The BYU-Hawai'i Concert Choir will present Na Leo Malu: Voices of Peace in the McKay Auditorium, April 2, at 6 and 8 p.m.
Under the direction of Dr. James A. Smith, the 50-member choir is preparing to perform in the premier concert halls of Japan and Korea during an 18-day tour beginning May 18. Proceeds from five primary concerts will be donated to local charities.
"The choir is excited to represent the university on this tour," said V. Napua Baker, Vice President of University Advancement. "With over 150 students from Japan and 120 from Korea on campus, we feel it is important to be more visible in those countries."
"To be able to represent BYU-Hawai'i as we undertake this concert tour of Japan and Korea is a great privilege and responsibility for the choir. We are grateful to our administration for their confidence and support and are working hard to prepare ourselves," Smith said.
Immediately after the tour was announced in May 2002, Smith, who has taught on campus since 1976 and directed the choir for 29 years, launched a search for an enticing mix of musical selections from Japan, Korea and around the world. Since then, the choir has been rehearsing and refining these selections in various concerts.
"We feel a great desire to be musically excellent and to be true to the artistic values of the beautiful music we will perform," Smith said. "In addition, we feel that through music and our spiritual preparation we can build bridges of communication and good will for the university."
The entourage travels to Tokyo on May 18, then to Pusan, Daejeon, and Seoul, Korea, before returning to Japan to perform in Osaka on June 3. In Tokyo, the choir is booked into the Metropolitan Opera City Center on May 22. Prior to the concert, they will perform, by rare invitation, at the Meiji Shrine for a private audience of government and religion officials. In Seoul, the troupe will perform at the Seoul Arts Center.
"These beautiful facilities are Asia's equivalents to Carnegie Hall or the Sydney Opera House," said Robert I. Wakefield, Director of University Communications. "We are grateful to our friends in Tokyo and Seoul who arranged these venues for us."
The Seoul Arts Center concert will be shared with Ewha Women's University Choir (Dr. Park Shin Hwa, director), and renowned baritone, Hans Choi, who will also perform side-by-side with tenor Michael Belnap. Choi and Belnap are both former students of the great tenor, Luciano Pavarotti. Belnap joined the BYU-Hawai'i voice faculty from Indiana University in Aug. 2003.
The choir will perform at the Pusan Citizen's Cultural Center on May 25, then bus north to a concert at the Chungnam National University hall on May 26 before continuing on to Seoul for concerts at the Seoul Arts Center on May 27 and at the Keunkook University Millennial Hall on May 28. In Osaka, the choir will perform at the Piroki Concert Hall before returning to Laie on June 4.
In addition to the concerts, the choir plans to participate in meetings with BYU-Hawai'i alumni and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, visit schools, and tour cultural treasures.
Choir members will earn credits in cultural or interdisciplinary studies courses taught by Dr. Michael Allen, who will serve as cultural advisor for the tour.
This year's ensemble includes students from Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Fiji, Thailand, Philippines, Korea, Kiribati, Republic of China, Sweden, Canada, and the mainland United States, reflecting the international makeup of the BYU-Hawaii student body.
In past years, the choir has toured Singapore, Taiwan, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. This is the first time the choir will perform in Japan or Korea. The tour originally was planned for 2002, but was postponed because of the attacks on the World Trade Center.
"Our singers' lives and education will be greatly enriched by this experience," Smith added. "Our past international tours to Asia in 2000 and the South Pacific in 1997 were super and this one has the potential to be the best yet. I am excited."
The April 2 concert will feature the choir's tour repertoire, pianist Chad Schumacher and tenor Michael Belnap. Admission is free-of-charge.
For more information, contact Tour Manager, Joel Kongaika.
TEL: (808)293-3456 FAX: (808)293-3491
E-MAIL: kongaikj@byuh.edu