HVA music students perform across France and Spain on European tour

Choir and handbell ensemble share sacred music with churches, schools, and audiences abroad

Highland View Academy students spent 10 days in France and Spain, March 12–22, sharing sacred music with churches and schools while taking in some of Europe’s most iconic cultural landmarks.

The group’s first performances were in Paris, including a concert at the Neuilly-sur-Seine Seventh-day Adventist Church. Audiences were particularly captivated by the handbell ensemble, as the instrument, while popular in England, is a novelty in much of the rest of Europe. While in Paris, students also explored some of the city’s most iconic landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, and the Arc de Triomphe.

From Paris, the tour moved south through France, with a stop at the medieval walled city of Carcassonne, before crossing into Spain. In Barcelona, the group performed at the Urgell Seventh-day Adventist School to an audience of roughly 700. Students also had the opportunity to explore the city, including visits to the Sagrada Família, La Rambla, and the Mercat de la Boqueria.

Heading south toward Valencia, the tour’s most unexpected moment came along the Mediterranean coast in Peñíscola, where the group gave an impromptu concert in the chapel of the historic Papa Luna Castle. Tourists stopped to listen, and the extraordinary acoustics made for a memorable performance.

The experience left a lasting impression on music director David Nino. “That really showed me that it is so possible, so easy to reach out across cultures and religion through music,” he said. “Music is a great tool to reach out to nonbelievers.”

The tour’s final Sabbath was spent at Sagunto Adventist College near Valencia, where the group participated musically in the “I Will Go” European Youth Congress, a gathering that drew about 500 young people from across the continent. That afternoon, the group traveled north to Castellón for a full concert at a local Romanian church, where they were warmly welcomed with dinner and fellowship.

The trip home included an unplanned bonus: a lengthy layover in Lisbon gave students time to explore the Portuguese capital before heading back.