THE TOUR INCLUDES: - Top category seats for all performances as listed - 7 nights deluxe accommodations at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel Seattle - Full buffet breakfast daily, 3 dinners, 1 lunch, 1 High Tea - A custom (private) city tour, including the Seattle Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park and Pike Place Market - Private Airport-Hotel transfers. Performance transfers will be provided if needed. - Tour direction by an Aria Tours director - A comprehensive tour handbook containing travel info, performance synopses and a detailed daily itinerary Cost: $5985 US Single Supplement: $975 US Deposit: $2500 Balance due: May 24, 2009

OPTIONS FLIGHTS We will be happy to make any flight arrangements, including reward travel with your preferred carrier, for $75 per person. AIRPORT-HOTEL TRANSFERS We include airport-hotel transfers (group) on the published tour dates. Transfers are not included for early arrivals or extended stays, although we can easily make these arrangements for you. TOUR ADDITIONS The itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and desires. Please call us to discuss any changes or amendments you wish to make. INSURANCE We strongly recommend that all tour members purchase cancellation insurance upon registration. We can assist you with this, though you are welcome to purchase a policy at your own discretion. If you would like information on the policies offered by our supplier, please contact us for details, or click HERE for an insurance brochure and application.

This award-winning production, inspired by the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest, was unveiled in 2001 to wide acclaim, and revived for sold-out audiences in 2005. Your opportunity to see Seattle Opera’s magnificent Ring in 2009 awaits.

Our tour features accommodations at the feted Fairmont Hotel Olympic Seattle, consistently ranked as Seattle's best hotel. We include full breakfast daily and five additional meals at the very best restaurants in the city. As well, we include optional (though highly recommended) lectures each morning, led by the knowledgeable and entertaining head of the Seattle Opera Education Department, Perry Lorenzo.

Conductor: Robert Spano
Director: Stephen Wadsworth
Set Designer: Thomas Lynch
Costume Designer: Martin Pakledinaz

Casts:

THE ITINERARY

Monday, August 24
Upon arrival in Seattle, you will be met and transferred to the premier Fairmont Hotel Olympic. Boasting impeccable service, splendid Italian Renaissance architecture and two award-winning restaurants, The Olympic is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is widely regarded as one of the city’s most celebrated treasures. The hotel is ideally located in the heart of Seattle, footsteps from the city's most exciting attractions, including the famous Pike Place Market, Seattle Waterfront, Space Needle and opera house, plus a multitude of museums, theatres, shops and restaurants. After settling in to our deluxe rooms, we gather in the lobby for introductions and cocktails, after which we depart for a Welcome Dinner at Canlis, one of Seattle's most exclusive restaurants, with spectacular views over Lake Union.

Tuesday, August 25
After breakfast we depart for the Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center for our first lecture, Exploring the Ring with Perry Lorenzo (10am - 1pm). In these in-depth, three-hour seminars, Education Director Mr. Lorenzo offers his insights into the themes, music, and historical context of all four operas in the Ring cycle. Complimentary refreshments are served. Following the lecture, independent returns to the hotel. This evening we gather and depart for Marion Oliver McCaw Hall and our first performance, Das Rheingold (7 pm). Following the performance, we enjoy a bit of Rheingold Revelry—a champagne reception and then a gala dinner in the opera house (with a cast member at our table!).

Wednesday, August 26
Enjoy the day is at leisure. Those wishing to attend Exploring the Ring with Perry Lorenzo (10 am - 1 pm) depart independently. This evening we gather and depart for Marion Oliver McCaw Hall and a performance of Die Walküre (6 pm).

Thursday, August 27
Enjoy the day at leisure in Seattle. Those wishing to attend the Ring Symposia at the Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center (10 am - 3 pm) depart independently. In the early afternoon, we gather and depart for a guided coach and walking tour of Seattle, featuring Olympic Sculpture Park (a nine-acre open and vibrant green space with a variety of sculpture and incredible views of the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound), Pioneer Square (Seattle's original neighbourhood), the Seattle Art Museum and Pike Place Market (the city's waterfront institution). Following the tour, dinner is included at Cascadia, one of the city's finest kitchens.

Friday, August 28
Exploring the Ring with Perry Lorenzo (10 am - 1 pm; independent departures). This evening we gather and depart for Marion Oliver McCaw Hall and a performance of Siegfried (6 pm).

Saturday, August 29
Those wishing to attend Tech Talks with Seattle Opera Technical Director Robert Schaub (10 am - 11:30 pm) depart independently. Today we enjoy a late and leisurely lunch at Campagne, one of Seattle's best restaurants. Those wishing to attend Das Barbecü, a comic send-up of The Ring by Seattle's A Contemporary Theatre, will have the option later in the evening (8 pm; $75).

Sunday, August 30
Enjoy the final morning at leisure in Seattle or join an optional guided tour of The Fremont District. This neighbourhood is the most eclectic in the city, and has taken as its motto De Libertas Quirkas, which, roughly translated, means "free to be peculiar." Fremont residents have focused on art as a way to draw the community together, and in so doing, they've developed a corner of the city where creativity reigns. At this crossroads business district, you find unusual outdoor art, the Fremont Sunday Market (a European-style flea market) and many other unexpected and unusual shops, galleries, and cafés. Mid-afternoon we gather for High Tea at The Georgian, the hotel's refined dining room. Afterward we have time to freshen up before departing for our final performance, Götterdämmerung at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall (6 pm).

Sunday, August 30
Following breakfast, check out and transfer (included) to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for homeward flights.