Sunflower Chorus Memorial Concert Part 10: With limitless love, gratitude and prayers to the Hokuryu Town Sunflower Chorus, who continue to sing with the voices of precious souls and cherish the preciousness of life

Monday, December 3, 2024

On Saturday, November 30th at 2pm, the "Sunflower Chorus Memorial Concert Part 10" was held in the Kitaryū Town Community Center Large Hall.

As an audience of approximately 100 people gathered, a wonderful harmony reverberated throughout the venue, creating a great wave of emotion.

For the 10th anniversary concert, we welcomed special guest "Yuichi Iwasaki & Iwasaki Juku Ukulele Club", who delivered a wonderful, soothing performance with their fun and bright tones.

Himawari Chorus Memorial Concert Part 10

Sunflower Chorus - Women's Choir

The Sunflower Chorus (led by Mitsuko Fujii) is a female choir with 22 members from inside and outside Kitaryū town.

The choir was formed in 1989 (Heisei 1), and this year marks its 35th anniversary. The regular concerts, which began in 2011 (Heisei 23), will be held for the 10th time this year.

The concert was named the "Memorial Concert" with the intention of never forgetting the importance of life that was lost in the Great East Japan Earthquake (Tohoku Pacific Ocean Earthquake) that occurred in 2011 and engraving it in our hearts.

Conductor and tenor: Tetsuyoshi Yamamoto

A resident of Chishibetsu, he graduated from Hokkaido University of Education Sapporo. He is the head priest of Jorakuji Temple in Chishibetsu and also works as a lecturer for educational institutions and lifelong learning organizations in Hokkaido. He has been in charge of directing the Himawari Chorus since 2006.

Piano: Tomoyo Kano

A resident of Fukagawa City, she graduated from the Hokkaido University of Education Sapporo Campus, Department of Music and Arts. In addition to performing mainly in Fukagawa City, she also serves as the wedding organist at St. Margaret Church in Irumu-no-Oka, Fukagawa City, and Bloomington Hill Church in Asahikawa City. Since 2014, she has been active as a pianist for the Himawari Chorus.

Performing with the Iwasaki Juku Ukulele Club

Yuichi Iwasaki has lived in Fukagawa since 1997. He was a classmate of Tetsuyoshi Yamamoto when they attended Fukagawa Nishi High School in Hokkaido.

Live Bar "Melting Pot" (FacebookWhile running his own company, he is also active in writing lyrics and composing music, and hosting charity concerts.

After moving to Tokyo in 1974, he studied under Pancho Kagami of Pinky & the Killers. After joining Junko Yagami's backing band, he made his debut as a singer-songwriter.

In 1981 (Showa 56), he won the Best Vocal Award at the Victor Original Song Contest, and in 2014 (Heisei 26), an album for which he provided songs won the Planning Award at the Japan Record Awards.

Around 2017, he became fascinated with the ukuleles made by Iwasaki's uncle and began playing them, and now he runs a workshop for beginners called the "Iwasaki Juku Ukulele Club."

Yuichi Iwasaki. 69 years old, born in 1955. He was born in Kenbuchi-cho and grew up in Fukagawa City, his mother's hometown.

Mayor Sasaki Yasuhiro and Iwasaki were senior and junior at Fukagawa Nishi High School. When Mayor Sasaki was a student at Nihon University, he would treat Iwasaki to meals whenever he came to Tokyo. They were such good friends and caring people.

"My uncle, who was a teacher in Hanno City, Saitama Prefecture, made classical guitars and started making ukuleles 15 years ago. During that time, we kept in contact and he encouraged me to play the ukulele.

When I was in elementary school, the ukulele was popular and my mother used to play it. It was the era of the Hawaiian singer Setuo Ohashi, who sang songs such as "Tangoku no Yoru" and "Shiawase wa Koko ni."

I've been playing the guitar since elementary school as if it were my life's work. I started playing the ukulele about 10 years ago, and began my activities to spread the joy of the ukulele to many people. I started teaching guitar and ukulele about 7-8 years ago.

Having spent a long career in music, I have made it my life's work to share my experiences with local people.

We currently have about 10 members. We hold lessons about twice a month, such as singing and playing folk songs, and solo ukulele. We mainly teach beginners. "I want to convey the joy of live performance and increase the number of people playing the ukulele," says Iwasaki Yuichi with a kind smile.

Ms. Ikuko Sugimoto, who served as MC (Master of Ceremony)

A smiling welcome at the reception

Audience.

Part 1: ~A Year in the Himawari Chorus~

• From "Song to You" for female chorus and piano:
  Lyrics by Hiroshi Kurihara, Composition by Fumito Oto, Arrangement by Naomasa Takahashi
  　
• MC Ikuko Sugimoto:
  "Hello everyone! Thank you very much for coming to our memorial concert today, despite the bad weather.

  This time, in addition to our songs, there will also be ukulele accompaniment, so I think you will enjoy it even more than usual.

  The conductor is Mr. Tetsuki Yamamoto. For some little information, his favorite food is curry rice, and his favorite composer is Beethoven.

  And the pianist is Tomoyo Kano. Her favorite food is chocolate, and her favorite piano piece is Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major.

  The acoustics areFukagawa Concert Forum" It is no exaggeration to say that without these two people, our concert would not be possible. Thank you for your support today."
  　

• cherry blossom
• Star Dream
• A song for you
  　
• The chorus backdrop features a graceful image of "Sakura" projected on the stage screen.

• MC:The next songs are "Sekirei" and "Hosenka" by Miyuki Nakajima, which are also popular as choral songs. We will sing these two songs in succession.
  　
• WagtailLyrics and composition: Miyuki Nakajima
• PhysicianLyrics and composition: Miyuki Nakajima
  　
• The stage screen, "A Grassland Scene Dyed by the Setting Sun," evokes melancholy.

Part 2: ~With the Iwasaki Juku Ukulele Club~

• MC:The second part will be performed by the Iwasaki Juku Ukulele Club, the representative Yuichi Iwasaki, Mr. Yamamoto, and the Himawari Chorus. We encourage the audience to join in by moving their bodies and singing along.

Yuichi Iwasaki

"We are the Iwasaki Juku Ukulele Club, from Fukagawa. We are 7th and 8th graders, and recently 3rd graders have been joining us. We started practicing the ukulele in order to spread the word about the instrument.

The only ukulele that everyone knows is Shinji Maki's "Aa Yannatchatta". My mother played the ukulele when I was little (1950s and 60s). Do you know the ukulele by Setuo Ohashi? You probably don't.

"Today, in addition to Hawaiian songs, I will play two other songs, "Autumn Leaves" and "You Are My Sunshine. I would like everyone to hear that the ukulele can also handle jazz standards, chansons, American pop, and more," says Iwasaki.

• Dead leaves(Stage screen: Autumn leaf image)
• You Are My Sunshine(Stage Screen: Heart Cloud Art Collection)

Mr. Tetsuyoshi Yamamoto appeared and had a lively conversation with Mr. Yuichi Iwasaki.

• Tetsuyoshi Yamamoto:
  "I met Iwasaki-san for the first time in decades at a Fukagawa Nishi High School reunion, and we talked about doing something together, which is how this collaboration came about.

  I teach chorus and he teaches ukulele. We hit it off because we both wanted to create a world that was familiar to the citizens and townspeople.

  I started playing music in the summer of my third year of high school. He was playing the latest electric organ beautifully in the dining room of the old civic hall. I was very impressed by the way he played by moving his feet and hands separately.

  His playing inspired me to start my path in music. I've taken many detours, including failures and years of studying abroad, but I've come to where I am today.

  This time, we thought about performing "Manatsu no Kajitsu" together. Then, we talked about how Showa era songs are great, so we decided to add two more songs."
  　

• Yuichi Iwasaki:
  "Please relax and listen to two songs that fathers from the Showa era knew: 'Glass Johnny' and 'Feeling.'"

• Glass Johnny(Stage screen: record player)
• Feeling(Stage screen: record player)
• Midsummer Fruit(Stage screen: Beach image)

Sunflower Chorus Admission

• MC:I would like to perform together with the ukulele club and the Himawari Chorus. We will sing "Ue o Muite Arukou" and "Bara ga Saita."
  　
• Look Up and Walk:Ukulele Club & Himawari Chorus (Stage screen: Starry sky image)
• The roses bloomed:The audience got excited as they sang along while looking at the lyrics that were distributed beforehand (Stage screen: Image of a red rose)

Bouquet presentation: Yuichi Iwasaki

• MC:It was our first time performing together with other ukulele players and it was a lot of fun.
  I practiced a few times, and today I was in top form (laughs).
  I learn a lot from Mr. Iwasaki's wonderful conversation (laughs).
  A bouquet was presented to Iwasaki Juku representative Yuichi Iwasaki by Ayumi Fukase, vice-director of the Himawari Chorus. Thank you very much for today!

Part 3: ~With gratitude from the Himawari Chorus~

• Suzhou Nocturne (opera by Suzhou Nocturne)Lyrics by Yaso Saijo, composed by Ryoichi Hattori, arranged by Koichi Yamamuro
  (Stage screen: Waterfront cityscape image)
• cherry blossom: Lyrics by Hakuhi Miki, music by Takako Okuma
  (Stage screen: Sakura images and videos)

• MC:Next, we will send you a song by Professor Yamamoto. It is a Mexican song called "Intima" which translates to "Beloved" in Japanese and will be sung in Spanish.
  　
• Professor Yamamoto:This song is from Mexico. I will be singing it in Spanish because 90% of Mexicans speak Spanish. The translated lyrics will be displayed on the screen, so I hope you will listen to the song while looking at them.
  　
• IntimacyTata Nacho Lyrics and composition: Tenor solo by Tetsuyoshi Yamamoto
  (Stage screen: Image of rose with Japanese translation)

• MC:The concert is nearing its end. The next two songs have very powerful messages.

  It is said that the lyricist of "Song of the Green Leaves" wrote the poem with his thoughts on world peace as he looked at the green leaves sparkling in the sunlight.

  And when we surveyed the members about the song they would like to sing, "Song of Life" came in first.

  This song is very important to us. This song was sung by twins Mana and Kana in the morning drama "Dandan" on NHK 16 years ago. The lyrics were written by Mariya Takeuchi. "Dandan" means "thank you" in the Shimane dialect.

  Please listen to the two songs "Song of Green Leaves" and "Song of Life" in succession.

• Song of Green LeavesLyrics by Kaori Komori and music by Kenichi Kumagai
  (Stage screen: Wakaba image)
• Song of Life：Miyabi Lyrics: Takatsugu Muramatsu Music: Junko Yokoyama Arrangement
  (Stage screen: Sunflower illustration image)

Bouquet presentation: Professor Tetsuyoshi Yamamoto & Tomoyo Kano

Greetings from Deputy Leader Kazuko Teragaki

"Thank you very much for coming to our concert today despite your busy schedules and the poor weather.

The regular concerts, which began in 2011 (Heisei 23), will be celebrating their 10th anniversary this year.

I remember the Tohoku earthquake in 2011, and learning about the value of life from those affected by the disaster, and singing with all my heart, feeling grateful to be able to live peaceful everyday lives.

Although the concert has since become an annual event, we still call each one a Memorial Concert because we want to never forget the feelings we had at that time, cherish them, and keep them in our hearts each and every year.

For the people who are looking forward to our performance, we will continue to sing to the best of our ability at these concerts. We hope for your continued support of the Himawari Chorus.

Just one announcement. As stated on the back of the program, we are currently recruiting new members. We practice every Thursday night from 7pm in this large hall. We will be taking a break in December and January, but will resume activities from February. We hope you will come and see our practice and experience the joy of choral harmony. All of our members look forward to seeing you.

Finally, as we received calls for an encore, we will play one more song, "Country Road," an important song that we have been singing for a long time, with our guests today in a special version. Please sing along with us. Thank you very much for today," said Kazuko Teragaki, vice-director of the band.

Encore: Country Roads
Joint chorus with the Ukulele Club and the Himawari Chorus

The venue was filled with emotion as the beautiful voices and harmonies rang out, and the audience erupted in endless applause and cheers of "Bravo!!!"

• MC:Thank you so much for joining us today.
  Please be careful on your way back and make sure you do not leave anything behind.
  I wish you all good health and happiness, and as I bid you farewell, thank you very much for today.
  After this, the members of the Himawari Chorus will see you off. Please take your time and enjoy your journey home.

Seeing everyone off

With boundless love, gratitude and prayers to the wonderful women's choir "Himawari Chorus," which has continued to sing with precious souls and cherish the preciousness of life for over 35 years since its formation...

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◇ Reporting and writing by Ikuko Terauchi (Photography and editorial assistance by Noboru Terauchi)