Junior high schools across Japan continue to hold choral competitions each autumn, even as other school events have been scaled back or reviewed since the COVID-19 pandemic, Yahoo!ニュース reported.
The competitions are not mandated by curriculum guidelines but are conducted voluntarily by schools as special activities, according to Takao Matsui, a professor in the Department of Music at SeiToku University and composer of the choral piece My Ballad. Matsui told Yahoo!ニュース that teachers want students to have an experience unique to school during their final three years of compulsory education.
Practice approaches have shifted in recent years. Music classes now balance singing, instrumental music, composition and appreciation rather than focusing heavily on chorus, Yahoo!ニュース reported. Many schools use mornings, break times and after school for practice. Students also use individual tablet devices to practice their parts with earphones or gather in part-specific groups around shared tablets.
Teacher work-style reforms have led some schools to shorten event durations, Yahoo!ニュース reported. Where classes previously sang two songs, some programs have been reduced to one song per class or grade-wide choruses.
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