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spiritual reflections on art

Asuca Hayashi 林明日香 — Song of the Earth, Tokyo (May 5, 2024)

October 31, 2024 | , ,

On a sunny 5th of May — Children’s Day in Japan — I made my way to what seemed like an unlikely venue, Mifa Football Cafe, for a matinee child/family-friendly concert and luncheon called “Song of the Earth,” organized by the J-Pop singer Asuca Hayashi 林明日香. Mifa is located in Toyosu, one of a series of artificial islands in Tokyo Bay just southeast of the former Tsukuji Fish Market in Tokyo, a strange but fitting location. Both Asuca and the people of Tokyo were charting a new course in pursuit of more healthy, sustainable lives.

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Back to the Garden at Candy Live Jazz in Kyoto (April 17, 2024)Photo © by Christopher Pelham

Back to the Garden at Candy Live Jazz in Kyoto (April 17, 2024)

August 25, 2024 | , ,

On my second night in Kyoto, I went to Candy Live Jazz in Gion to see the trio of Kotono Nishimura 西村琴乃 (alto and soprano sax), Yuka Yanagihara 柳原由佳 (piano), and Ayuko Ikeda 池田安友子(percussion). I was not familiar with any of them, but from the start, I found their...

In Sendai, A MUSE for Everyone (April 13, 2024)

In Sendai, A MUSE for Everyone (April 13, 2024)

August 1, 2024 | , , ,

One of the highlights of my trip to Japan was spending time with my friend the composer Aya Nishina 仁科彩 and her partner, the artist Shimpei Takeda 武田慎平, at MUSE (Music Unites Special Education) in Sendai. At MUSE I had the privilege of sitting in on (and participating...