The Lawrence Children's Choir performs Monday at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota. The choir stopped on its way to Missoula, Mont., where it will compete at the International Choral Festival.

Crammed on two buses leaving Lawrence at 4 in the morning, the children were off to sing.

Songs of the Lawrence Children’s Choir would provide a soundtrack to the setting sun Monday at Mount Rushmore. Thousands would listen to one of only four American choirs chosen to be at one of the world’s most prestigious choral events.

“The amphitheater was nearly full,” Laura Denneler, the choir’s executive director, said. “It’s just amazing for the kids.”

Denneler remained in Lawrence but heard a full report of the event.

The choir, comprised of Lawrence singers in fifth through ninth grades, left Monday for Missoula, Mont., to be part of the International Choral Festival.

The group stopped to perform at an evening lighting ceremony at Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota – the first stop on its tour toward the festival.

The festival invites choral groups of all ages from around the world, drawing entrants from Taiwan, Australia, India and dozens of other countries.

Denneler said the choir was selected for the performance after submitting recordings to festival coordinators. More than 90 members of the touring choir and staff are making the trip.

The festival began in 1987. The Lawrence choir will perform again today at a preview concert in Missoula. Official concert events kick off Thursday.

The singing excursions, financed with grants from local businesses and other fundraising, give the choir a chance to show off its pipes around the country and the world, Denneler said.

Next year, the choir will perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Denneler said.

For the choir members, she said, the trips can mean so much more than the chance to sing in front of audiences in other cities. The memories the children gain from the summer trips can stay with them forever.

“That’s certainly what we hear from our former members,” Denneler said. “They went to L.A., to London. That makes a big impact as well.”