FIND OUT WHAT MAKES AN EXCEPTIONAL EDUCATIONAL JOURNEY

Our tours offer the best value in educational travel because we perfect the details teachers tell us matter most. Hotel location, food quality and abundance, chances for immersion cultural learning, tour design and number of inclusions—these are the building blocks for your program.

Download the ACIS Catalog today to find out how we help you give your students the trip of a lifetime!

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Taking your Music Program to New Places

Request more information, why encore.

With Encore Tours, performing before a packed concert hall in historic cities can be more than a dream; we not only take you to inspiring venues, we also provide all the behind-the- scenes support you need to make performance magic happen. We guarantee audiences at all performances, and we take care of the details so you can enjoy the trip of a lifetime.

Full Trip Customization

With your musical goals in mind, we’ll customize a performance trip just for you; coordinating the perfect balance of rehearsals, performances, meals and sightseeing excursions.

Renowned Concert Venues

Our concert venues are hand-picked for your ensemble. The stage layout is pre-planned, concert assistance is provided and you’ll have an audience, guaranteed!

Commitment to Music Ed

Encore is committed to supporting music educators and programs at home. Our Music Ed Resource Center offers a variety of educational materials for music teachers.

Quality Travel Bookings

Centrally-located hotels, restaurants featuring the local cuisine, the best tour managers in the business, access to top sightseeing excursions and more!

Tours Showcase

Ready to get inspired? Explore our sample itineraries designed for choirs, bands, and orchestras, blending cultural immersion with unforgettable performance experiences.

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An Austrian Welcome

Top view

Vivo In Italia

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Czech Republic Adventure

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Lyrical London

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Spain and France

Destinations.

Discover the perfect setting for your musical story. From iconic venues to picturesque cities, explore the amazing options available throughout the world. Delve into the rich cultural fabric and musical heritage of each destination, and learn about the incredible opportunities that await your ensemble’s unique sound.

Discover magnificent venues and cultural marvels, from Vienna’s majestic halls to Venice’s captivating canals.

Step into a unique cultural immersion! Discover vibrant cities, ancient histories, and diverse cuisines. Features many opportunities for exchange concerts.

Latin America

Explore diverse landscapes, from rainforests to beaches. Immerse yourself in local culture through exchange concerts or perform in extraordinary outdoor venues.

North America

Navigate this musical landscape with ease and accessibility as your ensemble explores incredible venues, from iconic city stages to serene natural settings.

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Words aren’t enough to describe our trip. Wow, fantastic, awesome, mind blowing, life changing. When words aren’t enough, music can express what can’t be said with words.

Dresden, Germany

It has been incredible to work with an outstanding organization like Encore to bring our students the ultimate learning experience.

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We had a great variety of venues to sing in and our audiences were very appreciative of our musical gifts. My students loved all our venues…I only wish we had more time!

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Having traveled with other companies, I can say Encore provided higher quality hotels, better food, outstanding tour guides, better venues and audiences for our concerts.

Elevated experiences.

With Encore Experiences, we will take you behind the scenes to provide context to the music you love by offering exclusive access to musicians, venues, famous ensembles, instrument makers and so much more.

Explore Experiences

Miami Tiger Beetle

An iridescent insect with many small hairs on its belly standing on leaf litter and sandy soil.

Q: What is the Miami Tiger Beetle and where does it occur?  A: The tiny iridescent green Miami tiger beetle is one of the smallest tiger beetles in the U.S. and is only found in the imperiled pine rocklands ecosystem in Miami-Dade County, Florida.  

Q: What are the main threats to the Miami tiger beetle? A: The major threats facing the Miami tiger beetle are habitat loss and degradation. An estimated 98% of the historical pine rocklands within Miami-Dade County outside of Everglades National Park is gone. This habitat loss is expected to continue as a result of inadequate habitat management, development, encroaching vegetation, and continued effects of climate change climate change Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale. Learn more about climate change . This species' small population size and restricted range add to the severity of these threats. 

Q: What action is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service taking?   A: The Service is designating approximately 1,869 acres as critical habitat in Miami-Dade County, Florida, for the endangered Miami tiger beetle (Cicindelidia floridana).  

Q: How does the Endangered Species Act define critical habitat?  A: The Endangered Species Act defines critical habitat as the specific geographic areas that contain features essential to the conservation of an endangered or threatened species that may require special management and protection. Critical habitat may also include areas that are not currently occupied by the species but will be needed for its recovery. 

Q: How does the Service determine what areas to designate as critical habitat?  A: Within areas occupied by the species, biologists consider physical or biological features needed for life processes. These include: 

Space for individual and population growth and normal behavior. 

Cover or shelter. 

Food, water, air, light, minerals, or other nutritional or physiological requirements. 

Sites for breeding and rearing offspring. 

Habitats that are protected from disturbances or represent a species' historical, geographical, and ecological distributions. 

After considering occupied areas, biologists consider unoccupied areas that may be essential for the conservation of the species. 

Q: What are the details of the critical habitat for the Miami tiger beetle?  A: The critical habitat designated for the Miami tiger beetle includes 1,464 acres of occupied habitat and 405 acres of unoccupied habitat. The Service deemed it necessary to designate unoccupied areas to protect the remaining two small, isolated populations from encroaching habitat loss. The unoccupied units are within the tiger beetle’s historical range, contain suitable habitat, and the physical and biological features essential to the conservation of this species. 

Most of the critical habitat designated for the Miami tiger beetle is under Federal (26%), state (12%), and county (60%) ownership. Approximately 71% of the designated critical habitat overlaps lands already designated as Federal critical habitat for the following species: Carter’s small-flowered flax (Linum carteri var. carteri), the Florida brickell-bush (Brickellia mosieri), Bartram’s scrub-hairstreak butterfly (Strymon acis bartrami), and the Florida leafwing butterfly (Anaea troglodyta floridalis). Find the critical habitat here . 

Q: What is the background for this rule? A: The Service listed the Miami tiger beetle as an endangered species under the ESA in October 2016. In September 2021, the Service published a proposed rule to designate critical habitat, extended the comment period to 45 days, and held a public hearing in December 2021. The final designation was developed from the additional comments and information from the comment period and public hearing. 

Q: What is the draft economic analysis on this proposed action and why was it done? What did it find?  A: Draft economic analyses are created to analyze the economic impacts of a proposed critical habitat designation. It found that the economic cost of implementing the rule will be limited to additional administrative effort in considering adverse modification of the Miami tiger beetle habitat during ESA Section 7 Section 7 Section 7 Consultation The Endangered Species Act (ESA) directs all Federal agencies to work to conserve endangered and threatened species and to use their authorities to further the purposes of the Act. Section 7 of the Act, called "Interagency Cooperation," is the mechanism by which Federal agencies ensure the actions they take, including those they fund or authorize, do not jeopardize the existence of any listed species. Learn more about Section 7 consultations. The proposed units are largely occupied by other federally listed species like Carter’s small-flowered flax, Florida brickell bush, Bartram’s scrub hairstreak butterfly, and Florida leafwing butterfly. Conservation measures to avoid or minimize impacts on the Miami tiger beetle habitat will overlap existing protections and efforts for these already listed pine rockland species. As such, they are not expected to trigger additional requirements under state or local regulations. 

Q: Where do I find the rule and supporting documents?  A: This final rule is available at https://www.regulations.gov . Comments and materials we received, supporting documentation used in preparing this rule, and the economic analysis are available for public inspection at  https://www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2021-0053. 

Media Contacts

Related stories.

Press Release U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes to List Miami Tiger Beetle as Endangered Dec 18, 2015

An iridescent insect with many small hairs on its belly standing on leaf litter and sandy soil.

Press Release Service Proposes Critical Habitat for Miami Tiger Beetle Sep 3, 2021

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  1. ACIS Educational Tours

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    We empower teachers to inspire their students to be the next generation of global citizens by providing exceptional educational tours and school trips around the world including trips to Europe, South America, Canada, and China. In ACIS, we believe every moment matters and travel changes lives.

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    Discover our 2021-2022 trip offerings including: 200 exceptional educational tour itineraries spanning the globe. Six brand new tours and 23 itineraries to destinations within the US and Canada. 10 trip types including classic favorites, explorer value trips, leadership projects, service learning, small group tours and more! ACIS is built on a ...

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  23. Miami Tiger Beetle

    A: The critical habitat designated for the Miami tiger beetle includes 1,464 acres of occupied habitat and 405 acres of unoccupied habitat. The Service deemed it necessary to designate unoccupied areas to protect the remaining two small, isolated populations from encroaching habitat loss. The unoccupied units are within the tiger beetle's ...

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