Youth orchestras and youth choruses from the Bay Area enjoy their share of globetrotting: just take the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra or Young People's Symphony Orchestra, which toured Prague, Bratislava, and Vienna — after China in 2006, and Australia and New Zealand in 2008.
But today, it's time for the wondrous Young People's Chorus of New York City, led by Artistic Director/Founder Francisco J. Núñez, which recently completed a month-long tour of Asia, its fifth trip to the continent, with performances in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and five Japanese cities, including Tokyo, where YPC made its Tokyo Philharmonic debut.
They were artists-in-residence of the Hong Kong International Youth and Children's Choir Festival, joined by more than 100 choirs from Estonia, Romania, America, the Congo, South Africa, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Philippines, North Korea, New Zealand, and Macao.
The YPC performance in Hokuto, Japan, was streamed live on Ustream TV, and it's still available. Click on No. 5 on the right side, among "Videos" or go directly to the concert. The program, after four minutes of speeches, is:
Samuel Barber, "Heaven-Haven"
Bright Sheng, "Boatmen’s Song"
Traditional American, "Take This Hammer"
Luis Kalaff and Bienvenido Brens, "Guayacanal"
Dominican Folk Song, "Chanflin"
Yoshinao Nakada, "Natsu No Omoide"
M. Samuragochi, "Hiroshima Requiem"
Leonard Bernstein, West Side Story Medley
Spiritual, "Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel"
Paul Simon, "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
And two encores: Kanno Yoko, "Hana wa saku" (with the audience singing along) and Jim Papoulis, "Oye" (with the audience singing and dancing along).