next one!” Mr and Mrs H, London LE NOZZE DI FIGARO AT SALZBURG FESTIVAL © RUTH WALZ Call 020 8799 8350 3 WELCOME TO THE 2016 SPRING Travel for the Arts for Travel AND SUMMER FESTIVAL SEASON We are delighted to present our selection of highlights How to book: To book a place on a tour please contact from the 2016 Spring and Summer Festival Season, us by telephone on 020 8799 8350 or email [email protected]. featuring the best of the opera, music and dance If space is available on the tour of your choice you will be programmes across Europe. This brochure includes given a 72-hour option. new destinations and old favourites alike. We will then require a completed booking form (available at the end of this brochure or downloadable online), together with your deposit or full payment (see Late Bookings). CONTENTS You must read and agree to the Booking Conditions. Tours 6 – 31 To book à la Carte, please contact Mark on 020 8799 8354 À la Carte guide 32 – 45 for a quotation. Booking form 46 – 49 Book early: Many of our holidays are taken up very quickly after the brochure launch. Sometimes they are fully booked after appearing on our website or as advanced information CALENDAR OF TOURS in our Newsletter. Date Tour Page 11 – 17 Apr Opera and Ballet in St Petersburg 6 Late bookings: If you book within 6 weeks of departure, you 14 – 18 Apr The Great Opera Houses of Prague 7 will need to provide a credit/debit card for the full amount of the holiday, or send us a cheque within 24 hours. 13 – 17 May The Whitsun Festival in Salzburg 8 19 – 23 May The Wagner Festtage in Leipzig 9 Tour code and booking references: Please include these 21 – 26 May Shakespeare Operas in Budapest 10 on the booking form and quote your booking reference on all subsequent communications. 7 – 12 Jun Riga Opera Festival 11 14 – 18 Jun Ballet in the Black Forest 12 Opening hours: Monday – Friday, 9.30am – 5.30pm. 15 – 19 Jun Opera and Fado in Lisbon 13 The office is closed on UK public holidays.