The Philadelphia Youth Choral Ensembles’ performances extend far beyond Philadelphia. As is tradition, the ensembles will travel around the world — this summer, to Japan, South Korea, Bulgaria, and Romania.

PYCE, which includes the Commonwealth Youth Choir and the Philadelphia Boys and Girls Choirs, has run the summer tours for most of its existence. Choir members ages 10-18 can participate.

“The tours were really some of my favorite memories, honestly, just of my life,” said Una Davis, a Chestnut Hill resident who previously was a member of the Commonwealth Youth Choir. Davis graduated from Abington Friends School in June.

“It’s really a core element of the program. It’s something that is really a very unique experience, to travel internationally,” said Michelle Frank, the executive director of PYCE. “Not only are they doing a tour of singing and performing in these different cities in big professional venues with large audiences, but there’s an ambassadorship between us and the choirs that we interact with.”

While in the choir, Davis participated in two trips abroad: one to Portugal and Morocco when she was 15, and one to South Africa in 2025. “It’s a very interactive experience. You would sing, but then you could really feel the audience’s joy and appreciation for the music,” Davis said. “I don’t know how any performance [in America] will ever top that feeling of being in a place and just having your audience totally just support you and be right there with you.”

The tours involve more than just the performances. During the trips, PYCE practices with other choirs, and Davis said that rehearsals with other youth choir groups helped form unexpected friendships.

“My favorite part was when we got to rehearse with choirs our own age, because it’s so fun. There was [a choir] in South Africa that was also an after-school program, so we got to spend the afternoon with them,” Davis said. Each choir shared songs, and then the two performed together. “Then, we just got to talk to the singers for a while ... I couldn’t even believe that I was in an after-school program in South Africa, and now I have friends there.”

The tours also solidify and strengthen existing friendships within the choir. “That sense of community, that sense of belonging, that sense of, ‘I’m part of the choir, I’m one of the kids in the Commonwealth Youth Choir,’ it just gets deeply cemented when the kids tour together,” Frank said.

The days are busy, with daily rehearsals and at least four performances. In addition to singing, the choral ensembles participate in sightseeing tours and other musical activities.

Frank said that this summer, the Philadelphia Girls Choir will take part in a taiko drumming workshop in Japan. In Bulgaria and Romania, the Boys Choir will have a dance and music workshop. The Commonwealth Youth Choir stayed overnight at a temple in South Korea, where the hosts performed traditional Buddhist music.

Davis recalled incredible sightseeing tours from her trips. In Portugal, the choir saw the world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge on a hike. In South Africa, they visited Nelson Mandela’s house, saw Table Mountain, and went on two game drives.

Performances and rehearsals were equally memorable, especially in moments that reflected how music fosters connections across cultures, Davis said.

“In our first concert in South Africa ... the choir was incredible. It was one of my favorite choirs I’ve ever heard,” Davis said. “For the last song of the concert, we all came together, and we sang the song, ‘Total Praise,’ which we’ve been singing since I joined the choir. And it was like the entire congregation was weeping. It was the first time I had heard a South African choir, and the sound is so beautiful and rich, and then it was combined with [Total Praise]. They knew it, and we knew it, and there was this beautiful audience, and that was just so special. I’m so grateful that I got to experience that.”