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8th Annual Concert Tributes Ms. Taylor Anderson  

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The 8th annual Circle Wind Concert Tributes Ms. Taylor Anderson Who Lost Her Life at Great East Japan Earthquake/Tsunami in Japan.

This concert will be held on Friday, September 11th, 2015 at the Ethical Culture Center Concert Hall at 2 West 64th Street, New York City. Doors open at 6:30 pm and the concert begins at 7:00 pm.

It will give tribute to Ms. Taylor Anderson, an American victim of the Great East Japan Earthquake/Tsunami. on March 11, 2011. Ms. Anderson was dispatached to Ishinomaki, Japan under the Japan Exchange & Teaching (JET) Program in 2008 and was teaching English to children at the preliminary, elementary and junior high school level there. She had told her friends that she hoped to be a bridge between Japan and the U.S.A. Taylor was washed away by the tsunami on the way back home after helping her students evacuate to safer places.

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Taylor Anderson on top of Mt. Hiyori, Ishinomaki (by courtesy of Mr. Andy Anderson)

A newly formed choir after the disaster, "Never Give-up Taylor's Choir" from Ishinomaki will be invited to New York and perform an original musical "100 Ways of Saying Thank You"at the concert with great appreciation to American people for their support to recover from the devastation in 2011. The choir consists of about 40 Ishinomaki residents, including several students who used to be taught English by Taylor. During the concert, one of the ex-students will read a letter expressing her sincere appreciation to Taylor's hard work and great efforts for the improvement of their English conversation.

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Never Give-up Taylor's Choir Performing at Ginza, Tokyo, 2012


Producer and playwright for the Ishinomaki Choir, Tateo Teramoto

Also, invited to the concert will be the descendants of a samurai delegation (Keicho Embassy), so-called "Japon-san" in Coria del Rio, Spain. The embassy was dispatched in 1613 by Date Masamune, a powerfull feudal lord of northeastern Japan and built the city of Sendai in 1600. The ship of the delegation left a port of Ishinomaki in October, 1613 and arrived at Coria del Rio in October the following year.
After the big earthquake and tsunami, several Japon-sans read many "haiku (Japanese traditional poem known to be the world shortest poem" praying for the recovery of their home town in Japan. Those haiku were presented to the Mayor of Ishinomaki when a group of Japon-san were invited to Ishinomaki in 2013 under the sponsorship of this NPO: 9.11 Circle Wind Memorial Concert. Lately Japon-sans read some haiku dedicating to Ms. Anderson and some of them will be recited during the concert.

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Japon sans in front of Date Masamune statue in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan (in 2013)

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Japon sans in front of Hasekura Tsunenaga statue in Coria del Rio, Sevilla, Spain (in August, 2015)

In the meantime, Mr. Kazusada Sumiyama, a father of one of the 9.11 victims wrote a new choral song "Orizuru no Tabi (A Journey of Folded Paper Crane) for the upcoming concert. The song will be played by Japan Choral Harmony "TOMO" as a world premiere at the concert. As usual, Mr. & Mrs. Sumiyama will attend the concert along with other US and Japanese families of 9.11 victims.

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Japan Choral Harmony "TOMO" sing at Fukushima Music Hall during Mothers Chorus Festival (in October, 2014)

Maestro Gregory Singer and his Manhattan Symphonie Orchestra will be back also and perform some tribute songs for Taylor together with Koto soloist Masayo Ishigure and other prominent artists. Japan Choral Harmony "TOMO" will host the concert again this year as they did for the last 3 years.

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Manhattan Symphonie Orchestra with Japan Choral Harmony (September, 2014)


Maestro Gregory Singer

Concert ticket is available at : http://jch-tomo.org/tickets
Inquiry: Mike Shirota : [e-mail] 201-264-5825
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