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SINGING TOUR OF EUROPE
 Kyle Corbin will train for the The Sound of America summer tour in Pennsylvania with director Randall Yoder, an Emmy-award-winning composer. (The Observer/T.L. PETERSEN). By T.L. Petersen Observer Staff Writer UNION his boy can sing. And he'll prove it this summer, if he hasn't already, when he joins 90 to 110 American young people on a concert tour of Europe. Kyle Corbin, 15, a Union High School sophomore, has agreed to participate in the 25th edition of "The Sound of America." The non-profit group brings together young vocal musicians for a singing tour of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Luxembourg and points along the way. "It's going to be fun," Kyle predicts, even though expenses for the trip are going to cost the Corbin family an estimated $4,000. But call it an investment in his future. Kyle, "who came out singing," his mother Sharon says, plans to make music his life. He's not sure if that will be teaching or performing, but he's getting all the experience he can along the way. Kyle, a tenor, sang the national anthem for the Catherine Creek Rodeo at age 6. He was asked to sing at a gathering of the National Women's Clubs meeting in Baker City at 9. He's won his age group at the Union County Fair talent contest, and earlier this year was a member of the All-State Choir. And that's not all. He's been playing the piano since age 5, and can add clarinet and trumpet to his list of accomplishments. Kyle likes music so much, in fact, he's asked a promise of his parents, Sharon and Clint. "He told me that if the school has to cut the music program (because of budget cuts), he wanted a promise that we'd take him to another school with music," Sharon Corbin says. Kyle shivers at the idea of school without music. "I'd go nuts," he says simply. He isn't sure what type of music The Sound of America choir will be singing yet, but he's not worried. He's been exposed to everything from classical works to heavy rock and roll. "I like all types," he says, mentioning that his CD deck has Beethoven next to AC/DC, with Randy Travis nearby. Training for The Sound of America summer tour in Pennsylvania with director Randall Yoder, an Emmy-award-winning composer, will just be a continuation of musical education for Kyle. He's already been in the Union County Children's Choir for four years, spent a year with the Grande Ronde Youth Symphony, participated in Union's honors choir for two years, and has taken private voice lessons for another two years and piano lessons for three. And, his mother notes to Kyle's grimace, he's a good kid, too. He was inducted into the National Honor Society recently, is one of Union's Natural Helpers and has tutored other students. This summer's tour will be Kyle's first trip outside the Pacific Northwest, and his first travels by airplane. His plans are pretty much those of any teen looking ahead to touring Europe: "I'd like to see everything I can, do everything and see everything. I like history," he says. And singing. |
