
Symphonic Holidays
With da capo orchestra & travel you will have the opportunity to play at an advanced level in an amateur orchestra while enjoying your holiday in relaxing and inviting places in Southern Europe. We combine the comforts of Mediterranean life with our essential mission: to bring together people who share a passion for music. Our daily rehearsals culminate in a concert performance at the end of the vacation. Read more...


Symphonic Holidays
Latest News
December 2020: Premio Buona Cucina
One orchestra, two chefs!
Symphonic Holidays essentially are music under the baton of a chef d’orchestre, but today our congratulations go to the chef de cuisine Daniela Funari with her family. During our stay in Santa Vittoria the Symphonic Holiday orchestra is pampered with the culinary delights created each day at their Ristorante Farfense, which was now awarded the prestigious Premio Buona Cucina of the Italian Touring Club for the "genuine cooking with a straight regional characteristic, in a cultivated and hospitable environment". Enjoy!
October 2020: Prix del violon Georges Enesco
Who is afraid of modern music?
Anna Göckel was awarded the Prix del violon Georges Enesco. The jury of composers selected Anna also for her engagement throughout the last years for contemporary music.
We feel privileged that Anna is happy to share Symphonic Holidays with us also in future. With her special expertise on contemporary music now underlined also by the Enesco price, planning is already on the way for courses including also modern repertoire.
19th May 2020: Coronavirus III
Coronavirus
Regretfully, due to the Coronavirus crisis, our Symphonic Holiday in Bardou, scheduled from 11th - 21st July 2020, is cancelled.
Regarding our week in Cefalù from the 2nd – 11th October, we will take decisions by 2nd August 2020. If you wish to still make a booking, for any of our holidays this year, you can simply reserve a place without any need to pay a deposit.
Vacancies: 2 horns, 1 trumpet, timpani, violins, violas and 1 double bass
2nd May 2020: Coronavirus II
Coronavirus
Regretfully, due to the Coronavirus crisis, our Symphonic Holiday in Santa Vittoria, scheduled from 24th July – 2nd August 2020, is cancelled.
We will take decisions regarding the Symphonic Holidays from 11th – 21st July 2020 in Bardou by 15th May. If in July we are able to travel freely again, but gatherings of the size of an orchestra won’t be allowed yet, we might offer a chamber music workshop instead.
Regarding our week in Cefalù from the 2nd – 11th October, we will take decisions by 2nd August 2020.
If you wish to still make a booking, for any of our holidays this year, you can simply reserve a place without any need to pay a deposit.
Vacancies:
Bardou 11th – 21st July 2020: 1 oboe, 1 horn, 2 trumpets, violins, 1 cello
Cefalù 2nd – 11th October 2020: 1 bassoon, 2 horns, timpani, violins, violas and 1 double bass
20th March 2020: Coronavirus I
Coronavirus
Regretfully, due to the Coronavirus crisis, our Symphonic Holiday in Bardou, scheduled from 15th – 24th May 2020, is cancelled.
As we don’t know how long this pandemic will last, we will take decisions regarding the Symphonic Holidays from 11th – 21st July 2020 in Bardou and from 24th July – 2nd August 2020 in Santa Vittoria, by 15th May and we will write to let you know as soon as we know the situation.
Our week in Cefalú from the 2nd – 11th October may take place when we are able to travel freely again, but of course we will update you on that too, as soon as we know.
If you wish to still make a booking, for any of our holidays this year, you can simply reserve a place without any need to pay a deposit.
Vacancies:
Bardou 11th – 21st July 2020: 1 oboe, 1 horn, 2 trumpets, violins, 1 cello
Santa Vittoria 24th July – 2nd August: 2 oboes, 2 horns, timpani, all strings
Cefalù 2nd – 11th October 2020: 1 bassoon, 2 horns, timpani, violins, violas and 1 double bass
We wish you well over the coming weeks and months and hope to see you on one of our Symphonic Holidays later this year.
February 2020: A magical place
A magical place
A new page has been added to this website, with additional background information on Bardou:
January 2020: New Wilfer double bass for Symphonic Holidays
We can provide you with a cello or double bass, if you are unable to transport your own instrument. While, in the main, we rent these instruments, we have commissioned our own double bass which is now ready to be played by our musicians.
The picture shows Rudolf Wilfer, a luthier particularly renowned for his double basses, together with our new instrument in his workshop near Erlangen in Germany.
"It’s a good bass, well set up. I was surprised how well it responds" says Franziska from Freiburg who had been on Symphonic Holidays before and has now tested the new instrument.
2nd December 2019: All Symphonic Holidays 2020 confirmed
Due to the number of advanced bookings, we are happy to confirm that all four Symphonic Holiday scheduled for 2020 will go ahead. So participants can immediately make their travel arrangements.
Still lot's of vacancies! Is your instrument still needed? For details on missing instruments please refer to the tab "orchestra & team" of each Symphonic Holiday.
September 2019: New in our team
We are happy that Cyrille Tricoire joined the team and for the first time on our Symphonic Holiday in Bardou in May 2020 will work with the cellos and double basses. Since 1993, Cyrille Tricoire has been Principal Cellist of the Orchestre Opéra National de Montpellier Occitanie and for many years has collaborated with the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Montpellier as a cello teacher giving regular classes and workshops, in which he particularly enjoys passing on his love of orchestral performance. For more information, please visit our team page.
1st July 2019: New equipment
TWO FOR THE ROAD
New equipment.
For our Symphonic Holidays we are now equipped with 26“ and 29“ Adams Revolution Timpani. These timpani with a kettle made of hammered copper combine truly professional sound quality with a removable base for effortless portability. An innovative balanced action pedal system allows the Revolution base to detach from the kettle without any tools. The fine tuner allows the drum to achieve an octave range.
6th April 2019: Hande Küden member of the Berliner Philharmoniker
We congratulate our soloist Hande Küden who will be member of the Berliner Philharmoniker in the section of first violins starting from August 2019!
We are very happy that Hande will play with us the Beethoven violin concerto this summer in Santa Vittoria.
1st March 2019: New in our team
We welcome our new violin coach Hélène Maréchaux! Hélène had studied violin in Paris and Munich. For a few years she then played in the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Munich Chamber Orchestra and now is regularly member of the Mahler Chamber orchestra. For more information, please visit our team page.
Hélène is happy to start her engagement as violin coach of da capo orchestra & travel, working with the amateur violinists of our Symphonic Holiday for string orchestra in May in Bardou.

Covid19
What is the cancellation policy?
Generally bookings are binding, but during the exceptional times of this pandemic, we all need more flexibility. Read more...
upcoming
Symphonic Holidays
Cefalù 2nd - 11th October 2020
MOZART, Overture to Idomeneo
SCHUMANN, Violin Concerto
HAYDN, Symphony No. 104
Bardou 5th - 14th June 2021
String Orchestra
RESPIGHI, Antiche danze
SCHUBERT, Rondo for violin solo and strings
DVOŘÁK, Serenade for Strings
Santa Vittoria 17th - 26th July 2021
PROKOFIEV, Classical Symphony
STRAUSS, Oboe Concerto
GOUNOD, Symphony No. 1
Bardou 1st - 12th August 2021
BEETHOVEN, Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus
MENDELSSOHN, Violin Concerto
SCHUBERT, Symphony No. 4 "Tragic"
Cefalù 1st - 10th October 2021
FAHIM, Arson: Dreams of Peace
PIAZZOLLA: Estaciones Porteñas for solo violin
WILLIAMS, Vaughan: Symphony No. 5"

How would you like to be informed of our next Symphonic Holidays?
You will receive a maximum of six newsletters per year. We do not share the information you provide with any third parties. You can cancel the newsletter at any time.
Concerts 2020 and 2019




