BYU was invited to send a group to represent the United States at the 1970 World Fair in Osaka, Japan.
[1][2] Assisted by Harry Schultz, Thompson had created a performing group in 1969 called the Brigham Young Ambassadors.
[7][8] Live and televised appearances in major concert halls and impromptu performances in hospitals, orphanages, town squares and government palaces reach millions of people each year.
[11] In a 1991 speech at BYU, Dallin H. Oaks discussed how the Young Ambassadors overcame the challenges of trying to perform in China in 1978.
[13] Along with Oaks, French scholar Pierre Vendassi agreed that the performances of the Young Ambassadors in Beijing and other Chinese cities helped establish a relationship between China and the LDS Church.