On the eastern edge of the Caribbean, Puerto Rico offers the region’s signature year-round summer, sugar-white beaches, palm trees, and crystal-clear waters alive with rainbow-hued fish. Its centuries of history as a Spanish colony and later a U.S. territory have gifted the island with a fascinating blend of cultures, architecture, and traditions. In the musical world, Puerto Rico magnifies the Caribbean’s distinctive combination of indigenous, African, and Spanish influences through its national love of dancing and singing. Salsa, merengue, bachata, bomba y plena are not just genres here—they are living traditions. Visitors can immerse themselves in this vibrant culture by taking a dance, percussion, or musical lesson, or by performing side by side with students from the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music.

Classical Movements has arranged tours to the Caribbean Islands since 1995, presenting concerts in historic concert halls, theatres, opera houses, university auditoriums, museums, cathedrals, churches, festivals, schools, and other venues. In Puerto Rico, ensembles enjoy opportunities for collaborative concerts, workshops, exchanges, and unique cultural experiences. With its international flair and the added convenience of no U.S. passport requirement, Puerto Rico offers a choral or orchestral tour full of natural beauty, history, and music—an unforgettable destination where artistry and island life intertwine.

Sights & Sounds

  • Old San Juan – Catedral de San Juan, El Capitolio, Castillo San Cristóbal and Plaza del Mercado de Río Piedras
  • Dance & Music – salsa, bachata, merengue, and bomba y plena
  • Ponce, “Pearl of the South” – Plaza de las Delicias, Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe from 1835, and the bold red-and-black Parquet de Bombas from 1882
  • Tablado La Guancha boardwalk
  • 1930’s mansion and museum Castillo Serrallés
  • El Yunque National Park and Luquillo Beach with the unique “anvil-shaped” mountain
  • Castillo San Felipe del Morro, a six-level fortress overlooking the sea, begun in 1539 and completed in 1790 – the oldest Spanish fort in the New World
  • Beach Resorts with sugar-white sands and turquoise waters

Press

“Classical Movements is the go-to company for ensembles planning concert tours.”

-Baltimore Sun, Tim Smith | June 29, 2012

“In the course of their tours, so many American groups have started learning Maori, Chinese, South African and Brazilian songs. In the process of taking American groups around the world, we have had so many exchanges and collaborations, and we’ve had a great number of groups that wanted to come to the States,’ Helms says.”

-Washington Post, Mark Jenkins | June 22, 2011

“Neeta Helms, president of Classical Movements explains: ‘We are very aware that parents of the children pay a lot to give their children this [travel and music] experience. For them it’s a trip of a lifetime, and we want to deliver a high-quality music product.’”

-Opus Osm, Mary Matz | July 18, 2011

“Can you afford to ignore the company that does the tour arrangements for some of Washington’s premier institutions…the best tour agents in the world?”

-Gala News, Judy Brophy (Choral Arts Society of Washington) | Fall, 1996

“Music moves people. And then there are the people who move the music. From the corner of her second-story command center in a charming-but-creaky three-story townhouse in Old Town, Classical Movements founder Neeta Helms delivers musicians and singers all over the world with the precision of a Steinway piano tuner.”

-Washington Post, Thomas Heath | Sept. 16, 2013

“The tour is a very special occasion for us. It is important that the music and the long tradition of the Escolania is known.’ It is why Neeta Helms, founder of Classical Movements, the group presenting the choir in Washington and New York, considers this tour to be a rare look at the Escolania’s long tradition and exceptional talent.”

-Washington Post, Katherine Boyle (quoting Bernat Vivancos) | March 16, 2014

“For comfort and safety a comprehensive tour package run by an experienced company such as Blue Heart Tours is the way to go.”

-McCall’s | April 1998

“Few companies can count 2,034 clients in their very first year of operation.”

-Jax Fax Travel Magazine | June 1994