Forty-three young singers will begin the trip of a lifetime this afternoon.

The Logansport Children’s Choir will be traveling to Chicago this evening and flying out Sunday morning for its fourth trip to Europe.

“It’s a pretty good sized group for us,” co-director Tim Cahalan said. “There will be 83 people total traveling, including friends, family and chaperones.”

The children have been practicing twice a day for two hours with Cahalan and his wife and co-director, Susan.

Cahalan said the students learned most of the pieces during the year, but were required to learn two additional pieces arranged by composers Haydn and Handel.

“Just getting the notes under our belt has been a challenge,” Cahalan said. “We think they are just making it. It has been a challenge, but we are going to be ready.”

The group will be gone until July 15 and will travel to Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic.

While traveling, the group will participate in the Salzburg International Choral Festival in Salzburg, Austria.

Salzburg is famous for music, according to Cahalan. It was the home of Mozart and also the setting for the “Sound of Music.” Students will be able to sing and dance, as well as pose for pictures at locations that appear in the “Sound of Music.”

The children will also perform in Prague, Czech Republic, and Ettal, Germany, and sing with a local choir in Interlaken, Switzerland.

In Germany, members will see castles in southern Germany, including the famous castle Neuschwanstein. Members will also make an excursion to the Swiss Alps and ride a gondola to a mountain peak.

The Cahalans started planning for the trip two years ago. The co-directors prefer to incorporate a festival the choir members can participate in. They also like to meet up with other choir groups.

The Logansport Children’s Choir has traveled internationally once every four years.

“It’s challenging each time financially,” Tim said. “We actually tour every two years. We have a domestic U.S. tour by bus. We are very proud to do this in a town of our size.”

Tim said he wanted to thank the community for its financial support of the tour.

“The parents and kids work hard to make it affordable, but we receive tremendous help from the community as well,” he said. “That would include Cass County Community Foundation and McTaggart Charitable Trust.”

The choir members also had an opportunity to earn a taste of the international flavor in Logansport. The group sang a Japanese folk song for the Japanese delegation that visited Logansport this week.

Choir members are excited about the trip. Tim said several have brought up the topic of food and wonder what type of scenery they will see.

The educational value for each child is priceless, according to Tim.

“To see all the places and see history that goes back thousands of years,” he said. “They will get exposure to the architecture, other ways of life and food.”

Susan also pointed out that many of the children who have made the trip have gone on to study abroad for a semester while in college.

There is not one thing in particular Tim and Susan are looking forward to on this trip. Tim said it’s too difficult to predict what the most memorable experience will be.

“You never know the surprise thing you will remember,” he said. “That’s just part of the adventure.”

• Denise Massie is a staff writer at the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached at (574) 732-5151 or denise.massie@pharostribune.com