“Imagine having your chorus sing in the finest and most extraordinary cathedrals of eastern England on a performance tour no one will ever forget! Our first performance was in Canterbury Cathedral on the occasion of a special service commemorating Thomas Beckett. Then, after a performance in the historic church at Maidstone, it was on to St. John’s College Chapel, Cambridge, where John Rutter himself came to hear us. Next we were performing in the cathedrals of Ely, Norwich, Lincoln and Peterborough before singing on the ‘porch’ of York Minster and in the Cathedral of Newcastle. Yes, this was a performance tour beyond our imagination, singing in these iconic spaces both in services and in full concerts.
But rest assured, this tour was not only about concerts. We were able to visit Dover Castle and the famed White Cliffs, to see France from the English Channel shore at Folkestone, to spend time at the exquisitely beautiful castle and grounds of Leeds, to tour all of Cambridge, to see the castles of Lincoln, Alnwick, Bamburgh and Newcastle, and to have oceans of free time to do as each person pleased.
Such a tour does not quite happen by ‘magic:’ it takes a tour company that has broad experience and that cares deeply about every detail that is required for every participant to have a great tour experience. MCI does a stellar job of this, as they have tour after tour for the Chicago Master Singers. In 2020 we will take our 14th European tour, this time in France and Switzerland, and we are looking at only one company to do its ‘magic’ once again: MCI. And when we go to Prague and Vienna in 2022, where we know MCI has the finest contacts for performance venues, hotels and sightseeing, it will be MCI that sends us on our way to yet another amazing experience”
Alan Heatherington, Conductor
Chicago Master Singers