Classical concert set to aid relief in Japan

They laugh, swap stories in their native tongue, enjoy comfort foods from home and revel in their shared culture and vocations.

When they met this year, two days after the March 11 Japan earthquake and tsunami, conversations quickly turned to updates on family members still in Japan. One by one, the musicians reported that their families at home were accounted for.

Then Arizona Opera Orchestra violinist Laura Tagawa, whose husband Toru is a native of Japan, turned the conversation to the subject of what they in Arizona could do for those in Japan.

"I had the idea that it would be great if we all came together and made a large contribution working together," she said.

That day, each of the musicians agreed and before they said their goodbyes, the group was a few loose ends away from pulling off the first classical music benefit concert in recent Tucson memory.

On Saturday, more than two dozen musicians including educators, freelancers, and artists from Arizona Opera, Tucson Symphony Orchestra and the University of Arizona School of Music will put on the Japan Disaster Relief Concert. Admission is free, but the musicians said they are hoping that the audience will kick in generous donations that will be sent directly to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

"The hope is to raise money so that it can get directly into the hands of aid workers," Laura Tagawa said. "That will immediately help people."

This is the second concert the Tagawas have organized for victims of natural disasters in Asia. A few years ago while living in Japan, they put on a recital to benefit victims of the 2004 Thailand earthquake and tsunami.

"Music gets people together and music does heal people's hearts," said Toru Tagawa, who heads orchestra activities at Canyon del Oro High School. "And also it gives an opportunity for the community members who come to listen to contribute money. There are so many people who want to contribute but they don't know where to go or what to do."

Tagawa came to the U.S. from Tokyo when he was in his late teens. He and his wife met while they were students at Florida State University and came to Tucson for graduate school at the University of Arizona.

Tagawa said his family in Tokyo is well. Although they were far from the quake's epicenter, "they felt the earthquake," said the 36-year-old, who is an occasional substitute with the TSO and regularly performs in chamber settings.

"It's so devastating to see the images you see every day - the tsunami destroying all these places," he said with a heavy sadness to his voice. "The earthquake. And now the nuclear plants. And the electricity stopping every day. It's really hard for me and the Japanese people in town."

"We all knew that our own families were OK, but we feel so bad for the country," added TSO violinist Emma Noel Votapek, whose mother is from Japan and who has family in the country.

Votapek, who was born in Japan, jumped in to help the Tagawas organize Saturday's event along with conductor Keitaro Harada, a Tokyo native who came to the United States in 2002 to attend high school at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academyin Michigan.

Harada said he has been in touch with his mother and 90-year-old grandmother who live in a 200-year-old house in Tokyo. They tell him daily life in the big city is complicated by rolling power blackouts and traffic snarls. The city's public transportation, which is normally fast and reliable, now crawls, forcing many to resort to expensive cabs to get around, he said.

Saturday's concert gives Harada, conductor of the Phoenix Youth Symphony, a venue for him and his colleagues to vent their frustrations of not being able to help their families.

"This is the least we can do. And I know that by organizing this concert our friends in Japan are very, very thankful," said Harada, 26, who also is a classically trained saxophonist. During Saturday's concert, he will join pianist Aika Tatebe and traditional Japanese dancer Mari Kaneta for "Sakura."

Laura Tagawa said once word got out about Saturday's concert, musicians from Phoenix and Tucson wanted to get involved.

"It's amazing how quickly this has come together and I'm so thrilled that so may people have come together," she said. "We can do something bigger than just ourselves."

If you go

Japan Disaster Relief Concert

• When: 4 p.m. Saturday.

• Where: Rincon Congregational United Church of Christ, 122 N. Craycroft Road.

• Cost: Free; donations accepted. All proceeds will be sent to the Japanese Red Cross Society to benefit victims of the March 11 Japan earthquake and tsunami.

• Program:

Ned Rothenberg's "Maceo" (1990) - saxophonist Kelland Thomas.

Shinji Inagi's "Wind of Ryukyu" - organist Shinji Inagi.

Reijiro Koroku's "Sakura" - saxophonist Keitaro Harada, pianist Aika Tatebe and dancer Mari Kaneta.

Borodin's Nocturne from String Quartet No. 2 - DayStar String Quartet (Emma Noël Votapek, Rose Todaro, Richard Blum, Harvey Wolfe).

Bach's Concerto for Oboe and Violin in C minor (second movement Adagio) - oboist Neil Tatman and violinist Mutsuko Tatman.

Takashi Yoshimatsu's "Melting Dream" - saxophonist Jonathan Wintringham.

Liszt's Sonetto 104 "Del Petrarca" - pianist Alexander Tentser.

Manuel de Falla's five songs from "Suite Populaire Espagnole" - violinist Aaron Boyd and pianist Paula Fan.

Eliza Gilkyson's Requiem - Singers from Dance For A Cause.

Tchaikovsky's Andante Cantabile from String Quartet No. 1 - Conducted by Kaitaro Harada and featuring 22 string players.

• Details: www.rinconucc.org

Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@azstarnet.com or 573-4642.