Tour
Ragazzi regularly tours the United States and abroad every season to develop performance skills and build our reputation for performance excellence.
Major tours usually occur in the summer and are a required part of Ragazzi’s program at the Avanti, Concert Group, and Young Men’s Ensemble levels. Avanti boys undertake 5-7 day domestic tours, typically to choral festivals. Concert Group and Young Men’s Ensemble usually tour together and alternate between international and domestic tours (one per season). Premiere’s optional overnight tour takes place over a spring weekend in locations within a few hours’ drive from Ragazzi’s main location.
We tour to provide the boys an opportunity to take their skills to a higher level. While on tour, they will perform most days, sometimes multiple times per day. This is their chance to polish and perfect, stretching their ability to focus while connecting with new audiences.
We frequently include choral festivals in our tours, some of which are adjudicated festivals or competitions. The boys perform for and get to see choirs from all over the country and in many cases, the world. Choristers learn cultural diplomacy through meaningful collaborations and life-changing exchanges. Success breeds success at festivals – we have been invited to participate in many domestic and international events of great prestige.
Tours consist of choristers, faculty, staff, and chaperones. With the exception of Premiere tours, parents and guardians of choristers are not usually permitted on tour. Families that wish to see their boys on tour (domestic or international) may attend the final performance of the tour. We also ask that families planning to do so do not make themselves known to their children before then – doing so is usually a huge distraction and will take a chorister right out of his tour “zone.” It can take days to recover the focus boys need while on tour.
