Rehearsing the mass pieces for the grand finale of the choral event. ANDY MCGOVERN
About 570 children from nine international schools in the Kanto area, their teachers, and many parents and even grandparents, gathered in the gymnasium of Tokyo International School (TIS) on May 7, a cloudy spring day at the end of Golden Week, to enjoy a morning of choral singing.
For the first time this year TIS had the honour of hosting the Elementary Kanto Plains Choral Festival, an annual event that promotes choral music and fosters interaction between elementary students from different international schools in the Kanto area.
And international it was indeed at this festival, which saw children of many different nationalities stepping on stage together to present songs from around the world, ranging from gospel to a Hebrew folk song, from the English canon to a traditional song from Ghana. The songs powerfully echoed through the hall, which was colourfully decorated with the national flags of many countries. This high-profile music event vividly illustrated the open spirit of the international school community.
The hall was brimming with activity, with children and guests finding their places and last-minute preparations being made before the 10am start, when Miguel Arambulo — music teacher and choir director at TIS and this year’s festival organizer — and Denise Owen, choir director at the Christian Academy in Japan, stepped on stage to lead the expectant crowd through some fun vocal warm-ups.
At centre stage (both on and off) were the students, mainly from grades 3 to 5. They were happy to be out of school for a day and keen to participate in this annual choral festival. The various groups waited their turns in silence and were amazingly well behaved while attentively listening to the presentations.
The Junior Choir of the International School of the Sacred Heart started the first round of choral singing in the morning, followed by the Yokohama International School Show Choir, the American School in Japan Grade 5 Choir, and the TIS Elementary School Choir. After a short break, presentations were given by Nishimachi International School Elementary School Chorus (grades 3–5) and Saint Mary’s International School Grade 5 Choir before breaking up for lunch in the school playground. In the afternoon, three more choirs presented their songs, including the Christian Academy in Japan Elementary Choir, the Saint Maur International School Choir, and the Seisen International School Choir.
“I like the way I feel when I’m singin’ this song; I wish everyone could feel this way”, sang the choir of Saint Maur International School. This song perfectly expressed the happy mood in the hall where everyone hummed along with big smiles on their faces. The teachers and parents, many mums and some dads too, sat at the side and in the back of the hall and proudly listened to the children singing or happily snapped some photos of this memorable day.
The choral highlights of the festival were two mass songs jointly sung by all participants and directed by Miguel Arambulo and Denise Owen respectively: first “Sing a Song of Love” composed by Denise Owen and next “Obsiwana,” a traditional song from Ghana.
“I loved the energy level of the singers while singing the mass pieces. Each child looked very focused and enthusiastic while singing,” commented Arambulo.
It certainly was “a morning of ‘golden voices’ at the end of Golden Week,” as Des Hurst, the Head of TIS, remarked in his closing speech.
When Mr. Hurst handed out certificates to the directors of the attending schools, there was thunderous applause from the children, showing how much they liked their choir directors and how much they loved this event — a great way of saying thank you!
— ALENA ECKELMANN
