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

Friday, March 15, 2019

Dublin 2020 & Prague 2021 choir festivals - hope you can join Rollo Dilworth

KI - Dublin 2020 & Prague 2021 choir festivals with Rollo Dilworth

Dear Colleagues,

I know many of you are aware of the Dublin festival I am leading in June 2020. This is shaping up to be a great event with the St. Thomas Gospel Choir from Philadelphia attending along with an Irish choir and US school and community choristers. Feel free to register interest now as I consider the repertoire that will best suit the choirs looking to attend.

While at the ACDA conference in Kansas City, I finalized plans with KIconcerts to stage my 2021 festival in Prague with opportunities for choirs to sing individually in Austria or Budapest as well.

I am blessed to be able to work in Ireland and the Czech Republic in consecutive years.

Feel free to reach out to me for further information on musical questions and of course, to our friends at KI, about touring questions you may have.

Hoping to see you in Europe

Rollo Dilworth
Artistic Director & Conductor



Thursday, February 21, 2019

Complimentary professional headshots @ KI’s ACDA booth 500 – your passport to concert touring

KIconcerts ACDA booth 500 - professional headshots
We have set up our ACDA booth #500 as a studio with a photographer taking professional pics of our beloved clients/colleagues.

Give us 15 minutes and we’ll give you 
a headshot to be proud of! 

Please nominate your 1st, 2nd and 3rd preferences for a 15 minute appointment.

KIconcerts ACDA professional headshots time preferences
Of course our team is also available to talk about your touring plans before or after. We look forward to immortalizing you as well as chatting.

Dr. Matthew Harden
Lance Lancaster
Robert Wallace
Michael Clohesy
Oliver Scofield


Friday, February 1, 2019

Surprising you at ACDA in Kansas City

KI at ACDA 2019 in Kansas City
Dear friends

We're printing our banners, blowing up balloons, preparing destination/festival launches, flying in international partners, arranging appointments AND preparing a great surprise for you at booth 500 (just as you enter the exhibition area).

The ACDA national conference is a great opportunity to talk about new tours with existing and potential clients as well as to meet directors touring with us in the next 18 months or so. Of course we know that many of you cannot attend every single national ACDA conference so please know we are available to talk with you by phone or email at any time.

For those attending, as you decide on your conference schedule just let us know a time that works best for you to meet us. We do have a great surprise to reveal to you at the booth – our gift to our traveling Directors.

More on that in our next ACDA conference emailing!

Please reply to ACDA appointment time to book a meeting with us. We look forward to this great opportunity to visit!

Oliver Scofield
President


Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Elise Bradley and Henry Leck co-conducting the Toronto 2020 choir festival - talk to us at ACDA

KIconcerts 2020 Notes of Joy Toronto Choir festival with Elise Bradley and Henry Leck
It is our pleasure to invite you and your choristers to join us in 2020 – in the beautiful and exciting city of Toronto, Canada – for our Notes of Joy Choir Festival!

If you are coming to Kansas City for ACDA’s national conference then we can discuss this further with you at KI’s booth – 500.

We invite your singers to enjoy a welcome dinner, rehearse with other talented treble and mixed-voice choirs, present stand-alone concerts, and perform together in a grand Gala Concert to close the Festival.

We look forward to sharing great singing with a common purpose and passion on this international stage in front of enthusiastic audiences in some wonderful venues.

If you are not attending ACDA this year then please just be in touch to make a time to talk in advance of the conference.

Henry Leck
Founder/Conductor Laureate, Indianapolis Children’s Choir

Elise Bradley
Artistic Director, Toronto Children’s Chorus 

Co-conductors – Notes of Joy


Wednesday, January 23, 2019

London’s 2020 Chichester Psalms Choir Festival with Thomas Lloyd – can we talk at ACDA or before?

KIconcerts 2020 London Choir Festival with Thomas Lloyd
I am looking forward to leading the June 2020 Chichester Psalms Choir Festival in London and Edinburgh and invite you and your singers to join me.

In my experience conducting tours of fine high school, community, collegiate and choirs of faith there is nothing quite like performing repertoire in the country it was first performed, and in the kind of grand spaces it was first heard. This is that opportunity!

I will be in Kansas City next month for any who wish to talk about this with me and the fine folk from KIconcerts. I am also available to chat in advance of that for those not attending the ACDA conference or those wanting to advance their 2020 concert tour planning now.

The repertoire for our combined festival choir is Leonard Bernstein’s iconic Chichester Psalms, commissioned for a large festival choir like ours in England, and simultaneously premiered in New York, and thus the perfect music for a cross-Atlantic connection. It also comes at a time when many feel the need more than ever to sing Bernstein’s closing prayer taken from Psalm 133 (Hineh mah tov...): “How good it is for brothers and sisters to dwell together in unity.”

I welcome you to join this journey with your choir performing both individually and as part of the combined festival choir in London, with an option for those who wish to join us for a 2nd festival gala performance in Edinburgh. Smaller groupings of singers not planning a concert on their own are invited to join the Bucks County Choral Society in their individual concerts with conducting opportunities shared.

I am thrilled that this will be my first festival with KIconcerts – I toured with my own choir with them to Cuba in 2018 and their reputation for organizing seamless concert tours including both independent and collaborative concerts, is well deserved.

Looking forward to talking with you about how this might work for you and your singing community

Thomas Lloyd
Artistic Director & Conductor

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Ireland 2020 choir festival with Rollo Dilworth - can we talk at ACDA or before?

KIconcerts - 2020 Ireland Choir Festival with Rollo Dilworth
I am excited to be leading the KIconcerts festival in Ireland in 2020.

Ireland’s a very hospitable, safe and historic destination where the touring is fun and informative.

We travel to make great music and Ireland is the perfect place for this – their choral tradition dates back eons and the venues there offer astounding acoustics and presence - a truly inspiring setting for your choristers.

The core festival program consists of individual concerts, combined rehearsals (likely with local singers) and the gala concert featuring each choir and the combined festival choir. Exchanges, workshops with Michael McGlynn’s AnĂșna or a class with Riverdance dancers along with live Irish music over dinner immerse your ensemble in the unique character of this great land.

To further customize your program there are opportunities to visit Ireland’s charming Southwest – for instance Galway or Cork – alternatively to heading North into Belfast in Northern Ireland. This is a place of amazing recent history and an extraordinarily rich and beautiful past.

I will be at ACDA and can make time to meet at KI’s Booth #500 with you and the KIconcerts team. If you are not heading to ACDA then perhaps we make contact this month instead.

I look forward to hosting you in Dublin

Rollo Dilworth
Artistic Director & Conductor 


Monday, January 14, 2019

Austria 2020 festival with Elena Sharkova & Henry Leck - can we talk at ACDA or before?

KIconcerts - 2020 Austria Choir Festival with Elena Sharkova and Henry Leck
Elena Sharkova and I are co-conducting the 2020 Austria choral festival.

When asked where we both wanted to take singers next we immediately said Austria. The Central European region is the birthplace of so much of the music we love to share with your singers.

You start in Salzburg and hear the echoes of young Mozart, ‘dance’ in the Mirabel Gardens as did the Von Trapp children and sample a sachertorte good enough to change lives. Individual concerts are offered at many of Salzburg’s charming venues for those that want them.

Traveling to Vienna (with the option to visit Melk Abbey and sail a portion of the way on the Danube) we gather as a combined choir to rehearse, celebrate each other at a welcome dinner and present our festival gala concert in one of Vienna’s many commanding venues. Individual concerts, touring and exploring are the order of the day in this grand imperial city.

You then have options to continue onto fairytale Prague or magnificent Budapest as you tailor the tour to your choir’s needs and wishes.

We will be at ACDA and can make time to meet at KI’s Booth #500 with you and the KIconcerts team. If you are not heading to ACDA then perhaps we make contact this month instead.

Join us in Austria for the festival of a lifetime

Henry Leck
Co-conductor


Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Italy 2020 choir festival with John Dickson now featuring Rome and the Vatican City

KIconcerts - Passion of Italy Choir Festival 2020 with John Dickson prospectus
In response to requests from colleagues I have asked KIconcerts to locate our Passion of Italy festival in Rome. This will enable both the gala concert as well as an additional opportunity for Mass at St Peter's Basilica to be sung in the Eternal City.

If all roads lead to Rome, then departure for extension travel offers an array of exciting choices. Experience the birth of the Renaissance in Florence, the uniquely exotic island of Venice, a taste of the North in Milan, or the stunningly beautiful terrain of the Amalfi Coast.

International travel combined with great music making has profoundly shaped my life as a professional musician and as a person. I am grateful for the opportunity to offer you and your community of singers the possibilities of such life-enriching experiences.

This will be the third festival I am leading for KIconcerts and I like the way they build an event like this, never losing sight of the individual choirs and choristers while still producing a well-attended gala concert on a significant scale at a fine venue in a great destination.

KIconcerts and I would welcome an opportunity to speak with you more about the music, the touring and the unforgettable experience of Italy. Contact us about touring and pricing options.

Ciao

John Dickson
Artistic Director & Conductor