Kellogg Community College will be represented on the global stage this summer as Music and Theatre students travel to perform on major tours abroad.
From the historic choral halls of the Baltics to the energized streets of Scotland’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, KCC students, faculty and community members will showcase their talents on a global stage.
With two major tours planned, participants will not only perform, but will engage deeply with the cultures, histories and artistic traditions of the countries they visit.
Active participants
KCC’s Music area is taking 40 participants to the Baltics in June, leaving for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on an international concert tour running June 16 through 24.
KCC Music Area Coordinator and Vocal Arts Director Dr. Gerald Case-Blanchard said he intentionally chose these three distinct, unique countries to tour and perform in as they’re “renowned for their rich choral singing traditions, deeply rooted in their national identity, history and their cultural expression.”
“These countries hold a revered place in the global choral community,” Case-Blanchard said. “Singing in venues where choral music has been a form of national expression and resilience, especially during historical events like Estonia’s Singing Revolution, offers powerful context and inspiration. Each of these countries has rich, unique histories and traditions, particularly in choral music.
“Students will experience these cultures firsthand, not just as tourists or from a history book, but as active participants.”
KCC choir members will present three formal concerts while on tour and will participate in a “musical collaboration” with a Lithuanian chamber choir, along with exploring cultural landmarks and historical sites in each country.
“Our itinerary also includes opportunities to share meals, fellowship and music with our hosts, allowing for meaningful cultural exchange,” Case-Blanchard said. “In all aspects of this journey, we will proudly serve as musical ambassadors, representing not only our country, but also Kellogg Community College.”
The Choral Union premiered the College’s touring program at its annual “Singing in the Spring” concert in April and performed a shortened version in a pair of concerts in early June to prepare and raise funds for the trip. This will be the third international concert tour for the College choirs, with previous tours including a trip to Ireland in 2012 and a trip to the Amalfi Coast of Italy in 2014.
A rite of passage
KCC Theatre is performing at the famous Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland later in the summer, traveling and performing on a trip that runs July 29 through Aug. 10.
The Fringe is considered by many to be the largest performing arts festival in the world; the organization has more than 3,350 shows planned for the three-week festival this year alone.
Among those shows will be an abbreviated version of KCC Theatre Coordinator and Professor Brad Poer’s original play “Pando,” premiering on the international stage courtesy of 16 students, alumni and community members, along with Poer and Binda Performing Arts Center Manager Jennifer Philp.
The play debuted at KCC in the spring of 2024 but was written with an eventual performance at the Fringe in mind, Poer said, with the planning process beginning nearly a decade ago. Poer called it a labor of love for him and the half dozen or so members of the touring company who were in the debut show last year.
Traveling is important for performers, Poer said, because “artists do not create art in a vacuum.”
“Nothing is born from nothing,” he said. “Every artists’ brain is a pantry full of experiences, skills, ideas, references, interactions and memories – and all art of any kind is less about creating things from scratch, but instead is more of a practice in concocting a new recipe from ingredients already existing in the pantry of the mind.
“Travel and pulling one’s self out of our usual routines and familiar faces is a means of turbo charging the amount, contrasts and dynamics of the ingredients in that pantry, with the added side benefits of creating more resilient, confident personalities in general.”
Also: It’s just cool. Performing at the Fringe is a kind of rite of passage for performing artists.
“Within theatre/live performance circles, there aren’t many resume bullet points cooler than being able to say you performed at the Fringe,” Poer said. “As an educator and theatre artist, I believe that both travel and creating theatre make for better human beings, so why not combine the two?”
Donate to support the arts
Want to support KCC’s international performance tours? Patrons can donate online to offset costs for students traveling to perform internationally with KCC!
- Click here to donate to the choral tour of the Baltics
- Click here to donate to the KCC Theatre trip to Festival Fringe in Scotland
International travel opportunities in 2026
KCC regularly provides international travel opportunities for students and community members alike. Upcoming international travel opportunities include:
- An INTL 210: International Travel-Culture course trip to Barbados over Spring Break in 2026
- An ART 220: Landscape Photography course trip to Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway and Sweden) in Summer 2026
- An INTL 210: International Travel-Culture course trip to Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway and Sweden) in Summer 2026
Individuals interested in any of the above opportunities should sign up for INTL C100: International Orientation this fall.
For more information about upcoming trips or to get added to a contact list for more information about a trip when available, visit kellogg.edu/travel or email the Integrative Learning Department at integrativelearning@kellogg.edu.
Global & International Studies at KCC
Individuals interested in international travel may also be interested in KCC’s Global and International Studies Program, which prepares students for careers in a variety of fields from education to diplomacy. The program emphasizes global awareness, foreign language proficiency, multiculturalism and study abroad.
KCC offers an Associate in Global and International Studies degree. For details about the program, visit kellogg.edu/global.
Pictured above, members of KCC’s choral tour of the Baltics pose for a group photo on campus before departure on June 16.
This article first appeared in the June 2025 edition of BruIN magazine. To read the issue online, please visit kellogg.edu/bruinmagazine.
