Japan-U.S. Students Sing in N.Y. in Memory of Disaster

New York, March 29 (Jiji Press)--A joint choir of some 210 Japanese and U.S. students on Tuesday held a concert in New York with a professional orchestra, to mark the fifth anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Conducted by Atsushi Yamada, the chorus, including second-grade high school students from the disaster-stricken areas in northeastern Japan, performed Mahler's Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection," with the Philharmonia Orchestra of New York at the Lincoln Center. High school students and others from the disaster-affected areas hold a concert in the United States every year, mainly in New York. The latest concert was the fifth one since the disaster hit Japan on March 11, 2011. Japanese participants were students of Fukushima Prefectural Tachibana High School, Iwate Prefectural Kuji High School, Miyagi Prefectural Sendai Sanou High School and Saitama Prefectural Kawagoe High School as well as former members of Natori Kids Musicals in Miyagi Prefecture. From the United States, 81 members of the College of New Jersey's chorus participated. Yuka Saito, 17, of the Tachibana high school, who served as captain of the Japanese side, gave an English speech after their performance. Even after five years have passed since the disaster and the subsequent meltdown accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s <9501> Fukushima No. 1 power plant, "some people are displaced from their hometowns and others still feel a sense of loss," Saito said. "I believe that music has a power to connect people's hearts around the world," she said. "I would like to show you my strong will to make a new future" for the disaster-hit eastern Japan region and Fukushima Prefecture through music, Saito also said. END