The Friendship Concert in the 5th annual competition 2012

Fukushima Joint Choir, Ichikawa High School, Seisen Junior High School Choir, with, Shachiho Choraliers

"From Dawn to Nightfall"

Lyrics by Ryoichi Wago
Composed by Takatomi Nobunaga

1.
Winds blow from far away,
Now, passing through between us; Isn’t it a wonder?
Mountains are rising up; Being tempted by clouds,
You are now the wind, turning and traveling around all about,

Again, back here, a place of your being
And, as the wind,
Thinking of the people who will never be returning
Me? Who am I?
I am tomorrow, who is ahead of the dateline,
I am the dawn.

2.
Lives spring from the far distance,
Now, passing through between us; Isn’t it a wonder?
A path trailing in the field; a rainbow comes after the winds,
I am the cloud, turning and traveling all about,

Again, back here, a place called a hill
And, as a bird,
Thinking of the people who will never be returning
You; Who are you?
You are a wildfire, who knows the season and keeps burning,
You are the dawn.

The 4th annual competition was cancelled due to the Great East Japan Earthquake, but one year later, backed by cheers and support from all over the world, the 5th annual competition was joined by even more choirs than before and successfully restarted.

 

The competition theme was “Singing voices bring us together!” To commemorate the resumption of the competition and connect everyone’s hearts around the world, the competition song was written by a poet, Ryoichi Wago, who keeps expressing strong emotions after the disaster with Twitter etc, and composed by a renowned choral composer as well as a judge for the 3rd annual competition, Takatomi Nobunaga.

 

The 5th annual competition was full of joys and excitement of singing.

In the following competitions, each time, we handed out musical scores to the participating choirs, and had all sing it together after the award ceremony.

(left)“OMOTENASHI (welcome) Café” by Fukushima Mothers Chorus Association/They started the café to say “Thank you” to people who have supported us.
(right)When the café members performed in Carnegie Hall in NY, the participants of 5th annual competition, Olga, Rosa and Yuki visited to cheer them up.

*Please see the website of "Panamusica" for the sheet music.

We are grateful for your warm support and encouragement.

 

Whenever we hear of stories that choirs sang songs prepared for the cancelled competition in order to cheer up disaster-afflicted people, and collected donations by holding concerts, we strongly feel that we are all connected through music and that singing together are a source of energy and courage.

 

We would like to tell the wonderfulness of singing through the competitions and say “thank you” from the bottom of our hearts.

 

● People who supported the competition
Komatsudai Elementary School Choir	La Voce
Koubun Junior High School Choir

Nago Boys and Girls Choir / Daito Bank Ltd./ Pana Musica/ Fukushima Prefecture Chamber of Commerce and Industry/ Allegro Music

Banner presented by Afumi Vocal Ensemble	Many messages from participants
Messages by Sakuradai Junior High School	Messages were displayed in the hall of the Fukushima Prefectural Government

“We received kind words after the Great East Japan Earthquake, so now we want to send messages of encouragement from Fukushima,” so we set up a message corner to support the victims of the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake at the 17th competition. We also posted the competition song "From Dawn to Nightfall", which we all sang together to express our feelings for Hokuriku, on Youtube. We hope that the messages from everyone in attendance will be of encouragement to those affected by the disaster.

Many messages from participants

Mass singing performed at the 17th competition 2024