THE Young People’s Chorus of New York City took first place this week in an international choir festival held in Canada.

Under the direction of Francisco J. Nunez, the group – based at the 92nd Street Y and featured recently in The Post’s Kids pages – beat out choirs from Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, New Zealand and Turkey to finish No. 1 in the Children’s Division at the 2002 International Kathaumixw Choral Festival.

Nunez founded the group in 1988 to unite kids of varying ethnic and economic backgrounds. Since then, the Young People’s Chorus has performed in places as far-flung as Carnegie Hall and Smetana Hall in Czechoslovakia.