Indianapolis Children's Choir - 1994 England Scotland Tour (2018)

The album "England & Scotland Tour" (often dated 1994 or 1995) is one of the earliest and most iconic recordings of the Indianapolis Children's Choir (ICC), capturing their first major British tour.
Professionally recorded on location at Mark Custom Studios, this disc is unique in that many of the tracks were recorded directly in cathedrals
across the UK, giving them a uniquely English acoustic.
This album is a rare example of ICC resonating in the acoustics of ancient stone vaults, rather than in a studio or American concert hall.
Katie Miller's solo on "A City Called Heaven" (track 12) is considered one of the most significant archival ICC recordings of that decade.
And the collaboration with Malcolm Dalglish is very important on this album. The collaboration between the Indianapolis Children's Choir (ICC) and Malcolm Dalglish is one of the most striking and unusual partnerships in the history of modern choral music. This wasn't just a choir-composer collaboration; it was the creation of an entirely new genre, which Dalglish himself called "choral theater" or "folk choir."
The most recognizable feature of their collaborative recordings (like the album England & Scotland Tour) is the use of the hammered dulcimer. Dalglish is a virtuoso
of this instrument. Its shimmering, percussive sound, combined with the clear children's voices, created a magical, almost elfin atmosphere. Before Dalglish,
this instrument was virtually unknown in classical children's choral art.
Henry Leck invited Dalglish not just as a composer but as a mentor. Malcolm often visited ICC camps and rehearsals. Malcolm wrote for ICC (or adapted with Henry Leck) a number of works that became worldwide hits:
• Reunion: A massive song cycle written specifically for ICC.
• Sail Away: Perhaps their most famous collaboration, this song about the sea and freedom has become the choir's unofficial anthem.
• The Welcome Table: An example of Dalglish's blending of American folk traditions with choral structure.
Finally, collaboration with Dalglish allowed ICC to move beyond strict classical music. His lyrics are often based on poems by Wendell Berry or ancient Celtic prayers dedicated to nature, the harvest, and humanity's connection to the land. This perfectly fits Henry Leck's concept of a "world musical embassy."
Before Dalglish, the repertoire of children's choirs was either strictly church, classical, or simplified pop. Malcolm Dalglish brought "complex folklore" to the ICC.
He demonstrated that children can perform music with odd time signatures (7/8, 5/4) and complex syncopations while maintaining incredible emotional sincerity.
In the 2018 edition, his name is often credited as "Arranger," but for the ICC, he was a co-creator of their unique sound of the 90s.