The Chicago Master Singers tours in Europe every two years. The tours are open to those CMS singers who wish to go as well as their spouses and friends.  If you are interested, contact us for more information.  We would love to have you join us!

2020 Tour to France and Switzerland

Chicago Master Singers 2020 tour revised 8/11/19
(Lyon, Burgundy, French Alps, Switzerland)

Thursday, 6/25 4:00pm Dep. O’Hare for Lyon on Lufthansa 431 to FRA; 1074 to LYS

Friday, 6/26 10:00 arr. Lyon for welcome luncheon (included); free afternoon (after hotel check-in) and evening;
Lyon is the most charming larger city in France, with all that Paris offers minus the crowds and congestion. It also
is the culinary capital of the world. Our hotel will be the Mercure Saxe-Lafayette, well-located within walking
distance of everything and with excellent public transportation options.

Saturday, 6/27 Free time to visit Lyon until 5:30 Mass and 7:00 Concert in the monumental Fourvière Basilica; remainder
of evening at leisure

Sunday, 6/28 Sing in 10:30 Mass at the Cathédrale St-Jean Baptiste; afternoon and evening free to enjoy Lyon

Monday, 6/29 9:00 Transfer to Beaune via a lunch stop at Le Cellier Volnaysien with magnificent views over the
Burgundy vineyards; visit Vezelay with 3:30 concert in the Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene with its spectacular
ambiance and acoustics; hotel check-in; free evening in Beaune. Mercure Centre

Tuesday, 6/30 Visit Besançon with free time until dinner and 8 pm performance in the beautiful diocesan center Chapel

Wednesday, 7/1 Free day in Beaune with included tours of the Hospice; to Dôle 8 pm performance in the splendid Collegiale Notre Dame.

​Thursday, 7/2 Transfer to Évian-les-Bains via lunch and a short sing in the magnificent Royal Monastery of Brou, Bourg-
en-Bresse, a unique and treasured flamboyant Gothic masterpiece (admission included)
Evian-les-Bains is a picturesque city set between the lake and mountains, offering a variety of activities.
Our spa hotel is within walking distance to shops, restaurants, a casino, Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) with swimming
and boating options, and numerous other attractions. Free afternoon and evening. Hilton Spa Hotel

Friday, 7/3 Visit Chamonix-Mont-Blanc. Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Europe and Chamonix is an absolutely
enchanting resort town; noontime concert in Église St-Michel followed by free time in Chamonix; free evening in
Évian-les-Bains

Saturday, 7/4 Visit Lausanne via visit to Chateau Chillon and a lunch stop in Montreux near Les Jardins du Palais;
5:00 performance at St. François in Lausanne as part of a regular concert series; return to Évian-les-Bains
(possibly by ferry) for Farewell Dinner at the Hilton (included)

Sunday, 7/5 2:00pm return flights: Lufthansa 1217 GVA to FRA, 432 to ORD arr. 7:25pm


Hotels: 3 nights Lyon: Mercure Saxe-Lafayette
3 nights Beaune: Mercure Beaune Centre
3 nights in Évian-les-Bains: Hilton Spa Hotel

Performances:
Lyon: Fourvière Basilica Saturday evening and Mass on Sunday morning in Cathédrale St-Jean
Vezelay: afternoon performance
Besançon: evening performance
Dôle: evening performance
Brou: short sing in the Royal Monastery
Chamonix Mont Blanc: noontime performance
Lausanne: early evening performance

    Tour Enrollment Form
    Special note: Since even singers who will not be singing with CMS for part or all of the 2019-2020 season will be permitted and encouraged to join the tour chorus next summer, we are asking for some additional information. Rehearsals will be April 27, May 4, 11, 18, 26 (the only Tuesday rehearsal), and June 1, 8, 15 and 22 with a pre-tour performance on Sunday afternoon, June 21. The June 22 rehearsal is mandatory, and only one absence is permitted in the sequence. Participation in the June 21 performance is not mandatory but is strongly encouraged. 
A History of CMS European tours

1993: Germany and Austria: Munich, Neuschwanstein, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Oberammergau

​1996: England: Salisbury, Worchester, Bristol, Wells, Bath, Cardiff, Cotswolds (Stow on the Wold et al.), Oxford, Coventry, Ely, Canterbury, Dover, London

1998: Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary: Prague, Kutna Hora, Tabor, Česke Budjovice, St. Florian, Vienna, Esztergom, Szentendre, Budapest

2000: France, Switzerland, Austria: Paris, Chartres, Reims, Strasbourg, Zurich, Lucerne, Vaduz, Innsbruck

2002: Italy: Rome, Orvieto, Siena, Florence (Montecatini), Pisa, Padua, Venice, Stroppari, Bergamo, Milan

2004: Czech Republic, Germany: Prague, Terezin, Dresden, Leipzig, Wittenberg, Berlin, Potsdam

2006:  Poland: Warsaw, Poznan, Gniezno, Wrocław, Auschwitz/Birkenau, Krakow, Zakopane

2008: Provence: Arles, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Gordes, Senanque Abbey, Roussillon, Uzès, Les Baux, St-Remy, Marseille, Aix-en-Provence

2010: Germany: Heidelberg, Rüdesheim, Würzburg, Nürnberg, Bamberg, Rothenburg, Wieskirche, Neuschwanstein, Munich

2012: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia: Vilnius, Trakai, Rundale Palace, Riga, Pärnu, Tallinn, Narva, St. Petersburg

2014: Austria, Slovenia: Salzburg, Burg Hochosterwitz Lake Bled, Poreč, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Ptuj, Maribor

2016: Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, Germany: Amsterdam, Delft, Haarlem, Maastricht,Trier, Metz, Aachen, Köln 

2018:  England:  Canterbury, Maidstone, Ely, Norwich, Cambridge, Peterborough, Lincoln, Newcastle