Texas Boys Choir Heads to Paris

Texas Center for Arts + Academics (TCA+A) is pleased to announce that the GRAMMY© Award winning Texas Boys Choir is embarking on an international tour to Paris, France on October 10-17. The choir’s most recent international plans to compete in the World Choir Games in South Korea were cancelled in 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the Paris tour, Texas Boys Choir will perform at prestigious venues including the Embassy of the United States and the American Cathedral. Notably, the choir has been invited by American Ambassador Jeanne L. Phillips to sing at her daughter’s wedding.

The music includes selections by French master composers, including Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Duruflé, César Franck, Francis Poulenc, Maurice Ravel, and Charles Gounod. American composers represented include Aaron Copland, Craig Zamer, Z. Randall Stroope, John Philip Sousa, and Bob Dylan.

“I would like to personally express my appreciation to Ambassador Jeanne L. Phillips for the invitation to sing at her daughter’s wedding. It is my hope that the juxtaposition of French and

American pieces will be a delightful convergence of musical expression and styles,” says Texas Boys Choir Director Dr. Todd Prickett.

The tour will also include visits to iconic landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, a picturesque River Cruise on the Seine, and Sainte Chapelle. Additionally, they will collaborate in rehearsals and a performance with the famed Paris Boys Choir (Petits chanteurs de Sainte-Croix de Neuilly). A significant grant from The Ryan Foundation of $25,000 helped to make this tour possible.

Texas Boys Choir has traveled to numerous international destinations in its history, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, England, Germany, Japan, Latvia, and Mexico. Most recently, in July 2017, the choir embarked on a historic month-long concert tour of China. They visited 14 cities, presented a total of 15 sold-out concerts and concluded their visit with a performance at the prestigious National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Future international plans for the Texas Boys Choir include a Greece tour in the summer of 2024.

As a world-class boy choir, the mission of the Texas Boys Choir (TBC) is to develop personal excellence and to inspire a lifelong passion for choral artistry. For the past 77 years, the choir has been an educational and performance institution that continues to provide any boy, regardless of socioeconomic or ethnic background, a structured environment in which to learn the fundamentals of world-class vocal performance.

Extensive training in both music and academics enables the choir to maintain the standard of excellence established when the choir was founded in 1946. This high level of performance has garnered TBC two GRAMMY© Awards, three George Washington Honor Medal Awards, and a Bronze Award from the International Film and Television Festival. In addition, TBC received a championship medal in the Mixed Boys’ Choirs Division at the 2004 Choir Olympics in Bremen, Germany.

Throughout the years, the choir has sung for popes and other religious leaders, presidents, kings, and heads of state. Additionally, the choir has appeared on national television and radio broadcasts. With over 40 professional recordings with Columbia, Decca, Mark Masters and other independent labels, the Texas Boys Choir continues to earn its reputation as one of the premiere boy choirs in the world. For boys who possess the basic ability and the love of music,

membership in the Texas Boys Choir can open doors to an exciting world – one which can make a tremendous difference in their lives and in the lives of those who hear them perform.