Sue Beadle, a retired history teacher and active group leader for The Madrigal Singers from Queensbury High School in Queensbury, NY, is gearing up to embark on her third Encore performance tour in December. Learn more about Sue and her experiences collaborating with Encore.

Q: You first started traveling with ACIS back in 2001. Tell us about your transition over to Encore.

A: I started traveling with ACIS because the person who originally led our school's [educational] trips used ACIS. I stayed with them because of the great service I received. Alicia Kohanski Fortier was my tour consultant and she kept me as a client until my retirement. Alicia always listened to me and made our trips reflect our ideas and agendas. As I traveled, I met other ACIS people and was always impressed. They don’t simply sell a product. They believe in the "Travel Changes Lives" attitude that I believe in.

I moved to the Encore [performance] division when our choral director (Penny Schiek) approached me to design a concert tour for our select choral group, The Madrigals. Knowing the quality of the ACIS product led us to use Encore. Our first experience cemented our relationship with Encore when the choral director was thrilled with the quality of venue, the publicity, and the quality of the total experience. She has traveled with other choral organizations and was emphatic that Encore was the best experience she had ever had.

I should also mention that I have organized a trip with my husband through ACIS’ GO Play sports division and had a similar experience. Excellence in every area!

Q: Tell us about your upcoming tour to Italy in December and January.

A: The 2009-2010 tour is our third Encore tour and our second trip to Italy. This trip is designed to expose students to Venice as a unique city site. We then move to Assisi and Orvieto to get the feel for the medieval town. Our goal is to spend time "inside the walls" and feel the medieval size and spirit of these sites. We end [the tour] in Rome to look at both the cosmopolitan nature of Rome and its classical heritage.

[Throughout the tour], we’ll have bits and pieces of Italy that show the students several facets of Italian history and life.

Q: What have your previous performance venues been like overseas?

A: Encore venues are one of the most important aspects of the trip. We have had amazing opportunities for our performances and our receptions have always been so warm and genuine. This year, we’ll be performing at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice and that’s thrilling. We’ve performed in the Vatican and that was unforgettable.

My favorite performance during our 2006-2007 tour was at Santa Maria in Trastevere (Rome, Italy). To watch our students perform to a full house in that amazing glittering venue still gives me shivers! Bringing ancient and sacred places to life with student voices really puts history into perspective for me.

Q: From your experiences, what is a participant’s experience like?

A: The relationships that the students form with each other, their families, and their chaperones are unforgettable. We encourage family members to join us and we have had parents, grandparents, siblings, and all combinations of aunts and uncles who enjoyed these performances with their children. I love the inclusive nature of our trips.

Q: What motivates you to continue traveling after retirement?

A: I love traveling with students. Adding a performance or competition to that basic love of travel just elevates the experience. There is a focus of purpose and the relationship that the performers establish with people wherever they go [also] keeps me going.

I travel extensively, and every place I go I find myself envisioning concerts and evaluating venues. I try to design trips that offer students a historical understanding of the performance venues. Performance is only part of the experience and Encore allows us to expand our cultural experience with their touring options.

Photos courtesy of Queensbury High School.