Paul Wigley, at Lakeville North High School, is a good friend of Music Celebrations International. MCI has assisted Paul in organizing successful concert tours to Britain, Italy, Washington, DC, and most recently, Austria in the spring of 2005. Here is what Paul had to say about his most recent tour:

Our recent Austria trip with the Lakeville High School Chamber Chorale was unforgettable….We had the opportunity to perform a benefit concert for a 5 year old boy from Kosovo that has cancer. A local church in Graz had ‘adopted’ the boy and his uncle, because that’s where the cancer center was located.

We sang at an evening Mass (during Holy Week), and immediately after, performed a full concert in the church hall (which actually had very nice acoustics!). Needless to say, when the boy’s uncle presented the Chorale with a hand made card from the youngster simply saying “thank you” in English, there were not many dry eyes in the hall. It was a very sincere moment that demonstrated in a very tangible way the power of music to do good works, and to cross many, many barriers. Even though we sang in some incredible venues-marvelous cathedrals- for other concerts, the great majority of our singers listed this as their most unforgettable memory.

Our entire tour was again a wonderful experience for directors, students, and parents alike. The scenery was fantastic, the musical/historical attractions were deeply moving, and the overall pace once again was a great balance of many concerts and much singing, lots of sightseeing, and the right amount of free time. The meals and hotels were first rate (not a complaint from anyone in our group!) There are way more great stories and memories, but I’ll just end it and say thanks again, we had a great trip!”