Two Perpich Students to Tour Australia & New Zealand with Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies

April 7, 2025

In June 2026, two musicians from Perpich will travel to Australia and New Zealand with Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies (GTCYS)! Kaylee Davis (Music 2026) and Arik DeSmith (Music 2025) are members of the GTCYS Symphony. They will perform several concerts, including a capstone concert at the Sydney Opera House, a performance in Auckland, New Zealand, and a local concert in Sydney.

L to R: Arik DeSmith (Music 2025) and Kaylee Davis (Music 2026) will be on tour to Australia and New Zealand with GTCYS

“I feel extremely lucky that I get to share my music on such a large scale,” said Davis, who plays the violin in the orchestra.

DeSmith, who graduates from Perpich this spring, will be returning to GTCYS for the tour after a year away while attending Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. He’s not too concerned, though, about keeping up his musical skills during the break. “I’ll be playing the bass trombone and subbing with the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra while I’m at Concordia,” said Arik. “And some of the pieces we’re playing on tour are works we’ve already learned.”

Cultural highlights of the tour include the Hobbiton Shire movie set from “Lord of the Rings”, the world-famous Sydney Taronga Zoo, a whale-watching cruise in the Sydney Harbor, and learning about the Maori and aboriginal cultures in both New Zealand and Australia.

Kaylee Davis is from Minnetonka, MN and is the child of Erika and Matt Davis. She previously attended PiM Arts High School in Eden Prairie, MN.

Arik DeSmith is from Litchfield, MN and is the child of Sonya DeSmith and Cari Warner. He previously attended Litchfield Senior High School in Litchfield, MN.

Renowned for their rich touring history, GTCYS’ biennial international tours for Symphony were reinstated in June 2014 when 78 students toured Spain and performed by invitation at the Granada International Festival of Music and Dance. Since then, GTCYS students have benefited from successful and exciting tours every other year. GTCYS believes the experiential learning aspects of touring empower students with musical, social, and cultural opportunities that will shape their lives for years to come.

The last (and only) time GTCYS traveled to these destinations was in 1992 on the South Pacific Tour with music director Dr. William LaRue Jones. They are collaborating with Grand Tours and their international partners to bring the magic of GTCYS back to Australia and New Zealand.