Making Music, Making Peace; Harmony For Peace Concert

CURATED BY HARMONY FOR PEACE FOUNDATION

Tokyo Weekender reporter Sarah Custen attended our International Peace Concert in Tokyo Japan and talked to our special artists this past April. In a world where everyone is bombarded with messages, promotions and agendas, she says it takes experiencing our concert to to truly be moved and inspired, understanding a message for peace through music. 

FROM TOKYO WEEKENDER

This is Harmony’s second Japan-based concert in 2015, and is the latest in a series of international and internationally-minded concerts that began with the organization’s founding in 2009.

Harmony for Peace’s founder and executive director, Tomoko Torii, has been actively promoting intercultural exchange since her late teens, with a focus on the inclusion and well-being of children. In response to the general decline of musical education U.S. schools, Torii sought to emphasize “the richness of multicultural understanding” through music, founding her first NPO (Intermusica) in 1999, followed by Harmony for Peace, a decade later. “I felt a desire to build an international platform for musicians and artists,” she said, “to use their talents to inspire change within a world full of social, religious and political turmoil and conflict.”

Continue Reading on Tokyo Weekender ... 

A Back Stage Look at our Japan Concert Rehearsal

Hours before the concert, a mix of nerves and great excitement fill the concert hall. With performers ranging from professionals, young adults and children, our levels of musicality differ as well. Nevertheless, their parts in a united voice for peace are equally strong. 

New Information on our upcoming concert in Hiroshima

Here are a few photos as our talented group prepare for this special night. 

We invited two high school choirs to join us at the concert - our first, Sotoku High School of Hiroshima's Glee Club

Our special thanks go to our music directors, without them this concert would not have been possible. Here, conductor Shinpei Ito leads the Glee Club

The choir from Asaka Reimei High School in Fukushima is known to be one of the finest in the country. 

Leo Konno leads the Koto ensemble, using a jushichi-gen, or 17 string bass koto, while the rest of the ensemble accompany him with standard 13 string instruments.

Yokohama International School's Koto Ensemble performed a piece called "Ablaze," composed by Tadao Sawaii, who wrote it for his wife Kazue, expressing his excitement and anticipation for their future.

Our orchestra is always a great symbol for our mission; many different instruments harmonizing together beautifully.

There were so many parts to this piece by the Suginami Amanuma Elementary School's Japanese Traditional Drum Ensemble. The ensemble learns to play in three styles; Mikoshi (represents the portable shrine), Yose-Taiko (welcomes the audience, and Genki-Uchi (lively and energetic chiildren). 

Conductor Reona Ito has worked with us before at our International Peace Day Concert in Philadelphia. His leadership and superior musicality has always been blessing to us! Here he directs our youth orchestra for the finale piece.

Three of our feature performers; cellist Ohad Bar-David, Japanese drummer Masahiro Uemura and Conductor Reona Ito, practice together one final time before the show. 

We have to commend our music directors for their dedication and patience working with their students for our concert! Here Tokyo International School Choir and Director Miguel Arambulo practice their songs on stage.

All our performers join together to rehearse the finale piece - it's been a long day and the concert hasn't even begun!

After all the hard work of the rehearsal, our talented young artists performed brilliantly that night for a splendid concert. This evening was more than just an opportunity to perform on a premier stage - it was a great learning experience for these students. Joining together in our finale piece, artists of all ages and backgrounds lent their voices and talent to our message for peace worldwide. We hope that each performer felt the power of this piece and can begin to understand that music, as a universal language, can act as a starting point for change.

Photo Credits: 

Welcome to Our New Blog!

Welcome to our new Harmony For Peace Blog and our first post! 

Here we will show you the inner workings of our foundation, including artist interviews, backstage looks at our concerts, events and projects, and interesting information on the cause we work for each day - peace and understanding in the world through music and the arts.

Enjoy this new blog, and we look forward to your comments and conversations!
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Join us in our mission - using music and the arts to cultural peace and understanding!