EMU Choir Tour
A Committment to Shareing our Art & Expanding Perspectives
Read an article about the EMU Choir's global travels.
The Eastern Michigan University Choir will once again continue its long tradition of sharing choral music with the world. This February, the EMU Choir will depart on a ten-day tour through Italy, hoping to delight audiences with its music and broaden the music students’ perspectives.
It is a primary mission of the EMU Choral department under Dr. Johnson to share beauty, artistry, and music with as many people as possible. While we are sharing our music, our students are transformed, and their limited perspectives are broadened by meeting musicians from around the world. The world feels less scary and less distant. Traveling and connecting with musicians and audiences at home and abroad will change how students approach their music-making in tangible ways. It makes the experience real for young performers and provides a personal connection for music education students. Our tour will connect students to the important artistic centers of Bologna, Florence, Rome, and Venice while highlighting the lives and music of many of western music’s pivotal composers (Guido of Arezzo, Carlo Gesualdo, Andrea Gabrieli Gioachino Rossini, Claudio Monteverdi, Giovanni Palestrina, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, and Antonio Vivaldi).
Under Dr. Johnson, the EMU Choir has performed in Alabama, Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Alongside performances at prestigious concert venues like Carnegie Hall, the EMU Choir sings regularly in high school classrooms across our region, working to support and inspire students to continue the pursuit of choral excellence. The 2023 tour will be the third international tour under the direction of Dr. Brandon Johnson. The first was in the spring of 2014, with a tour of England, Scotland, and Wales, and the second in the spring of 2019, with a tour of Austria, Germany, and Poland. This tour will include a performance in St. Mark’s Cathedral, one of the most prominent musical destinations in the world.
The Eastern Michigan University Choir embarks on performance tours each season. In recent years, the EMU Choir toured throughout the U.S. and Austria, Germany, Czechia, Poland the United Kingdom. Many times, the ensemble collaborates with high schools and offers a masterclass as well as a joint concert to provide a collegiate level experience to high school students.
EMU Choir Touring Schedule
2023-2024 Michgian (West Ottawa High School, Reeths Puffer High School, Jenison High School, Hope College, Escanaba High School, Traverse City Central High School, Traverse City West High School, Northwestern Michigan College, Chippewa Valley High School)
2022-2023 Italy Tour (Assisi, Arezzo, Bologna, Cinque Tera, Florence, Perugia, Rome, Venice)
2021-2022 Alaska Tour (Anchorage, Fairbanks, Valdez)
2020-2021 Canceled due to COVID
2019-2020 West Coast Tour (Michigan, Ohio, Idaho, Washington, California, Nevada)
2018–19 Great Lakes and International Tour (Austria, Czechia, Germany & Poland)
2017–18 Carnegie Hall, ACDA Regional, ACDA State, Michigan Music Conference
2016–17 South East (Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri)
2015-2016 Midwest & International (England, Scotland, Wales)
2014-2015 East Coast (Michigan, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland)
Press and Media Webpage if you would like information about the 2020 EMU Choir Tour