The Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Mixed Chorus Wins Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Award (Best in Company Division) and 26th Consecutive Gold Award in Japan Choral Competition

Nov.26, 2012

Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation

The Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Mixed Chorus Wins Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Award (Best in Company Division) and 26th Consecutive Gold Award in Japan Choral Competition

The Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Mixed Chorus (NSSMMC、Representative: Shuichiro Kozuka, Executive Vice President) won the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Award and the Gold Award in the 65th Japan Choral Association (JCA) National Choral Competition (Company Division). The competition was held in the Toyama-city Aubade Hall on November 25, 2012.

The NSSMMC has won 30 Gold Awards in total and achieved a new record of receiving its 26th consecutive Gold Award from 1987 to 2012. It also received its 20th Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Award, which is given to the best chorus in the Company Division. It was also qualified for the finals of the 66th JCA National Choral Competition to be held in the Chiba Prefectural Culture Hall in November 2013.

The NSSMMC was renamed due to the integration of Nippon Steel Corporation and Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. on October 1, 2012. On this occasion, the chorus released a CD album, celebrating its achievement of receiving 25 consecutive Gold Awards from 1987 to 2011, which is unprecedented except in the High　School　Division.




1. Performance
Compulsory piece: “Sing Lullaby”
(Words by Frederic Harvey and music by Herbert Howells)
Both Harvey (1888-1957) and Howells (1892-1983) were born in Great Britain. This simple yet beautiful English piece has the main melody of “to Jesus, born in an oxen-stall,” “to Jesus, born now in Bethlehem,” and “to Jesus, the Saviour of all,” which is passed from male voices to female voices, while the sweet delicate phrase of “Sing lullaby” is refrained in the background.

Self-chosen piece: “Concerto for Mixed Chorus, the Second Movement”
(Words by Grigor Narekatsi and music by Alfred Garyevich Schnittke)
The Armenian monk and poet Grigor Narekatsi (951-1003) wrote this poetry in his late life, with quotes from 'The Book of Lamentations,' which praises devout faith. 
Composer Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) is from the Saratov Province of Russia. His “Concerto for Mixed Chorus” is a choral masterpiece in four movements and requires dramatic vigor in singing.

The NSSMMC found it challenging to differentiate the singing of these two religious pieces: the compulsory piece had a delicate tone while the self-chosen piece required rich voices with great volume. Singing in Russian for the self-chosen piece was more difficult than singing the English words of the compulsory piece. However, in the competition the chorus members were pleased with their performances of the two pieces in which their rich, great harmony was heard throughout the concert hall.

2. Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Mixed Chorus
In 1947, the mixed chorus club at Sumitomo Metals’ Osaka　Steelworks merged with the Sen'yu-kai chorus club at the company’s Steel Tube Works（Amagasaki） to form the Fuso Metal Mixed Chorus. It was then renamed the Sumitomo Metals Mixed Chorus in 1952 and celebrated its 65th anniversary in 2012. In October 2012, it was once again renamed the Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Mixed Chorus, following the integration of Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metals.
 
In addition to participating in competitions, the Chorus holds periodical concerts in Osaka once every four years or so, gives concerts at various locations of NSSMC’s operations, and is invited to play at local concerts such as in Okino-shima islands in Shimane prefecture and Koriyama-city in Fukushima prefecture.
In July 2012, the Chorus held a concert in Kitakyushu-city, where NSSMC has the Yawata Steelworks and the Kokura Steelworks. On May 7, 2013, the Chorus plans to hold its next concert at Kioi Hall, which was constructed in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the founding of Nippon Steel Corporation in 1995.

3. Notice Release of the Golden Quarter Century CD, commemorating 25 consecutive Gold Awards won in the JCA National Choral Competition On the occasion of being renamed the NSSMMC, the Chorus released a CD covering a period of a quarter of a century that commemorates the new record of winning 25 consecutive Gold Awards in the JCA National Choral Competition, except in the High　school　Division. The CD album of two discs contains 26 pieces which were selected from 19 performances in which the Chorus won the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Award (best in the Company Division), including the performance in 1993, which won the Grand Award (best in all categories).