A British term for rest room may seem to have nothing to do with the Lawrence ChildrenâÂÂs ChoirâÂÂs upcoming first concert of the season. But in a roundabout and rather exciting way, it does.

At the end of each of its intensive Monday night rehearsals leading up to its Saturday performance, the 74-member group learns a few new words Ãi¿½” like âÂÂwater closetâ Ãi¿½” that its members might encounter when they fly to London next spring to perform at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. And several of the songs theyâÂÂre learning now to sing at SaturdayâÂÂs concert will carry over into their international debut.

The choir was invited to sing in England last spring, but concerns about the safety of international travel in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks prompted board members to cancel the excursion.

âÂÂThat was so heartbreaking for the kids to deal with that,â said parent volunteer Diana Frederick. âÂÂWeâÂÂre keeping our fingers crossed that everything with the international situation is stable.âÂÂ

Barring war with Iraq or other unforeseen circumstances, the choir plans to depart for England on Memorial Day 2003. Aside from an engagement at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, other performance plans have not been finalized.

Nonetheless, the choir children talk about the trip all the time, said Janeal Krehbiel, the groupâÂÂs artistic director.

âÂÂItâÂÂs a wonderful goal to have,â she said. âÂÂFor most of them, itâÂÂs really a brand new experience and something that will be very rich in their minds.âÂÂ

In the meantime, choir members are busy raising funds for the trip and perfecting music for their upcoming local show.

The choir will open its new season with a fall concert at 8 p.m. Saturday at Corpus Christi Catholic Church. Among the works on the program are the aria âÂÂCare Selveâ by Handel; a Newfoundland folk song; an aria from BernsteinâÂÂs âÂÂTrouble Tahiti;â a Nigerian folk song, âÂÂThe Pasture;â âÂÂPoet Sings;â and the âÂÂHonour Song.â The groupâÂÂs performance of âÂÂThe Balloon Manâ will include two verses written by choir members.

The choirâÂÂs 65-member preparatory group, Choristers, directed by Pam Bushouse, will join in for several pieces, and two select ensembles from Lawrence and Free State high schools will join the choir for an early 1600âÂÂs antiphonal piece.

The choir has built quite a reputation for excellence. The group performed at Carnegie Hall in the spring of 2000. After last yearâÂÂs London trip fell through, the choir substituted a trip to Los Angeles to sing in the ChildrenâÂÂs Choir Festival.

The choir has been invited to sing at the Kansas Music EducatorâÂÂs Assn.âÂÂs state convention in February and to be a guest childrenâÂÂs choir in June at the Chorus America Annual Conference in Kansas City.

Frederickson, for one, is thrilled that her own children Ãi¿½” one is in seventh grade, the other in ninth Ãi¿½” are part of the choir.

âÂÂAs a parent, knowing that the arts are one area thatâÂÂs been cut in the schools as far as music education goes, IâÂÂm thrilled thereâÂÂs an opportunity like this outside of the schools to provide more music education,â she said.