A song for Japan

  • By Sharon Haught
  • January 31, 2012
  • 1597
A song for Japan
A song for Japan
A song for Japan
A song for Japan
                        
For the people of Japan, March 11, 2011 began like any other day. Parents headed to work, children left for school and life went on at its normal pace. But by mid-afternoon the lives of the Japanese people changed in an instant, when a devastating 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit off the eastern coast of Japan and the resulting tsunami swept the coastline. In the hours and days that followed, dozens of powerful aftershocks shook the region and a crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant began to unfold. As the world watched, images of massive destruction flickered across television screens. The losses were catastrophic. More than 20,000 people were dead or missing and hundreds of thousands more were displaced. More than 300,000 buildings were destroyed or significantly damaged as the total damage estimates topped over $300 billion. In the 10 months that followed, governments and individuals around the world offered their technical and financial support to the people of Japan. One group found their own special way to bring comfort, hope and help to the Japanese people. According to Wooster High School band director Dan Adams, as a Japanese trombone player and his colleagues watched the events unfold they began to ask themselves “What can we do? We play trombone?” For the musicians the answer was clear. “Let’s make some music.” The group turned to Belgian trombone player and composer Steven Verhelst, who wrote a moving piece entitled A Song For Japan. While the group’s original idea was to simply perform the piece themselves and post a video of their performance on You Tube the group ultimately decided to invite all-star trombone players from around the world to take part in the project. The results of that effort can be found at www.trombones.jp. “If you go to the web site you’ll see a video that introduces the piece and it has fabulous trombone players from all over the world doing what they can to be a part of this,” said Adams. From that simple act of using the universal language of music to send a message of hope a worldwide movement grew as the group invited musicians of all ages around the world to perform the piece and post their own recordings on YouTube. To date groups large and small – from professional soloists to high school bands to philharmonic orchestras – from Japan, Sweden, Holland, France, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Britain, Spain, Australia and the United States have joined the cause. Adams and colleague Doug Bennett became the latest musicians to use the power of music to make a difference in the lives of those who are still struggling in Japan. “Sometimes when things like that happen it’s in the news all the time and now you don’t see it as much but it’s still a big concern and they still need our help,” said Adams before he and Bennett reprised the piece at the Music Faculty Recital Jan. 26. The group encourages musicians to go to the http://www.trombones.jp website and download the sheet music for A Song For Japan and perform the piece in an effort to bring renewed awareness to the ongoing struggle of the Japanese people to recover from the earthquake and tsunami. Adams also noted that by purchasing A Song For Japan T-shirts from the website anyone can make a difference for the victims of this devastating natural disaster. All profits from the sale of merchandise is being donated to the Japanese Red Cross, according to information on the website. To view Adams and Bennett’s performance, log on to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3oGFIaoNvw or the Wooster High School Music Department website at http://www.whsmusic.nvi.net. To learn more about the A Song For Japan movement, visit http://www.trombones.jp.


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