Cynthia Steele is the Orchestra Manager at the NSO.

Today, June 6, the NSO will check in at the airport and depart on the long journey to Asia. We fly to Seoul, have a layover, and then take a flight to Hong Kong.

Our first concert is in Macao (also frequently spelled Macau) on June 9 at the Macao Cultural Centre, with a rehearsal earlier that day. The concert is sold out and we are really excited to perform there. Macao is accessible to Hong Kong via ferry. Because our flight doesn't arrive into Hong Kong until 10pm, we'll be spending one night in Hong Kong on June 7 before taking the 1-hour ferry ride to Macao on June 8.

Yesterday, Kate Preston, Assistant Production Manager, met Tanya Lervik from Classical Movements (the travel management company) at the airport with 100+ passports to work on the pre-check in and have all of the boarding cards printed. Doing this in advance will help the group check in go smoothly and quickly this morning. We'll be at the airport early to make sure all tour personnel have the NSO luggage tags and luggage stickers on their luggage, so that their bags don't get separated from the group upon arrival. We also color code each bag into one of four colors (each bag will have a colored tag/strap), which helps us direct the porters at hotels and airports and make sure the bags get on the correct bus when we are departing each hotel for the airport.

We will update when we arrive in Asia!