Kanto Plain Middle School Choral Festival

On Thursday, April 24th, I had the opportunity to chaperone CAJ's Middle School Choir to the Kanto Plain Middle School Choral Festival at the Nishimachi International School.  Ms. Owen is the director and Mr. Dishner is the accompanist.  It was a great opportunity to be able to listen to choirs from other schools as well as sit in the midst while all the students were singing a song they learned at their schools and performed together for the first time at the festival.  
CAJ was the first school to arrive.  We were directed to Nishimachi's gym.  

There were some schools by this time and others were warming up.

 As you can see, CAJ was seated on the bleachers.  There were my row mates.  

One of the directors went through voice exercises to warm up.

 Here is a video I took while they were warming up their voices. 

So who participated in the festival, you ask?  (Ok I had a feeling you'd ask that question at some point!)  
First up was the St. Mary's International School 6th Grade Choir.  This was only a portion of the full Middle School choir. 

St Mary's is a boys Catholic School.

 Next up was the Nishimachi International School Middle School Chorus. 

This is a school with both boys and girls, but the chorus is comprised of only girls.

The next group to perform was the Yokohama International School Middle School Chorus.

Next was the Saint Maur International School Middle School Chorus.  They were a small group, but did well.  

They stood in a semi-circle on stage. 

CAJ was next.  What was interesting is our students had a teal colored polo shirt.  Quite a different color scheme from many of the other groups, so our students were fairly easy to spot.  :)

CAJ Middle School Choir!

Next school was Seisen International Middle School Choir.  

Seisen is a girls Catholic School.

Next group was the Yokota Middle School Choir.  

Yokota is located on the Yokota Air Base. 

After Yokota, the Yokosuka Middle School Choir was next.  

Yokosuka Middle School is located on Yokosuka Naval Base. 

International School of the Sacred Heart or more commonly known as ISSH was next.  It was one of the largest choirs there. 

ISSH is an all girls school. 

The last group on stage was the full Middle School Choir from St. Mary's International School.  They had a lot of boys on that stage.  
The students sang the song Why We Sing.  It was quite an experience to sit in the middle of the choir while the students sang.  
I really was impressed how well behaved the students were during the whole time.  I also was so impressed how well they listened to the other groups sing.  
It has been a blessing to experience this festival and how voices are used to praise God!