Lexington Singers set to travel across Europe for a choir tour. Here’s where
The Lexington Singers are set to tour Europe this summer as part of their 2025-26 season.
Established in 1959, the Lexington Singers are one of the longest-running and continuously performing community choirs in the United States. They’ve toured internationally eight times across four continents. On June 19, 108 members of the adult choir will add a ninth international tour across France and England.
The tour will begin on June 23 in the Church of Saint-Sulpice, the second-largest church in Paris. The performance will feature the European debut of American composer Elaine Hagenberg’s latest work, “Aeterna Via.”
Hagenberg privately contacted the Lexington Singers in 2025 and asked the choir to perform the American debut of “Aeterna Via” in November 2025, Director of the Lexington Singers Jeff Johnson said. The choir will get to work directly with the composer again in Europe, alongside 200 other choir members from various states in the United States.
“She (Hagenberg) will be there as a consultant, which is a really cool opportunity to get to work on a new piece with the composer present,” Johnson said.
Johnson will conduct the Paris performance.
From Paris, the Lexington Singers will head to London to perform in St. Mary Abbots Church on June 25. A retiring collection — a voluntary donation as patrons leave —will be held at the event to benefit Glass Door, a charity that combats homelessness in London.
The final stop of the tour will be held in Lexington's sister city, Newmarket, England. The performance will be held at Edward VII Memorial Hall, alongside the Newmarket Community Choir, under the direction of Robert Cross, the director of the Newmarket Community Choir.
“It’s really fun to get to interface with people from other cultures, but especially to get to perform with the people from other cultures,” Johnson said. “That’s another level of connection.”
The Sister Cities program was founded in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as a way to foster global peace. Lexington Sister Cities Executive Director Kay Sargent said it creates an opportunity for cities across the world to learn about one another and exchange cultures.
Newmarket became Lexington’s fourth sister city in 2003. Other cities include Deauville, France; County Kildare, Ireland; Shinhidaka, Japan; and Jeju City, South Korea.
“They’re all horse and thoroughbred areas, and that’s the common bond with all of them,” Sargent said.
All performances will be free and open to the public, but reservations must be made in advance on the Lexington Singers website.