About ChildAid

■Discovery of Young Talents

Cerebos Pacific Limited's sponsorship made it possible for NPO Little Creators to stage ChildAid Asia 2014 at Suntory Hall. Young talents who believe in NPO Little Creators' cause and those who dream of performing at Suntory Hall, auditioned for the concert. Together with the help of Steinway Japan Co., ChildAid Asia 2014 saw the highest number of applicants registering for the audition. As a result, the concert brought together a group of highly talented musicians. This made it possible for the concert's programming team to feature a performance of musical diversity.

Pianist Ryuhi Arai, 12, was invited to perform at the ChildAid concert in Singapore held on the 6 and 7 December 2013 at Marina Bay Sands. He collaborated and performed Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos with Singaporean pianist, Pung Rae Yue, 10. The duo performed the same piece for ChildAid Asia, Tokyo. In addition, Rei Nakajima, 16, who plays the Shakuhachi and pianist, Asuto Kitamura, 17, have been invited to perform at the next edition of Child Aid Asia @KL on 29 to 31 August at KLPAC in Malaysia for the second time. They will collaborate with Malaysian cellist, Goh Wen Chih, 13.

■International Exchange among Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia & Japan

There were 126 performers involved in ChildAid Asia 2014. Amongst them were 53 Singaporeans, 1 Malaysian and 1 Indonesian. There were many different languages spoken during the rehearsals but mmusic became the language that connected everyone. The children created their own way of communicating; through hand gestures and facial expressions. As all the performers sang the opening and finale song together in English and Japanese, it truly felt like everyone came together as one family.

One of the unique features of ChildAid Asia 2014 was collaborative performance. Prior to rehearsal days, each performer practiced their items individually. It was only a few days before the concert that they met their performing partners and began rehearsing together. It was truly a good experience for the performers to be able to play their pieces together.

One of the traditional musical instruments featured at the concert was the Sasando. It is a traditional Indonesian string instrument. The children were very curious and keen to learn more about this instrument. The partners from the other countries were also interested to learn more about this instrument. In addition, they started to think to include traditional music and instruments in their future concerts.

As part of the performers' itinerary, a Meet & Greet session was held at Shakujii Gakuen, a children's nursing home for Japanese children in Tokyo. The performers and beneficiaries spent the day dancing, singing and playing with Japanese traditional toys. For some of these performers and beneficiaries, it was the second time that they were meeting. This simple event is meaningful for the children and it gives them an opportunity to interact and forge new friendships.

■Participation of Needy Children & Children from Fukushima

There were 14 children from Shakujii Gakuen who participated in the concert. One of them took on the role of one of the three emcees for the concert. The second emcee, who is from Singapore, and one of the performers from CHIJ (Kellock) Choir are also beneficiaries of The Business Times Budding Artists Fund.

Violinist Asami Wada, 15, comes from a financially disadvantaged background. She is studying music and was first featured at the first edition of ChildAid Asia Tokyo in 2011. She was invited to perform at the ChildAid concert in Singapore in 2012. With the support of NPO Little Creators, Asami was sponsored by the International Young Artists Exchange to attend a Music and English school in Singapore last summer.

In addition, 15 children from the Misono Kodomo-no-Ie children's nursing home have been participating in visual arts workshops conducted by NPO Little Creators and interns from Bunkyo Gakuin University. Their art works were displayed on the screen during the concert. Some of these artworks were printed as postcards. These postcards were given to members of the audience who made a donation during the intermission. Some of the audience made the donation to own these pretty postcards. The money donated will be used to purchase art materials for more children to participate in visual arts workshops.

Genting Singapore also made it possible for 24 children from Fukushima, together with eight volunteers, to watch the concert. It was an overnight trip and the children were treated to the sights and sounds of Tokyo.

NPO Little Creators believes that art is a tool for people to express themselves. It also believes that the art should be accessible to those who are socially and financially disadvantaged. NPO Little Creators will continue to support needy children and to provide them with the opportunity to enjoy and appreciate the arts.

■Supporters

It was a record high as more than 1600 people attended the 3rd edition of ChildAid Asia. It was also an honor to have; HIH Princess Akishino, graced the concert. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered a video message for the audience sharing his support for the cause and sending his best wishes for the concert. Parliamentary Secretary of the Cabinet Office and Parliamentary Secretary for Reconstruction, Mr Shinjiro Koizumi also sent a congratulatory cable message. The organizers are grateful for the strong support and believe that has come through for this event.

A member of the audience also made a generous donation for the children from the orphanages to participate in arts workshop. The organisers are also planning to use this donation to bring these children to watch arts performances.

There was also a lady who made the costumes for the Shakujii Gakuen children to wear. For these children, the hand made costumes kept them warm and comfortable during the concert. They even wore it during the Meet & Greet session held the day after the concert.

The organizers would like to also say thank you to the students from Shibaura Institute of Technology, the parents of ChildAid Asia alumnus and everyone who made the concert possible.

On 24 May 2014, there will be a concert held by ChildAid Asia alumnus. Proceeds from this concert will go to NPO Little Creators. NPO Little Creators is grateful for all the heartfelt support and it is indeed heartwarming to see that the children do care for their less privileged peers.