Libera Returning to the US?

[Surpinto]

Recently Libera of the US (the American affiliate for Libera which helps to fundraise and organize US concerts for the choir) has been posting fundraising requests on Twitter and Instagram with one of the messages being:

"Let's bring Libera back to the US! You can be a great help to us by #donating towards the next #Libera tour"

Could it be that Libera wants to possibly come to the US in 2021 or 2022? While 2021 would be amazing assuming that this COVID nightmare was resolved by then (doubtful), I think that 2022 is the realistic target. If so, then I speculate that they are going to need a lot of cash ($200K? ) based on things shared with us during prior fundraising events. So it makes sense to start early.

In the past, if the sum total of someone's donations made between the previous tour (in this case August 2019) and the upcoming tour totaled a certain value, ($600 in 2019), the donor was invited to an event. Libera-Records in Japan has something analogous for its members as well.

It's far away but man oh man is a Libera tour something to look forward to! And this time they should come to the Northeast! No tour to the US should be considered complete without Washington and New York

[theriverflowson]

Fingers crossed that 'Libera of the US' will be able to bring the boys back to the US as soon as circumstances permit! It's not only great for the US-based fans, but for sure for the group as well allowing them to travel again!

If I remember correctly 'Libera of the US' offered some nice collectible items during their last crowdfundings, so I will definitely keep an eye on their activities. I could imagine supporting them with donations, even if I'm from Europa, helping them to spread the Libera spirit around the world. Maybe this will even result in another record!

[katyafan]

Honestly, I want them to not come here. We are drowning. Where I live, the ICU capacity is at 0%. Rationing of care will soon begin, and it is only going to get worse. The vaccine is rolling out slowly, and due to people being vastly more paranoid and under-educated than previously suspected, even by 3rd quarter 2021, when everyone who wants the vaccine will be able to access it, we may not reach herd immunity. Too many people simply won't take it.

Though the boys' youth is an incredibly protective factor against Covid, any adults who accompany them are in danger. Not to mention, if they come here again (Los Angeles), and God forbid one of them needs a hospital for something--it's not good.

Now, 2022 is another story...

[Surpinto]

Fingers crossed that 'Libera of the US' will be able to bring the boys back to the US as soon as circumstances permit! It's not only great for the US-based fans, but for sure for the group as well allowing them to travel again!

Exactly!

If I remember correctly 'Libera of the US' offered some nice collectible items during their last crowdfundings, so I will definitely keep an eye on their activities. I could imagine supporting them with donations, even if I'm from Europa, helping them to spread the Libera spirit around the world. Maybe this will even result in another record!

Are you referring to when the prior management of Libera of the US was mailing out autographed thank you letters and photos? Yeah, that was cool but I'd rather see the money go to the tour and music expenses with items like that available for separate purchase.

Plus, just because you're from Europe doesn't exclude you from coming to see them in the US. Tons of Europeans have joined us North American fans for Libera and took a nice vacation in addition.

Honestly, I want them to not come here. We are drowning. Where I live, the ICU capacity is at 0%. Rationing of care will soon begin, and it is only going to get worse. The vaccine is rolling out slowly, and due to people being vastly more paranoid and under-educated than previously suspected, even by 3rd quarter 2021, when everyone who wants the vaccine will be able to access it, we may not reach herd immunity. Too many people simply won't take it.

Though the boys' youth is an incredibly protective factor against Covid, any adults who accompany them are in danger. Not to mention, if they come here again (Los Angeles), and God forbid one of them needs a hospital for something--it's not good.

Now, 2022 is another story...

Yeah I think 2022 is the realistic goal. As for people afraid of getting the vaccine, I guess I just don't get it. Roughly speaking vaccination involves being injected with a weakened form of the virus and it's normal to feel unwell for a few hours or even days afterwards. Speaking for myself, I see it as our civic duty to protect others from getting the disease and not just myself. So I'm always puzzled that people have no fear of getting behind the wheel of a car but freak out at getting a shot. The probability of getting killed or maimed in a car accident is so many times significantly higher than from a vaccine. But that's humans for you....with all our crazy flaws.

[Surpinto]

Woohoo! An official email from Libera of the US arrived in my inbox today.

News from Libera of the US
As we all know, 2020 was a challenging year. We weren’t able to bring Libera to America this year. But all things must pass and so shall this pandemic. As soon as circumstances allow, we are ready to bring Libera back to the US for another tour!

Even though we didn’t have a 2020 tour, we haven’t stopped planning for the next tour and building up the funds to support it. We’ve been looking at various ideas for venues and regions of the US where we might bring the choir next time.

Without getting too specific, yes we are looking into performing at venues on both sides of the country.

As part of our social media efforts for 2021, we have introduced UsLibera Moose: the US cousin of Libera’s Moose. The US version of Moose is a digital mascot who will help us announce the progress of our planning, our fundraising, and our messaging for 2021 and beyond.

Here he is patiently waiting for Libera to return to the US.

@UsLibera_Moose
Can you help?
We still have a long way to go in order to fund the next tour. We’ve kickstarted our fundraising efforts now because we’re beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel.

This year US taxpayers may deduct up to $300 in charitable giving, even if you don’t itemize. So it’s a great time to invest in the future of Libera by donating a year-end gift to Libera of the US.

We also encourage donors to consider setting up a monthly donation. Monthly donations help us to plan ahead with some amount of stability and confidence that we’ll have enough funds to plan for another tour. To do so click “Make this donation monthly” when you set up your donation.

Libera of the US would like to thank all of those donors who have made touring Libera in the United States possible, and welcome all of our new 2020 donors.

DONATE NOW
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

We all wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season, and hope that you and your loved ones stay healthy and safe in the year to come.

The letter mentions that the plan is to perform on BOTH SIDES OF THE COUNTRY and donations are being sought for that purpose. Let's dig deep people!

[TullyBascombe]

The "plan" is to have healthcare providers and long term care residents in the US vaccinated by February, the high risk by April, then to provide the vaccines to the rest of the adult population by April and beyond. It is hoped to have most of the adult population vaccinated by the end of the summer, so if everything goes as planned then a tour might be possible by early fall. Yes it seems like the plan is lagging a bit. One explanation is that the optimists making predictions forgot to include the time required for quality assurance, which adds a few weeks to the schedule.
Recent polls report that more than 2/3rds of the population in the US want to be vaccinated. Add to that the 10 to 20 % of the population who have already had the disease and we could achieve the desired herd immunity.
The new strains reported are a bit worrisome. Let's hope the experts are correct predicting that the mutations won't impede the efficacy of the vaccines.

[Surpinto]

I believe they are tentatively planning on going to Japan in Fall 2021 which is why I stand by my prediction of 2022.

Let's hope that the end of summer 2021 brings us back to a world we once knew....

[TullyBascombe]

Didn't Japan move the Olympics to the fall of 2021? It might not be a good idea for Libera to attempt a series of concerts with the Olympics going on at the same time.

[theriverflowson]

If I remember correctly 'Libera of the US' offered some nice collectible items during their last crowdfundings, so I will definitely keep an eye on their activities. I could imagine supporting them with donations, even if I'm from Europa, helping them to spread the Libera spirit around the world. Maybe this will even result in another record!

Are you referring to when the prior management of Libera of the US was mailing out autographed thank you letters and photos? Yeah, that was cool but I'd rather see the money go to the tour and music expenses with items like that available for separate purchase.

Oh, what a nice way to say thank you to your donors, didn't know this. But I agree, better spend that money for expenses connected to the tours!

I was referring to https://www.forum.libera-dreams.com/vie ... 9&start=34

Selling some signed items for collector's prices might be a way to generate money in addition to the regular donations. I would be interested, at least

[Surpinto]

If I remember correctly 'Libera of the US' offered some nice collectible items during their last crowdfundings, so I will definitely keep an eye on their activities. I could imagine supporting them with donations, even if I'm from Europa, helping them to spread the Libera spirit around the world. Maybe this will even result in another record!

Are you referring to when the prior management of Libera of the US was mailing out autographed thank you letters and photos? Yeah, that was cool but I'd rather see the money go to the tour and music expenses with items like that available for separate purchase.

Oh, what a nice way to say thank you to your donors, didn't know this. But I agree, better spend that money for expenses connected to the tours!

I was referring to https://www.forum.libera-dreams.com/vie ... 9&start=34

Selling some signed items for collector's prices might be a way to generate money in addition to the regular donations. I would be interested, at least

Definitely a good idea to do that but I think a larger number of inexpensive items would be preferable to a $250 signed book Shipping is also a factor. The problem with selling items as a revenue stream is quantity: you have to sell a lot for it to matter. From a salesman perspective is it easier/better to convince one donor to give $1,000 .....or to take the time and effort to make, ship, and sell 100 items around the world at $10 a piece.

But if they sell stuff at a reasonable price (reasonable being not some $250 signed book ) I'm in to buy it!

[filiarheni]

Yeah I think 2022 is the realistic goal. As for people afraid of getting the vaccine, I guess I just don't get it. Roughly speaking vaccination involves being injected with a weakened form of the virus and it's normal to feel unwell for a few hours or even days afterwards. Speaking for myself, I see it as our civic duty to protect others from getting the disease and not just myself. So I'm always puzzled that people have no fear of getting behind the wheel of a car but freak out at getting a shot. The probability of getting killed or maimed in a car accident is so many times significantly higher than from a vaccine. But that's humans for you....with all our crazy flaws.

Overall, I agree with you! Regarding the technology though, at least both vaccines by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna are not based on a weakened virus form, but contain instructions for a component of it. So it's a new technology which was never applied before and apart from those who simply reject any kind of vaccination, this might be a factor to be more scared of unwanted side effects.
I'm not educated in that direction and definitely don't intend to start a pro/con discussion about vaccines, only for the interested here's a link:
https://translate.google.com/translate? ... mpfstoffs/

I myself totally agree to a vaccination. Yes, the process was quick, but the financial support of the vaccine research had a priority, which it usually doesn't have, plus some more advantages to get the indispensable prerequisitions for the approval done. Somewhere we have to start to get rid of this pandemic!

A realistic guess for another Libera tour to the US would be 2022 in my opinion, too. We all want Libera, staffs, audiences to stay safe, so better wait than later see that it was too early and then regret ...

[swalker2001]

Yeah I think 2022 is the realistic goal. As for people afraid of getting the vaccine, I guess I just don't get it. Roughly speaking vaccination involves being injected with a weakened form of the virus and it's normal to feel unwell for a few hours or even days afterwards. Speaking for myself, I see it as our civic duty to protect others from getting the disease and not just myself. So I'm always puzzled that people have no fear of getting behind the wheel of a car but freak out at getting a shot. The probability of getting killed or maimed in a car accident is so many times significantly higher than from a vaccine. But that's humans for you....with all our crazy flaws.

What I see is people that think the vaccine includes a "tracking microchip" or is somehow the "mark of the beast." As for the mark of the beast, that doesn't make much sense with what the book of Revelation says, and as for the chip...doesn't nearly everyone have a cell phone with GPS already?

[TimS_TheToolman]

If so, then I speculate that they are going to need a lot of cash ($200K? ) based on things shared with us during prior fundraising events. So it makes sense to start early.

You're close, Surpinto. I inquired about tour costs late last year. The figure for a U.S. summer tour is approximately $250K.

As of this date, as others have previously discussed above, I don't expect to see a Libera concert tour here in the U.S. this year. Here's hoping for 2022.

[Surpinto]

If so, then I speculate that they are going to need a lot of cash ($200K? ) based on things shared with us during prior fundraising events. So it makes sense to start early.

You're close, Surpinto. I inquired about tour costs late last year. The figure for a U.S. summer tour is approximately $250K.

As of this date, as others have previously discussed above, I don't expect to see a Libera concert tour here in the U.S. this year. Here's hoping for 2022.

Agreed. Here's hoping that 2022 will be better for Libera; and all of us as well.

[dani]

I wouldn’t even count on 2022 because the cost of the tour is met mostly by very generous donors as we know tours don’t make money so with the world in a massive recession because of Covid I can’t imagine a tour that costs a quarter of a million dollars happening.


Libera also are not earning much because they can’t perform either to help boost income.