Japan Tour 2026: Wings of Song
UC Alumni Chorus is taking a “choral flight to Japan” in January 2026! In its 40-year history, UC Alumni Chorus has regularly traveled around the world. The “Wings of Song” tour is our first venture to Japan, and our first tour under the baton of present Music Director Dr. Paul Flight. In collaboration with emeritus director Dr. Mark Sumner and members of his Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco church choir, we will cross the Pacific with a selection of works of contemporary American and Japanese choral composers to share with other singers and audiences in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. The tour choir will perform at the “Sing for Joy: Kobe” Interkultur choral festival, and join local choirs for concerts in Shinjuku (Tokyo) and Kanagawa, as well as students at Kyoto Women’s University for a performance in a newly built hall on the university’s campus.
Our singers and traveling friends also look forward to visiting points of cultural interest such as Osaka Castle, Fushimi-inari Taisha shrine in Kyoto, and the trendy Ginza shopping district in Tokyo, riding the shinkansen (high-speed “bullet” train), and spending a night in a traditional ryokan guest house in Hakone. A part of the group will also travel to the Philippines, extending the tour with a visit to UUSF’s “sister” church there. We’re delighted to be sharing the international language of music in a new part of the world.
You can enjoy the same music here at home in our pre-tour Fall concert, November 9th at 4pm, at First Presbyterian Church in Berkeley (tickets here).
Performance dates during the tour in Japan include January 9th, 10th, and 13th, see the posters below for more details.
