Youth Orchestra Gets Second Chance At Australian Tour
UPDATED 02/08/11 6:25 a.m.
CHICAGO (WBBM) - A youth orchestra based on Chicago's Northwest Side was all set last week to go on its first-ever concert tour abroad. Then the blizzard of 2011 hit, and they never left O'Hare International Airport.
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The 19 young violinists in the Paderewski Symphony gave an impromptu concert at O'Hare last Thursday, playing Johann Pachelbel's Kanon as they waited and waited like many stranded travelers at the snowbound airport. The violinists were heading to Australia, for a once of a lifetime concert tour they had been planning for six months.
They were at the airport for 10 hours before they finally gave up and went home, their flights cancelled.
Now, Paderewski Academy of Music Director Barbara Bilszta says they've just learned they're rebooked on Tuesday, "We are lucky to be able to start our trip tomorrow and be on time for our concerts in Australia."
Not that the weather this week is perfect. "It's not great, but it's not bad. I think it's doable," Bilszta added.
Bilszta continued, "I think we have to learn to act with many circumstances which we cannot control, because it's important to kids to keep smiling."
Bilszta says the students should be able to play all their re-scheduled concerts in Australia.
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