After our busy morning of touring, we perform  the first of 2 concerts in one day!  The first was an outdoor concert in the Mirabell Gardens.  Christopher was selected as one of 2 young soloists on the tour  based on a solo competition that was held back in January.  Here he is performing the first movement of the Marcello Oboe Cocerto in C Minor.

Christopher did a great job in his first performance of his concerto in Europe.  It is challenging to play outdoors, since the sound of your own instrument and the accompaniment carries in different directions.  Also, for reed instruments, the outside air (especially wind) can make the reed very unpredictable.

It was fun to watch the crowd gather as we played.  Europeans have such a knowledge and appreciation for classical music and jazz.

It is July 6th, the start of our third day of the tour and we stroll the streets of Salzburg on the way to the rehearsal and concert at the Salzburg Cathedral.  I had to take some pictures along the way because we finally had a day of sunshine!

Looking up from the entrance to the cathedral, I caught this photo of the fortress on  a sunny day.  It looks like something out of a fairy tale.

There was a collective gasp from our group as we entered the cathedral.  This was the church where Mozart’s parents were married.  Mozart’s father had to save money for several years before being allowed to wed his bride.

As always, we wished we could hear the organ played.  These 4 organs were accessible by a spiral staircase.  Several parents went up during the concert and had an excellent view for videography.

We wondered how they got up there to paint these ceilings.

This immense cathedral had 4  organs around the altar dome.  We were amazed by their size until we looked back over the entry and saw this enormous and ornate organ in the back of the church.