Japanese, Danes Coming Here For Visits

Musical Youth Auditions Scheduled
Teachers from Japan and civil defense officials from Denmark are coming to Ann Arbor for visits. Two teachers from Michigan's sister-state in Japan, Shiga Prefecture, will live in the home of Dr. and Mrs. John Kemph, 521 Hillspur, from Sept. 4-12. Toshihide Narita and Fumihiro Wada both teach English. They have spent the summer attending classes at the English Language Institute, Michigan State University. In Ann Arbor, they will visit Hikone St., recently named in honor of Ann Arbor's sister-city by the City Council. Most of their time will be spent at Forsythe Junior High School, where Principal William Rude has invited them to speak to classes. Forsythe was the first Ann Arbor school to start an affiliation with a school in Shiga Prefecture. Narita and Wada will visit other schools while in Ann Arbor before returning to Shiga Prefecture. Thirty-three defense officials from Denmark, now in Washington, D.C., at the Office of Civil Defense headquarters, will live in homes in this area Aug. 23 to 29. They include a fire chief who is the president of the Association of Fire Chiefs in Denmark, engineers, and government officials. On Aug. 26, they will visit the OCD facilities in Battle Creek. On Aug. 27 they will tour the civil defense facilities in the basement of the Ann Arbor City Hall, the civil defense training facilities on North Campus, and the Fire and Police Departments. The tour in the USA was arranged by People to People - Scandinavia. Local people interested in meeting them can contact Carl Zwinck, 665-6297, who is making Michigan arrangements on behalf of Musical Youth International. The Danes all speak English, and are in charge of civil defense in all parts of Denmark. Previously Ann Arbor has hosted naval architecture students and others from Denmark, but this is the first civil defense visit here. Meanwhile, Mrs. Lester McCoy, executive director of Musical Youth International, is now touring in Canada, to arrange for exchange concerts and for Canadian boys and girls to perform with the 1971 MYI band and choir in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Germany, and The Netherlands. Edward J. Downing of the Huron High School music department, has been invited to be the MYI band conductor in 1971, for his third year with MYI. He led the 1967 and 1970 tours in Europe. For the seventh year, Ray Voorhees will conduct the MYI choir. He was the assistant conductor until the death in May 1969 of MYI founder Lester McCoy. Dr. McCoy brought the best high school conductors in Michigan and nearby states to MYI for summer tours. Voorhees heads the Fenton Schools Music Department. Rehearsals will be on Saturdays in Saline High School. Auditions are held in the McCoy home, a historic house near Saline. Appointments for auditions may be made by calling Mrs. McCoy, 429-9734, Miss Mary Ellen Lewis, 662-2661, or Zwinck, 665-6297.