Some students may have chosen to stay local, visit family, or vacation over spring break in mid-March, but a group of Rockhurst choir members decided to take their talents overseas.
Over the 10-day break, around 50 students and chaperones traveled to Italy for the choir program’s second installment of the trip, visiting Venice, Florence, and Rome to perform in historic churches and experience authentic Italian culture.
With a group made up of mostly sophomores–with only a small number of upperclassmen–the trip presented an opportunity to not only show Rockhurst’s vocal talent to Italy, but as a time for bonding and brotherhood between the choir members.
For most students, the trip was more than just another sightseeing venture.
“We’d sing in at least one church a day, basically,” junior Jackson Kelly said. “And then after we sang, we got the whole day to do pretty much whatever.”
The trip began on the first Saturday of break, March 14, departing from Kansas City International Airport and arriving in Venice the following day, following layovers in Atlanta and Amsterdam. After settling in, students had time to explore on their own, walking through the streets, seeing the sites, trying local food, and adjusting to a completely different environment.
As the trip continued, the focus shifted towards performances.
In the weeks leading up to their departure, the choir spent significant amounts of time practicing for their performances. Though this year was just the second time the choir performed in Italy, they had already established a reputation from their first performances in 2024, something choir teacher Kevin Coker, Ph.D., was determined to maintain.
“We met every Activity Period since Christmas,” Coker said. “We’d also work with groups in class, to make sure everything was tuned perfectly.”
“We were rehearsing every day, it felt like,” junior James O’Farrell said. “All the songs [were] in Italian. There was some Latin–no English.
“It was weird at first, not even knowing what we were saying, but we got it down.”
Those hours of rehearsal paid off in Italy, where the choir performed in some of the most prominent churches in the entire world, including St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City.
“It was amazing,” Kelly said.
Beyond singing, the group experienced some of Italy’s most iconic locations. The floating city of Venice, the leaning tower of Pisa, and the Roman Coliseum were all prominently mentioned when it came to sightseeing. Aside from historic landmarks, the choir also had the unique opportunity to have private tours of the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica.
Other locations included the Ferrari Museum and Da Vinci Museum, where students were able to see some of the rarest and most expensive pieces of both automobile culture and art in the world.
It was as much of an experience of cultural immersion as it was a performance-based trip. In Florence, students watched glass sculptures and stained glass being made by hand, while in Venice and Rome they saw the iconic columns of the Roman Forum and spent hours wandering through the cities, discovering landmarks and restaurants off the beaten path.
The food, Kelly said, was one of the highlights. Italy, known worldwide for their cuisine, rose to meet the expectations.
“Breakfast and dinner were together, but lunch was on our own,” Kelly said. “The farther you walked away from the main square, the better and, honestly, more authentic the food got. And it got cheaper, of course.”
That freedom gave students the chance to experience Italy beyond the typical, crowded, tourist perspective.
“I think I really did have an authentic experience,” O’Farrell said.
“They are singing, yes, but it’s more about the culture for them [the students],” Coker said. “Experiencing the sights and sounds first hand is what it’s really all about.”
