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Tours

Creating Leaders of Tomorrow

We can show you the world.

Uniting Voices Chicago (formerly Chicago Children's Choir) is built on the belief that, through music, we can forge meaningful, empathic connections with people from every background. Through our national and international tours, we embrace performance as a powerful means of expressing our unique experiences while learning about the lives of people different from us. Uniting Voices Chicago tours make unparalleled global encounters accessible to our singers, encouraging them to build bonds far beyond their home communities and empowering them to become the global leaders of tomorrow.

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"Everyone deserves a chance to go on a tour like this because It opens up a world of opportunities and experiences that have not been experienced before and will change the singer in many ways and also mould their personality."

Vikram Lincoln Park/DePaul Neighborhood Choir singer

Bridging America Tours

Inspiring and Changing Lives from Coast to Coast

Uniting Voices Chicago’s Bridging America Tours provide opportunities for children to travel outside of their communities and connect with other young people across the U.S. Through these performances, our singers share their unique experiences with their peers from unfamiliar places. During these dynamic tours, Uniting Voices Chicago creates a space for connection and impact beyond the stage, sharing not only our music, but messages of peace and tolerance as well, all while exploring the dynamic history of music and migration that defines the American story.

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Miami Tour 2023

Voice of Chicago and Dimension traveled to sunny Miami for the Bridging America Tour 2023!
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A change is gonna come

Chicago Children’s Choir’s Hyde Park Neighborhood Choir performs with Young@Heart, a stereotype-defying group of senior singers, at the Academy of Music Theatre in Northampton, Massachusetts. This intergenerational group reconnected virtually during the COVID-19 quarantine.
Jonathan Brooks

Traveling shrinks the world. This was more than just singing songs. This was actually sparking a movement of unity and acceptance and inclusion. We’re actually becoming ambassadors for multiculturalism all over the world.

Jonathan Brooks Uniting Voices Chicago alumnus

Global Citizenship: Voice of Chicago International Tours

Since our first international tour to Canada in 1967, Uniting Voices Chicago has brought our message of hope and respect to five continents and to dignitaries such as Nelson Mandela, former Chinese President Hu Jintao, and former South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak.

Our premier ensemble, Voice of Chicago represents the profound social diversity and cultural richness of the City of Chicago and our nation. These experiences allow those singers to gain a deeper understanding of the world’s common humanity and the power of music to connect people across cultures.


Demilitarized Zone South Korea 2008
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Egypt Tour 2022

Uniting Voices singers traveled to Egypt, performing at iconic venues alongside international pop star Nesma Mahgoub!
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Spain Tour 2019

In a nine-city tour of Spain in 2019, singers collaborated with the Zaragoza Youth Choir and Cor Infantil de l’Orfeó Català, explored historic sites such as Estadio Santia
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Italy Tour 2017

Voice of Chicago sang its way through the Mediterranean country, performing at some of the most renowned festivals in Italy.

Give the Magic of Travel!

This spring, our Bridging America Tour will take singers to Boston, Lexington, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.! Singers will perform at some of the country’s most iconic venues, including the Kennedy Center. And Voice of Chicago will embark on an international tour to Mexico City and Oaxaca, Mexico! These unmatched opportunities help expand the worldview of our singers as they forge new connections with youth around the world. Perhaps most importantly, during these tours our singers serve as ambassadors for Chicago, reshaping the perception of our great city as they develop into global leaders of the next generation.

Thanks to the generosity of our alumni community last year, we were able to send six singers on tour at no cost to them. This year, our goal is to raise $7,000 for the Alumni Tour Fundraising Initiative—and thanks to former conductor Christina Hatherly, your donation can make twice the impact as she'll match every dollar raised toward our goal.

Thank you for your commitment to inspire and uplift our talented youth as they imagine and build a harmonious world.

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Jackie Johnson Alabama Tour Arrival

How to participate:

Singers become eligible for tour once they reach the intermediate (Vivace) and advanced (Presto) ensembles of their Neighborhood Choirs, as well as with our Dimension and Voice of Chicago programs. Ensemble participants are given the dates, cost and destination of the annual tour and have the opportunity to express their interest in participating. Uniting Voices Chicago ensembles across the city often combine to experience a tour together. Bridging America tours typically take place over 3-4 days. International tours can take place over a week or two, often scheduled over the summer.

Cost for Tour Experience

Touring expenses are not covered in tuition costs. Cost is determined based on the expenses associated with travel, accommodations, meals, collaborations, activities, performances, safety and supervision. Uniting Voices Chicago provides singers with fundraising opportunities to use toward the tour expense and financial assistance is available.

Want to give a singer a passport to the world? Donate to our tour fund and help a deserving young Chicagoan expand their horizons.

Tour experiences
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Shop With Scrip

Uniting Voices Chicago offers our families the opportunity to raise funds through ShopWithScrip.com, a company that has worked with more than 30,000 nonprofit organizations over the course of 23 years. Through Shop With Scrip, gift cards are available for purchase for over 750 retailers. Each gift card purchased provides a rebate which will be entered directly into singers’ tour accounts.

Tour Activities

Tour experiences often include exchange with local music organizations, performances for new audiences, cultural diplomacy, service projects and sightseeing.

Tour Activities
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In all settings, our singers learn to be respectful of others by being open to understanding the varying cultures and perspectives surrounding them. I am always so proud of the warmth our singers give to other groups we meet on tour. They listen actively and engage in meaningful conversations with people they have only known for a few minutes—connected by their love of music.

Jocelyn Smith Head of Programs, Uniting Voices Chicago