Thursday July 3: Depart for Hamburg  - United/Lufthansa, /Delta/KLM/Air France, and British Air/American all offer one-change schedules from Houston or most other major hubs, both ways, whether returning from Hamburg on the 15^th or Berlin on the 20^th. (You will find a list of flight options, all with only a single change of planes, below this tour description.)
 
Friday July 4: Choose a flight scheduled to arrive in Hamburg no later than 3:00 PM; we must depart by coach to Lübeck not later than 4:00 PM, to check-in and get settled before our welcome dinner. Odds are good that Maestro Eschenbach will accept our invitation to join us for dinner in Lübeck.
 
Saturday July 5: Old Town Lübeck tour and opening night of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, featuring the NDR (North German Radio) Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach. We have back-channel information that there will be a “major international” guest artist and that the featured symphony will be by one of the Maestro’s “favorite composers,” meaning probably Mahler or Bruckner. The concert takes place at the Musik- und Kongresshalle, (MuK), where the Lübeck Philharmonic and the NDR Orchestra perform.
 
Sunday July 6: Travel to Hindsgavl Castle, stopping along the way for a visit of Gottorf Castle, including a guided tour of the “Globe of Gottorf,” the first ever planetarium. We’ll arrive at Hindsgavl, the site of a congenial festival of chamber music on Denmark’s picturesque ‘Garden Island,’ as Funen is known, in time for dinner and this evening’s concert(s).
 
July 7 – 10: Three additional days at Hindsgavl, one of Europe’s finest chamber music festivals, will feature conversations with the artists and at least two, sometimes three concerts each day. Admission is included for them all, as is dinner each evening. The castle’s beautiful grounds include pavilions, streams, and ponds as well as orchards and gardens that supply ingredients for the castle chefs (breakfast and a preconcert dinner are included each day on site). You might even spot wild deer in the forest and around the palace! The castle also provides expansive views of the ‘Little Belt,’ a strait separating the island of Funen from Jutland. Hans Christian Andersen was a frequent visitor to Hindsgavl, and even wrote poems about its Tea pavilion.
 
The principal concerts during our stay at Hindsgavl include an all-Brahms chamber music program and an afternoon solo recital, both featuring an original 1859 Blüthner piano; an evening of duets by Handel for soprano and countertenor; and the Chiaroscuro Quartet playing works by Beethoven and Brahms. Additional performances are yet to be announced.

Two day trips are planned in Denmark: one to Odense, the charming town where both author Hans Christian Andersen and composer Carl Nielsen were born; the other (optional) takes us to Århus, one of the most beautiful cities in Denmark, where ancient and modern keep very comfortable company.

July 10 – 15: We return to Lübeck for an additional five days of music and sightseeing. We will attend two Festival concerts in venues nearby; you will also have an opportunity to hear the Lübeck Philharmonic play Richard Strauss's Aus Italien and the Glière Horn Concerto on a free day (optional and not part of the Festival).
 
On our way to Lübeck from Hindsgavl, we visit the famous “rum” town of Flensburg, boasting Scandinavian flair, quaint alleys, and a small idyllic harbor.

During our days in Lübeck, we will drive to Plön, where we’ll have lunch and tour its charming Old Town before attending a concert in nearby Rendsburg-Büdelsdorf by the Festival Symphony Orchestra (program TBA). The wooden concert venue is next to “Kunstwerk Carlshütte,” which comprises a gigantic foundry, historic buildings, sprawling park with ancient trees, and an exhibit cafe. 250 artists from around the world display their works here each summer as part of “NordArt,” the largest curated annual exhibition of international contemporary art in Europe. You will have time to explore the exhibition and enjoy a snack before the concert.

Another included concert takes place in Lüneburg, one of the few cities in North Germany whose historic center was not destroyed during World War II. The venue for the concert – featuring the NDR Chorus – is the Libeskind Auditorium, an acute-angled geometric building featuring impressive acoustics and special strip lights in the walls for an outstanding concert atmosphere.

If there is sufficient interest, we will offer Rostock as an optional excursion.
 
Tuesday July 15: Return to the States from Hamburg airport.

– or –
The Berlin Extension

July 15 – 20: Continue with us to Berlin for an additional five days. We’ll make a stop in Schwerin for lunch and to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Residence Ensemble and palace museum.

In Berlin, there is an included walking tour: “Bach to Bowie – Music made in Berlin;” and a farewell meal prior to the evening performance on the 19^th.

Everything else, tours and performances, is optional.

Sunday July 20: Return home or set off on additional travels.

The Berlin Performances (optional):

• July 16: Verdi – La Traviata starring Jeanine de Bique and conducted by Jeremie Rhorer at the Staatsoper
• July 18: Rebecca Saunders – Lash at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where it will have been premiered in June
• July 18: Jiří Kylián–two ballets: Gods and Dogs and Angels’ Atlas, at the Staatsoper
• July 19: Strauss – Die schweigsame Frau, conducted by Christian Thielemann at the Staatsoper

The Berlin Tours (optional):
(our licensed local guide is Christoph Eschenbach's personal assistant, Zenaida,
who opened doors at the Schleswig Holstein Festival for us!)

• Potsdam with Sanssouci palace and gardens, Cecilienhof Mansion, and Museum Barberini, plus one of the most beautiful old market squares in all of Germany
• Introduction to Berlin walk
• “1920s Berlin – the gloom and the glamor of an era”