Glee Handbell Choir from Japan to perform at Christ Chapel

The Glee Handbell Choir from Meiji Gakuin Higashimurayama High School in Tokyo, Japan, will offer a free concert in Orange City on Thursday, July 27. The event will take place at 7 p.m. in Christ Chapel at Northwestern College.

The Glee Handbell Choir was established in 1980 under the direction of Katsumi Kodama. The choir has toured since 1981, including a biennial tour that brought them to Orange City in the summers of 2003 and 2005. The group is directed by Kazuyoshi Inagaki and Takanobu Onoda.

The ensemble tours as a part of the school's exchange program. This is the 46th year of the exchange program, established by Reformed Church in America missionary Ron Korver, a 1943 and 1946 graduate of Northwestern, and continued by 1980 Northwestern College alumnus Norimichi Odate. Graduating seniors from the Tokyo high school have visited Northwestern for a three-week winter English program since 2012. 

The bell choir’s 90-minute program includes “Carmen” by Bizet, “Les Misérables Medley” by Schönberg, “The Entertainer” by Joplin, and “Rhapsody in Blue” by Gershwin.

This concert is sponsored by the Northwestern College Office of Intercultural Development and Orange City Arts. All are welcome to the free concert. There will be an opportunity to contribute donations in support of the bell choir.