On a rare day off from its official U.S. tour, the World Vision Korea Children’s choir accepted an invitation to give a special performance at Lynchburg College’s Snidow Chapel.
Jong Kim, the college’s choir director, said he invited the choir to the college well in advance of the day he knew they would fly into Washington, D.C. fresh off of a performance in Chicago.
Kim, who classified the children’s choir as “one of the five best children’s choirs in the world,” said after the choir’s performance at the college last year, he didn’t want the group traveling stateside without a repeat performance.
“Some of the kids visited here last year,” he said. “They remember the responses they got from the audiences, and they really love to sing in this chapel.
“They wanted it and we wanted it, so there was a mutual agreement between us.”
The choir members, who Kim said speak little English, performed songs in English, Latin and Korean, many of the numbers in both English and Korean.
“The discipline and the tone quality and even some of those musical interpretations,” said Kim, “(are) very mature,” though members range from sixth to ninth grade.
The choir opened Tuesday night’s 8 p.m. performance with one verse of “Fairest Lord Jesus,” which began the first segment, entitled “Sacred Sound.”
The second set, “Joyful Sound,” included a medley of selections from musicals, including “The Sound of Music,” “The West Side Story” and “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.” That set also included various American folk songs.
The final segment featured traditional Korean dances, including a fan dance and a drum dance.
Hyun Lee, the choir’s composer, said the children enjoyed the atmosphere in the chapel, as well as the acoustics. He said last year’s experience played heavily into the decision to make their extra stop this year.
“It was very good for the children,” Lee said.
The children, he said, love to be appreciated above anything else.
“The most exciting part for them is not (seeing) a beautiful sight or visit some place they can play, but to have a reaction (from) the audience.”
Unlike last year’s stop, the choir members had to stay overnight, before leaving for the Washington, D.C. area today.
Lynchburg College Choral Union President Bob Beilfus said members of the union offered their homes for the choir members to stay overnight.
Beilfus said he and his wife welcomed three of the boys in the choir.
“They would be about the same age as our grandchildren,” he said.
“My wife just finished baking cookies so that after the performance we can have cookies and milk.”
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