Program Notes: In Shadows, EO9066 Community Concert

DON RAYE & HUGH PRINCE
/arr. Tim Olt

GLENN MILLER
/arr. Keith Terrett

IRVING KAHAL & SAMMY FAIN
/arr. Douglas R. Morrison

PAUL KIKUCHI
/arr. Keith Terrett

In Shadows

• Invocation

• In Shadows

• Ambience / Lullaby

• Still This Ringing

Mako Willett voice & sanshin
Stan Shikuma taiko
Paul Kikuchi percussion
Eduardo Rios violin
Emerson Millar violin
Olivia Chew viola
Meeka Quan DiLorenzo cello
Will Langlie-Miletich bass

This performance is a reflection on the 80th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 and the multi-generational impact of the Japanese American incarceration during World War II. The program features the world premiere of community composition In Shadows, the culmination of a creative collaboration between composer Paul Kikuchi and the Omoide (memories) Project. The latter is a collective at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington in Seattle whose mission is to preserve and share stories about the Japanese-American experience.

Kikuchi worked with Omoide Project team members to reflect on the 80th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 — an order signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942 that stripped Japanese Americans of their civil rights and paved the way to the mass incarceration of over 110,000 people of Japanese descent, two thirds of them American citizens.

During Omoide Project meetings, where participants shared and workshopped their writings, and in generative brainstorming sessions with the composer, the team considered the multi-generational impact of the incarceration experience, discussed the meaning of citizenship, patriotism, resistance, and how generational trauma can be uncovered and healed. Group members also shared their memories of the soundscape of the camps (real or imagined), which Kikuchi translated into the musical composition.

Kikuchi states: “In Shadows is a five-movement work, each exploring a different topical area that came up in our collaborative community dialogues or that I drew from the stories that the Omoide writers shared. The first movement, Invocation, is an opening of the space; an invitation to our ancestors to share the space with us and an acknowledgement of their struggle and resilience.

“The second movement, In Shadows, is a series of questions: What is a citizen? What is a patriot? What is a resister? What is a friend? What is it to heal? The refrain, 'it was for your protection,' was something that was told to Japanese Americans as they were being taken away — they were being removed for their own protection.

“The third and fourth movements, entitled Ambience/Lullaby, explore the soundscape of the camps. From weather sounds of wind and rain to sorrowful crying, sobbing, and moaning to the sweet lullabies echoing faintly through thin camp walls. The musical theme is drawn from an old Japanese lullaby called Itsuki no Komoriuta.

“The fifth and final movement, Still This Ringing, is inspired by a line from a poem of one of the Omoide Project members, in which generational trauma of the incarceration experience is described as a ringing in the ears.”

Thank you to the following Omoide Project team members involved in the creation of this composition: Atsushi Kiuchi, Joan Seko, Mary Abo, Joe Abo, Lori Matsukawa, Carole Okamoto, Merrilee Tambara, Jay Rubin, Rakuko Rubin, Jean Chen, Megumi Ito, Janine Brodine, and Dee Goto.

Thank you also to those who assisted in the creation of this project in various ways: Theo Bickel, Erin Shigaki, Jess Juanich, Sheera Tamura, and the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington.

In Shadows

what is a citizen
what is an alien
what is a patriot
what is a traitor
what is an enlister
what is a resister
what is American
what is a renunciator

once we were one
the rising sun
shone on our faces

then we were one
nameless vermin
not worthy to be free

It was for your protection

what is allegiance
what is loyalty
what is a sympathizer
what is a friend
what is an ancestor
what is a child
what is a broken heart
what is it to heal

goodbye my friend
see you again
return to nothing

hello again
our fragile kin
living in shadows

It was for your protection

-------------------------------------------------------

Still This Ringing

a bell rang
but you weren't there to hear
no you weren't there to hear

a bell rang
it was your first train ride
it was your first train ride

and still this ringing in my ears

the worst parts
things you could never say
things you could never say

the worst parts
will they fade away
slowly fade away

and still this ringing in my ears

Sponsors

The Seattle Symphony’s Family, School & Community programs are supported by 4Culture, Marco Argenti, Delta Air Lines, The Klorfine Foundation, Merriman-Ross Family, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, and individual contributions to the Seattle Symphony Annual Fund.