On Sunday April 1st, 2012, Madi Sato offered a concert to honor the one year memorial of the devastating tsunami and earthquake in Northeastern, Japan.
It took place at the beautiful St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Cerrillos, NM, which is close to one hundred years old and is currently led by its pastor, Father Francis Malley.
The concert opened with a 3,000 year old Shinto chant called the Amatsunorito (Heavenly Prayer).
Madi Sato performed songs from her new CD titled, Return to the River, in dedication to her father, Tadaharu Sato whose name means "the faithful spring".(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHLVpyqX5PM )The album features Japanese traditional chants and folk songs as well as Madi's orginal songs; it was recorded live in a Zen Buddhist monastery. Proceeds from the sale of this album go to the non-profit organiztion, KASA: Kindness America Sendai Alliance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHLVpyqX5PM), providing relief to the smaller villages near Sendai, Japan.
The concert featured artists from Madi's new CD,
including Taiko drummer, Koji Nakamura, from the Shiga prefecture of Japan, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwcc_E2MDrE
Koto player, Yukiko Matsuyama, from Osaka, Japan,
producer and pianist, John Rangel from Santa Fe
and Madi's husband, Poet Timothy P. McLaughlin.
The Crestone Kaminari Taiko (http://www.shumeicrestone.org/taiko/)offered two group pieces.
Crestone Kaminari Taiko is lead by Masakazu and is the official taiko group for the Shumei International Institute in Crestone, CO.
From left to right, Masakazu, Koji, Yuka and Ikunori.
The intention of the concert was to meditate on Japan and send prayers through the Japanese instruments and songs. It was a beautiful marriage of the powerful music of Japan inside the sacred space of a Catholic church.
Madi spoke of her recent trip to Sendai and her moving experience of sharing music in the temporary housing communities of Rokugo and East Matsushima.
The concert concluded with a new arrangement of "furusato", a Japanese folk song about longing for your hometown. Koji Nakamura recreated the feeling of a tsunami on the taiko, Madi represented the voice of suffering and rebirth, and Timothy McLaughlin offered a poem about kindness.
To hear Madi sing Furusato please go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUahEEQI2c8
May our prayers reverberate to the lands and people of Japan.
