Ref. 14886A GROUP of singers from a Bradford on Avon school are getting a taste of the Far East with a trip to Japan to perform a series of concerts.
Four members of staff joined 26 pupils from years 10 to 13 as the coach rolled out from St Laurence School bound for the airport on Tuesday for the eight-day trip.
The oriental exchange will see the St Laurence Singers perform a at Ishibasi Bunker Kaikan Hall and join forces with the choir from Kurume Shinai High School for a concert in school assembly.
Pupils from the city of Kurume, north east of Nagasaki, are then scheduled to arrive for a week's visit to St Laurence on March 27.
They will join the St Laurence Singers at the Wiltshire Music Centre for a concert called East Meets West II on March 31.
John O'Brien, St Laurence community theatre director, said: "They will get a few days of sight seeing while they are there but it is a tough schedule .
"There will be several days of rehearsing when they get there with the Japanese students ready for a joint concert."
The pupils themselves had to contribute to the trip, raising funds to organise group events.
Schoolmates Becky Tyler, 15, and Kate Matthews, 16, put their own band together and played three gigs at The Swan Hotel raising more than £500 in sponsorship for the exchange.
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