12/11/2015

Hiroshima: QU4RTETS, Organ, and Tap Dance

I was honored to be invited to join in the Qua4tets exhibit at Hiroshima City University on November 12, 2015.


How do we respond to man-made tragedy in this world? The exhibit sought answers from T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets (World War 2), atomic bombing of Hiroshima (Ground Zero), and 9.11. The program consisted of a music performance of Christopher Theofanidis' "At the still point..." by members of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, a talk by Jeremy Begbie, and a panel discussion with Mako Fujimura & Bruce Herman. At the end, I collaborated on the organ with tap dancer Andrew Nemr.


Wisps of blue stream across the darkness. Borders of gold hint at hope, expectation of what is to come. "Quartet II" (2012) by Makoto Fujimura.


Art students from the university played a huge role in arranging the evening.


A moving visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum afterward. The contents of this lunch box were charred to a crisp in the backpack of a child.


The famous A-Bomb Dome left as a memorial from the blast.