Milton to join honor choir for European Concert Tour

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- A Fort Scott High School sophomore has been chosen to perform with an acclaimed national performing organization this summer.

Ackland Milton, a bass II singer with the Fort Scott High School choir, will join other select student musicians chosen from applicants representing nearly every state when The Sound of America Honor Band and Chorus begins its 2011 European Concert Tour in July.

"I'm delighted that he was chosen," FSHS Choir Director Pat Harry said. "I think it will be a great learning experience for him, both musically and culturally. He'll get to see parts of the world he wouldn't normally get to see."

Selection into The Sound of America membership is a distinguished honor for all participants. Applicants are carefully screened and chosen after a rigid character and musical evaluation, a news release said.

Harry said she is impressed with Milton's vocal talent and skill in other areas.

"He has a beautiful voice and he's an excellent music reader," she said.

To be considered for membership in The Sound of America organization, candidates have to submit an application and also be selected for an honors music group in their area. Milton auditioned for the All-Southeast Kansas Choir and the Kansas All-State Choir and performed with both choirs this year, Harry said.

"I gave him my highest recommendation to go (on the tour)," she said.

Milton said he was informed a couple of weeks ago that he had been fully accepted into the program after going through the screening and application process.

"I was awestruck, and maybe a little surprised," he said. "It's one of those things where you don't think it's going to happen, but then it does."

Milton said he was "a little nervous" sending in his letter of recommendation to the organization. He said he looks forward to the experience of performing on the tour and sees it as "kind of a fun chance to get in there and be viewed."

The audition process for the program required some hard work and was challenging because he did not know the songs he would have to sing prior to the audition, he added.

All student performers will meet on the campus of Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, Pa., on July 1. After four days of intensive rehearsal and orientation, the group will depart from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York for Frankfurt, Germany.

The group is scheduled to present nine performances in some of Europe's finest concert halls and major cathedrals during its 23-day tour.

The students will experience the cultures of six countries -- Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Luxembourg. Some of the locations that will be visited during the tour are Paris, Venice, Innsbruck, Cortina, Stresa, Verona, Fothenburg, Grindelwald and La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Milton said he is most looking forward to "the sights and being able to see a different country.

"The country is so diverse from America," he said. "It will be amazing to see what it's like ... The architecture and great cathedrals and things like that."

Clyde M. Barr, past state president of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association and president of the North American Music Festivals which sponsors music festivals in Toronto, New York, Virginia Beach, Hershey, Cleveland, and Washington, D.C., is tour coordinator and conductor of the Honor Band.

Randall Yoder, an Emmy Award-winning television music composer and conductor of the York County Honor Chorus in York, Pa., will serve as conductor of the Sound of America Honor Chorus.

Milton said "it's an honor" to get the opportunity to sing under Yoder's direction.

"Being able to be coached and conducted by someone pretty close to a celebrity is pretty honorable," he said.

Students who have qualified for The Sound of America membership are responsible for all costs associated with the trip. Frequently, however, local businesses and civic clubs who have an interest in helping deserving students will offer some financial sponsorship to the student representing their community, the release said.

Milton said he has plans for raising the money to make the trip, including fundraisers, by performing work in the community, and getting a regular job.

"I'm definitely accepting donations," he said. "I'll also be asking around (town) for work that can be done to get a little bit of money toward it."

The Sound of America Honor Band and Chorus, celebrating its 35th year in 2011, is recognized as one of the finest and most successful European Concert Tour programs in existence. It has received international acclaim for its exemplary success in achieving outstanding cultural relationships with European countries.

The organization has been the recipient of letters of commendation from U.S. Presidents George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, former Under-Secretary-General to the United Nations Dick Thornburgh, former governor of Pennsylvania and U.S. Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The Sound of America Inc. is registered with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the United States Internal Revenue Service as a nonprofit corporation.

Milton is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Tony Milton of Fort Scott. He is also active with the FSHS forensics team and has qualified for state competition.