A choral competition

I often take part in my nephew and nieces events with my sister. The other day I went to a choral competition at my nephew’s high school. My sister said that it was unusual that they sang a cappella, so I wanted to go. 
Before the competition, the principal made a speech that the high school had a 50 year tradition of singing a cappella and some people chose that high school because of the a cappella competition. Really? I became more and more keen to listen to them. 
First, the first-year classes sang. They had only started at the school two months earlier, but they were not so bad, considering. After the first-year classes, the second-year and third-year classes sang. Wow! They sang pretty well. All of them were in good voice and in perfect tune. Excellent! 
Speaking of choral music, I like the American TV show, “Glee”; a musical-comedy-drama. As I listened to the competition, I deeply felt the difference between American and Japanese school culture. Freedom vs. discipline. In American schools, they sing and dance, and they sing all genres of music. In Japanese schools, they stand side-by-side in three rows, and sing songs as a chorus. I was surprised that my nephew said that when a class sang in the competition with steps, it was prohibited from the following year. Unbelievable! I hate such a Japanese thing like this.