International Choral Festival needs volunteers

Advance tickets are now on sale for the sixth Idaho International Choral Festival, scheduled this year for July 16 through July 20 in Pocatello, Blackfoot and Marsh Valley, but maybe the most daunting task facing organizers right now is the need for a few more volunteers.

With more than 400 participants and chaperones from eight different countries slated to perform, festival housing coordinator Gary Ball says they still need a few more homes in the Pocatello area willing to host singers, “I’m amazed at the response so far from community members who are volunteering to open their homes during the event, but this is the largest festival we’ve ever had, and we still need about 15 more homes, at a minimum.”

Ball says the best way to volunteer is to go online at www.idahointerchoralfest.org and click on the “Host a Choir Member” link in the Volunteer section. Ball points out that host families get free admission to festival performances.

Besides host families, committee member Dan Hunt says there’s also a need for translators with foreign language skills, “I think we’ve got our needs covered for Chinese and Spanish, but we need people who can speak Lithuanian, Romanian, or Portuguese.” Hunt says the best way to contact him is by email, at huntdani@isu.edu.

Tickets for the festival performances are available through the ISU Ticket Office, either by calling 208-282-FANS (3267), or by going online to the Festival web site at www.idahointerchoralfest.org and using the “Purchase Tickets” link. All events are general admission, $5 per event, or an individual All-Events Pass is $15, and a family All-Events Pass is $25. Tickets for the Thursday, July 17, concert at the Blackfoot Performing Arts Center, and for the Friday night concert at the Marsh Valley Performing Arts Center will be sold at those locations, with All-Event Passes honored at all concert venues.

Choirs participating in this year’s four-day festival will be coming from Brazil, China, Kenya, Lithuania, Romania, Spain, Taiwan, a Filipino choir from California, and several choirs from the United States, including a children’s choir from New Jersey, and a high school Honor’s Choir from Idaho.