All Things Travel: Boston Symphony Hits High Note In Europe

BOSTON (CBS) – The Boston Symphony Orchestra opened their winter season at Symphony Hall on October 1 after a very successful European tour this summer.

The 16 day tour, starting in August, was the first trip by new conductor Andris Nelson. The tour included travel by air, bus and train with musical stops from Rome to Berlin. The last European trip for the BSO took place in 2007.

The BSO group totaled about 200 people including musicians, executives, a few invited guests and a team of 10 people to handle the traveling crowd and their instruments.

"They were an excellent team," said cellist Mickey Katz in a recent interview. "We did not have to worry about anything but playing." The BSO performed three separate programs while on the tour.

The orchestra traveled on commercial flights, private rail cars and buses on shorter trips between cities in Europe.

It being summer time, some of the musicians brought their wives and children along on the tour.

Katz indicated that when traveling, the group had no red carpet treatment.

"We flew on commercial flights, had to show our passports and stand in line to board planes," said Katz. "However, everyone was relaxed and the musicians bonded during the trip with more socializing than when the orchestra is in Boston."

"It's interesting to see what's happening in the world," said Katz. "We got a great reception wherever we played. The most vocal crowds were in Italy."

The first BSO concert took place in 1881 and the orchestra's first major trip was in 1915, when they headed west by rail and played 13 concerts at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.

A new addition to the Boston series this season will be three BSO Casual Friday concerts with reduced ticket prices, casual attire and digital material for phones and tablets with a Q & A with the orchestra at the end of the program.

The Boston Symphony, playing at Symphony Hall is a major attraction for international visitors to Boston.

"Clearly, they are helping to reinforce Boston's world-wide brand as America's cultural capital," commented Pat Moscaritolo, President of The Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau.

To put the BSO's moves around the world in context, the orchestra's travels involve about four times as many people than the Red Sox when they are on the road.

All Things Travel reports can be heard on WBZ News Radio 1030.