U.S. chorus travels to North Korea

ATLANTA - A musical group from the Atlanta area is traveling to North Korea for a series of performances during the country’s April Spring Friendship Arts Festival.

Members of the 150-member Sons of Jubal chorus and orchestra will perform at the festival, which started Wednesday and runs through next Thursday. Global Resource Services, an Atlanta-based humanitarian group, is coordinating the cultural exchange.

“The theme of the festival is friendship, and with the conflict between our countries, we always think of any way we can try to build goodwill people-to-people that’s private, not government, is a good thing to do,’’ said Robert Springs, president of the group.

The festival attracts between 600 and 800 performers a year from up to 60 countries.

This marks the fourth time Springs’ organization has sent musical performers to North Korea.

The nonprofit is also working to bring the North Korea National Symphony Orchestra to the U.S. this summer for an 18-day visit that would start in Atlanta and end in New York.

AP