Young People’s Chorus of New York City Makes Wales Debut & Tours Japan

"Llangollen", "Okayama" and "Sapporo" may not be the usual destinations young New Yorkers name when asked about their summer plans, but for members of the Young People's Chorus of New York City, they are part of an intrepid summer tour itinerary.

Next week 53 members of the Young People's Chorus of New York City will make their Wales debut at the prestigious Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, a six-day festival of music, song and dance that incorporates the Choir of the World competition. The YPC will compete in the 13-and-under, 18-and-under and folk categories. The choristers, led by associate conductor Elizabeth Núñez, will also sing at several concerts with other choruses who have come to compete from around the world. The popular event sees between 2,000 and 5,000 competitors and up to 50,000 visitors descend on the small Welsh town.

Following an extremely successful tour of 18 Japanese cities last summer, 35 YPC choristers will return to Japan for a 14-city tour July 20 to August 12. Last summer's tour garnered the choristers and YPC founder and artistic director Francisco J. Núñez standing ovations from the usually reserved Japanese audiences that ranged from 2,000 to 4,000 people each night. Chorister Zach Denkensohn described one such response on the YPC blog: "At the beginning of the tour, the Japanese Consul General told us that the audiences will clap politely after songs and then boisterously at the end if they liked the concert... As per the Consul General's prediction, the audience clapped boisterously, but something surprising happened: scattered among the crowd, people began standing. We sang our two encore pieces as the crowd managed to somehow get even more excited. Onstage this resulted in an amazing feeling of pride and confidence."

As with the first tour, the chorus's program will include Japanese compositions and folk songs sung in Japanese alongside American gospel music, traditional songs from various countries and contemporary compositions.

This second tour is once again being sponsored by Min-On Concert Association, a Japanese company dedicated to encouraging young people to develop their artistic abilities through music festivals, concerts, and competitions. The Young People's Chorus of New York City captured the association's attention in 2005 in Kyoto, where the chorus had been invited to represent the United States in the Seventh World Symposium on Choral Music.

Mr. Núñez says it is exciting to see how these international experiences affect the choristers: "The young people who traveled and performed on the remarkable Japanese tour last summer grew as professional young artists and brought home new experiences and memories that changed the way they viewed the world. They came to understand the essence of YPC - music is important, yes, but more important is using music as a means to bring people together."

2010 Japan Tour Dates

July 20 Kurashiki, Okayama
Kurashiki City Civic Hall

July 22 Tokyo
Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space

July 26 Kyoto
Kyoto Concert Hall

July 27 Hamamatsu, Shizuoka
Act City Hamamatsu Main Hall

July 28 Kanazawa, Ishikawa
Hondanomori Hall

Aug 1 Hachi?ji City, Tokyo
Hachi?ji City Civic Center

Aug 2 Sagamihara, Kanagawa
Green Hall Sagami-Ono

Aug 3 Yokohama, Kanagawa
Minato Mirai Hall

Aug 5 Fukuyama, Hiroshima
Reed & Rose

Aug 6 Takamatsu, Kagawa
Alpha Anabuki Hall

Aug 7 Okaya, Nagano
Canora Hall

Aug 10 Kawaguchi, Saitama
Kawaguchi Lilia Main Hall

Aug 11 Sapporo, Hokkaid?
Nitori Culture Center Hall

Aug 12 Kiry?, Gunma
Kiry? City Civic Center Silk Hall

About the Young People's Chorus of New York City
For more than two decades, the Young People's Chorus of New York City has provided children of diverse abilities and backgrounds with a unique program of music education and choral performance, while maintaining a model of artistic excellence and harmony that enriches the community. Founded in 1988 by Mr. Núñez, YPC is the resident chorus of the 92nd Street Y, Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln enter/ and WNYC, New York Public Radio and has been recognized with numerous awards. The chorus has won almost a dozen gold medals in competitions in North America and Europe and recently won its second ASCAP/ Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming.

Each year more than 1100 children from all ethnic, religious, and economic backgrounds participate in the YPC through its core after-school program, its Satellite program in eight New York City schools, and its two national affiliates in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Tenafly, New Jersey.

www.ypc.org

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