On the Sydney Opera House stage, July, 1999.

"While there was a certain thrill to sing at the famed opera house, actually we felt more personally enriched when we stood between the tables at a local parish hall singing for an audience while they ate their one meal of the day," said Keith Hughes, choir president.

The choir was participating in the Sydney International Festival of Music, held annually since 1989. In addition to its adjudicated performances, the group sang in various venues around Auckland and Sydney and at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra. A highlight of the trip was performing to an enthusiastic standing-room-only audience of New Zealanders in TeAtatu in the suburbs of Auckland.

While the choir was on its first trip across the Pacific, it is our fifth concert tour outside the U.S.

The choir uses its own personal funds and vacation time to take these tours. "The Boeing name is universally recognized and we take our role very seriously — we put the same quality into our performances as Boeing puts into its airplanes," said Hughes.