Ever since Carmel’s most prestigious choir, the Ambassadors, was offered the opportunity to perform a choreographed and choral show in Europe from April 2 to 12, member and junior Kate Urbanowski said she has been excited for the possibility of leaving the country for the first time and acquiring new skills that will improve her overall ability to perform musical pieces.

As a student who wishes to pursue a career in music, Urbanowski said she views this opportunity as a learning experience on what it is like to perform in front of a diverse group of people.

“Usually, when we perform here, we typically have the same audience. (This chance) will be a really cool way for me to learn to perform for other people and see how they react,” she said.

Lamonte Kuskye, choral director for the Ambassadors, said he agreed that this trip will be beneficial for members since they can express their passion for music.

“(Performing abroad) is something so unique that we get to do because an international audience from around the world will get to see us rather than just locally,” he said. “So to get to share our music and ‘our touch of class,’ as we call it, overseas is a neat experience.”

Kuskye said he used his connections with people in the music industry to his advantage to grant this trip.

“I knew when to go overseas, and a dear friend of mine got me connected to a group called the ‘West End Kids’ in London. Then for Paris, we got into Disneyland because we applied, and we saw (Disney) added an extra event for us because they liked us so much,” he said.

Even though Kuskye’s connection ensures their trip to Europe, Urbanowski said each member will still have to consistently contribute hard work and dedication to guarantee the choir’s successful performance in representing American show choir.

“Show choir is a really big thing in the Midwest America, so it’s big around here, but in other countries, it’s not as big, which is why a part of the reason we’re going to perform there is to hopefully interest other countries and other people into show choir,” Urbanowski said. “We’ve been learning different songs and dances all throughout the year, and we’re compiling them into one show. We have lots of after-school hours and before-school hours to make sure we know everything and to make sure everything is clean.”

In addition, the Ambassadors’ venues are in London and Paris, in which members plan to have the typical tourist experience such as visiting Versailles, the sets of the “Harry Potter” films, along with other sightseeing opportunities. However, members are required to perform their choral shows at Disneyland Paris and the Greenwood Theatre in London in which they will sing and dance to Kuskye’s song selection, an arrangement of approximately 20 musical tracks, with the English show choir, the “West End Kids.”

Kuskye said his song choices are based on their salute to the European cities since they will arrive in London first and finish their tour in Paris.

“I have to stick to what I already have such as accompaniment tracks. Because of the lack of sound systems for choral, I have to record their voices. Over the track, they’ll sing with their own voices. So that narrowed down my selection for music because it has to be a published piece of music. A lot of times, we do things that are written for us, and we can’t do that, so that narrowed it down,” Kuskye said. “When you’re at a theme park and have a 25-minute show, people are going to want to get to the rides. They don’t want to just sit and listen to things, so we need something visual to catch their eyes and pull them in, that guided what I want for the theme show to be very (upbeat), fast-paced and very visual with a few wonderful vocal moments that are short.”