Dolce Canto to Tour South Korea

MISSOULA – Seeley Lake resident Scott Milner will participate in a concert tour with Missoula's acapella choir Dolce Canto from April 1-9 in South Korea. Their mission for the tour is to be ambassadors of the American culture to the South Koreans. They will have a tour kick-off concert entitled Elemental Harmony March 19 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Missoula, Mont.

Dolce Canto, founded by current Artistic Director Peter Park and in its 15 season, is an auditioned, non-profit choral ensemble that studies and performs choral literature for the benefit, education and enjoyment of its members and the public. The choir is comprised of 20 professional musicians, music teachers, community members and students who share an enthusiasm for the choral art. Its repertoire consists of sacred and secular music representing various historical periods and musical styles.

Park said the inspiration for the tour started in 1990, long before Dolce Canto even existed. As the director of the International Choral Festival in Missoula, Park met South Korean conductors and was invited to bring a group to South Korea.

"I just put it in my back pocket and didn't think much more of it," said Park.

After meeting these same conductors again at the World Choral Symposium in Seoul, South Korea, Park was able to organize the tour with Dolce Canto. This is their first international tour as a group.

Milner has been with Dolce Canto for the past eight seasons. This is his first international concert tour.

"I love to perform and I love singing in the choir," said Milner. "The actual performing with other choirs and for the Korean people, that is just wonderfully exciting and a really outstanding thing for me."

Throughout the last two years of planning, the group raised just under $150,000. Funding came from the members, grants and several fundraisers. The trip was a requirement of the members to be a part of the group this year.

"I would say one of the major points of the trip is bringing characteristic American culture to Asia and specifically to South Korea," said Milner. "We really are American ambassadors of culture and singing music that is characteristically American."

Milner said that Dolce Canto will be performing a variety of traditional spirituals and Americana-type music including arrangements of "God's Going to Set this World on Fire," "Up Above My Head," "Unclouded Day" "Down in the River to Pray" and "Wade in the Water." The group will also be singing other arrangements with a strong element of folk spirituality from America and around the world including "A Prayer from South Africa."

Travelling with Dolce Canto on the tour and adding to the American music repertoire will be the Minnesota-based bluegrass band named Monroe Crossing. They will be playing "The World Beloved - A Bluegrass Mass" by Carol Barnett with Dolce Canto. They have played with the choir before at Carnegie Hall.

Dolce Canto received the 2014 Dale Warland Commission Award that allowed them to commission a piece that will be premiered at the March 19 concert and will be performed at each destination on the tour.

This commissioned piece entitled "The Stars Still Shine" was a two-part work starting from a poem written by lyricist Charles Anthony Silvestri and put to music by composer John Muehleisen. The commissioned work imagines a world where the invisible boundary between the North and South Koreans ceases to exist and where extended families are no longer separated.

"The text talks to the conflict and resolution, for North and South Korea to be able to resolve their differences," said Park.

Park added the piece also interweaves imagery of earth, air, water and fire which are symbols on the Korean flag.

"It is symbolically tied to Korea," said Park.

The group will arrive in Seoul April 2 and perform concerts at the American Center Korea in Seoul, at a Methodist Church in Ikson, in the city of Ansan and the last performance will be at the Ulsan Culture and Arts Center in Ulsan. They will work with and trade repertoire with community and professional choirs. Milner thinks this will be an intense sharing experience.

"I'm looking forward to enjoying that experience," said Milner. "It's a lifetime opportunity."

"This tour has raised the bar on Dolce Canto's artistic excellence," said Park. "I'm really proud of the group. It will be an experience they won't forget."

Tickets for Dolce Canto's Elemental Harmony concert March 19 are now available at Fact & Fiction and Rockin' Rudy's, as well as at http://www.dolcecanto.info

For more information visit http://www.dolcecanto.info or find them on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/dolcecanto/?fref=ts