Greenhill Music Department once again organised a fantastically successful foreign tour this year following in the wake of Paris '98 and Austria 2000. This year the Ysgol Greenhill School Chamber Orchestra was invited by Mr. George Cleeve to perform in the San Francisco Mozart Festival - a prestigious event in the California timetable. The orchestra took on this great honour and last week all the hard work paid off as the orchestra gave two performances in San Francisco, California.

The party departed from Greenhill School in the small hours of Wednesday morning by coach, heading towards Gatwick airport. Many thanks go out to the parents for bringing their children to the school at this ridiculously early time of the morning. On board the coach the atmosphere was electric, despite the early morning - finally, after all the preparation, we were on our way.

We had a comfortable flight on Virgin Atlantic, and for a number of the orchestra this was an extra special trip, being their first venture into the States, and for many, their first trip on an aeroplane.

We were met in San Francisco International Airport by our hosts: the families that we would be staying with over our week-long stay in San Francisco. Our contact in San Francisco, Julia 'Jules' Campbell - sister of Mr. Paul Rapi, head of creative arts at Greenhill - quickly and efficiently organised the tired orchestra and staff and paired us off with the hosts.

We all left the airport with our hosts and headed towards their homes in the Bay area, mostly in the towns of Lafayette, Orinda and Alamo. It was at this point we had our first taste of America with the sprawling highway leading away from San Francisco International Airport and beyond the Oakland ridge. The sight of San Francisco rising up over the highway was a sight to behold and there was no doubt that we could be anywhere else but America.

With the hosts we experienced a totally different life to that in Pembrokeshire. Even 'normal' professionals could afford air conditioning, large houses, and what a greeting it was to find how many of the hosts had private swimming pools in their own back yards!

Jules had organised sightseeing tours for the children, but the first full day in SF was spent 'chilling out' in Waterworld USA, a theme park full of water slides and pools and places to simply sunbathe.

Thanks to the work put in by Mr. Neil Martin and Jules, most of the excursions to landmarks, such as the infamous Alcatraz Island (of Escape from Alcatraz and The Rock fame), Sony Metreon (a computer game centre), a meal at Planet Hollywood and trips on BART (the Bay Area Rapid Transit - a fast train network transporting us around SF and the surrounding area), were all paid for in advance, resulting in a far less stressful time for staff and students alike.

The excursions - however interesting, educational and ultimately enjoyable - were not the main purpose of the trip. The Chamber Orchestra performed two incredible concerts in San Francisco, wowing audiences in both venues.

The first concert was played in St. Stephens Parish of Walnut Creek. The venue itself was beautiful and although betrayed by somewhat 'backwards' acoustics the orchestra compensated and performed marvellously.

The second performance was given in The Palace of the Legion of Honour in San Francisco - just in sight of the Golden Gate Bridge. This venue was even more fantastic than St. Stephens and gave justice to the importance of the concert to the orchestra. This was the opening concert of the Mozart festival - an honour somewhat befitting the first ever school orchestra to play in the festival. Not only that, but Greenhill Chamber Orchestra was the first amateur, European and youth orchestra ever to play.

In both concerts, the orchestra performed: Mozart's Violin Concerto in A with Jamie Hutchinson playing the solo, Dimmler's Clarinet Concerto with soloist Louise Haynes, and finished with Mozart's Symphony Concertante with soloists Suzanne James on violin and Laura Wynstanley on viola.

Mr. Paul Rapi conducted the orchestra on both occasions, while Mr. Neil Martin stage managed and Miss Sarah Ellison played in the cello section. For many of the players this will be the highlight of their musical career and will be a memory that they will cherish forever.

The Americans were very generous, not only when hosting, but in their applause and general acceptance of the orchestra. Our heartfelt thanks go out to the hosts who so graciously looked after us for the week - hopefully this has been the start of some new friendships.

Not only do we have the hosts to thank, but also the sponsors of the trip, who played a vital role in helping the orchestra achieve their goals.

The sponsors - in no particular order, were: Friends of Greenhill School; Mrs. Rapi; W. and M. J. Lewis; Gareth Hughes Motors; Pembrokeshire Schools Orchestra; Pembrokeshire County Council; and Tenby Soroptimists. There was also a small number of anonymous sponsors.

Nothing summarises the outcome of the trip better than part of Mr. Rapi's thank you speech when the staff treated the orchestra to pizza in San Francisco: "You played brilliantly, and are a credit not only to yourselves, but also to Greenhill and Wales."

ROBIN MARTIN