Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Henry Leck's 20/21 international festivals - Vienna, Toronto, Edinburgh & Vancouver

Dear friends,

I wanted to invite you to participate in the following exciting choir festivals. Nothing excites me more than collaborating with renowned conductors along with your singers! I am so pleased to announce I am joining four incredibly talented colleagues in the following festivals:

2020
Vienna with Elena Sharkova, June 21-27
Toronto with Elise Bradley, July 5-9 


2021
Edinburgh with Pearl Shangkuan, June 24-29
Vancouver with AndrĂ© Thomas, July 3-8


We’ll rehearse the treble and SATB voices separately for their portions of the gala concert and bring all the singers together for the combined finale pieces. The power of many voices joining as one thrills me as much today as it did 50 years ago at the start of my career.

You can also enjoy individual performances in many cases with local ensembles through exchange concerts. This touring experience offers the best of both worlds… a “festival” experience plus an “individual choir tour” experience. Plus you have the added benefit of cultural immersion, informative sightseeing, time to explore and an opportunity to build that esprit de corps we all strive for in our choirs. KIconcerts completes the package by providing great tour managers, accommodation, meals and travel arrangements while always keeping the music front and center. I have worked with them many times, and always appreciate their prioritization of a high musical experience.

Join us for the joy and adventure of making great music in new lands and for the unique comradery that comes from international travel.

Feel free to contact me for more information

Henry Leck
Artistic Director

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Sing at St. Peter's Basilica - register your choir for the June 2020 Rome Choral Festival

KI 2020 Passion of Italy Choir Festival invite from Artistic Director John Dickson
Friends,

With registration closing on September 15, I wanted to make sure your choir had the opportunity to participate in the 2020 Passion of Italy Festival, in Rome on June 9th – 14th.


Individual concerts – as requested
Combined gala concert with accompaniment in major venue with great audience
Opportunity for the combined festival choir to sing Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica
Extension touring and concert opportunities in Florence, Venice and beyond


This will be my 3rd opportunity to conduct a KIconcerts festival and I know they can deliver! They deliver on informative touring tailored for your singing community, great hotels, good food, convenient transport and most importantly cultural immersion through exchange concerts and the like.

We all love to sing, we all love to provide our choirs a pinnacle to aim for and we all love enthusiastic audiences. Our music sweeps us up in many of life’s journeys and this journey to the land of the waterways of Venice, the Renaissance of Florence, the Sistine Chapel and Coliseum in Rome is one your singers will never forget.

Contact me for more details and join me in Italy next June.

John Dickson
Artistic Director & Conductor

Friday, June 28, 2019

I INVITE YOU TO COME WITH ME TO ROME, John Dickson - summer 2020 choir festival

Join me in Rome for individual concerts and touring, combined choir rehearsals, a truly unique opportunity to sing Mass at St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican as the Festival choir prior to our Gala Concert. Tour the Colesium, the Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps and all the sights of this monumental city. A feast of experiences, a lifetime of memories! 

John Dickson invites you to his Passion of Italy 2020 choir festival

Once again, KI succeeded in producing a magical tour that combined the best of amazing sights, comfortable accommodations, and unforgettable music making. The sculptured landscapes of Salzburg, the stunning architecture of Vienna, and the ancient Old Town of Prague, inspired in our singers an elegance of artistry worthy of a Mozart Requiem performed in Vienna’s Votivkirche. As a singer and traveler, I trust KIconcerts to provide the best – and they have yet to disappoint.

John Dickson
Artistic Director & Conductor



Monday, June 24, 2019

Summer’s time for planning 2020/21 concert tours as KI hosts ensembles around the world

we give thanks for all the happy returns already this year including: Gunn High School – Italy • University of North Alabama – Costa Rica • Scarsdale High School – Ireland • Credo Choir – Portugal/Morocco • Central Community College Spectrum – Central Europe • Loyola Marymount University – UK/France • Lake Highland Preparatory School – Japan...

Our 2019 summer festivals include...
Henry Leck/Michael McGlynn in Ireland premiering Michael McGlynn’s The Song of the Blackbird, Mozart’s Requiem in Vienna, Elena Sharkova in Montreal. Summer concludes with Pacific Pride Choir’s Vietnam and Cambodia tour.

So many great 20/21 custom tours on 6 continents
and in the great cities of music...
2020/21 provides a world of touring opportunities including ITALY (Dickson 20, Sharkova 21), IRELAND (Dilworth 20, Hella Johnson 21), UK (Lloyd 20, Leck/Shangkuan 21, Fleming 21), CENTRAL EUROPE (Leck/Sharkova 20, Dilworth 21), VIETNAM (Palant 21) and CANADA (Leck/Bradley 20, Leck/Thomas 21, Stroope 21).

Be safe, see the world, make great music!

Friday, May 3, 2019

Join Jonathan Palant in Vietnam - a unique choir festival opportunity in 2021

KIconcerts Vietnam 2021 Choir Festival with Jonathan Palant
Dear Friends,

In 2018, I led Dallas' Credo Community Choir on a performance tour through Vietnam. While being far from home and unfamiliar to many, Credo members found the experience to be musically exhilarating and culturally astonishing.

I am pleased to also invite you to join the "One Voice Choir Festival" that I will lead to Hanoi and Saigon in June 2021. This choral festival offers individual concerts for each ensemble, as well as collaborations with Vietnamese choirs in each city. Personally, I am most excited for the combined festival gala concert that will surely be a highlight for all involved. I look forward to leading this collaboratively with participating directors.

Vietnam is a welcoming country known for its historical significance and cultural vitality and, of course, its amazing cuisine. Together, we will explore the markets and street culture of Hanoi, the vibrant energy in Ho Chi Minh City, and enjoy Ha Long Bay’s jaw-dropping scenery aboard our luxurious overnight ship.

Vietnam is truly a ‘singing country’ and I have seen firsthand the enthusiasm and verve with which Vietnamese conductors and choristers bring to the music they make. Our concerts will surely be well-received and the friendships made through the musical collaborations will be long-lasting.

Download Vietnam 2021 prospectus

KIconcerts has the knowledge, experience and staff to customize a unique set of opportunities tailor-made to your needs and those of your singing community. I welcome the opportunity to collaborate with you as we unite those from varying cultures and traditions through the power of our music. I do hope you will join me.

Warmly,

Jonathan Palant
Artistic Director & Conductor

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Vienna 2020 & Rome 2021...two of the world's great cities - sing with Elena Sharkova there!

KIconcerts Austria 2020 and Italy 2021 choir festivals with Elena Sharkova


Friends and colleagues

Why do we travel to sing? To perform in breathtaking venues, to take our ensembles to another level of purpose and collaboration, share our talent with new and appreciative audiences, sing alongside singers of another language and culture, walk the streets some of our most revered composers once walked before us, see the world and look back on our own – or any combination of these reasons and so many more?

It is many times easier for choirs to spend a few of their touring days in a festival setting with other choristers and uniquely meaningful to join with other singers as a combined choir in amongst individual concerts and post festival touring. One of the very appealing features of being a part of a festival is there is no pressure to bring your full choir or to have a well balanced ensemble for touring.

This is why I am pleased to invite you to the 2020 festival Henry Leck and I are leading in Vienna and to announce that I will be leading KI’s 2021 Passion of Italy Festival in Rome.

Austria and Italy both sweep us up in the history of music and Europe. We will sing in spaces designed for vocal ensembles to soar, we will see sights that explain much of the origins of our society and we will have fun – fun that only singers joining in one voice can know!

Let me know if you are interested and contact my friends at KIconcerts for more details. See you in Europe

Elena Sharkova
Artistic Director & Conductor

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

What have Edinburgh, Vancouver, Vienna and Toronto got in common? 2020 & 2021 choir festivals with Henry Leck...

Please consider joining me in any of these great festival destinations in the summer of 2020 and 2021!!!

Those of you who know me, know of my passion for collaboration of all kinds. It keeps us all learning and energetic!


2020
Elena Sharkova joins me in Vienna – June 21-27
Elise Bradley joins me in Toronto – July 5-9

2021
Pearl Shangkuan joins me in Edinburgh – June 24-29
AndrĂ© J. Thomas joins me in Vancouver – July 3-8



One of the many reasons to have two of us co-directing is that it allows the festival to include both treble and mixed voices separately and in combination for rehearsals and the Gala Concert, giving us all much greater flexibility and artistic opportunity. This will be, of course, in addition to the individual concerts you might want as well.

I have selected two great, accessible cities in Canada along with two excellent overseas options for those planning a European tour in either year. I am also hoping it helps to plan this far out for ensembles considering their 2021 options.

I would be happy to talk with you further about any of these wonderful destinations and to extend an invitation on behalf of myself and my wonderful partners to see you at any of these unique musical events over the next two years.

Best wishes

Henry Leck
Artistic Advisor