Kishi Bashi at Seney-Stovall: Omoiyari

The Willson Center for Humanities and Arts presents a Global Georgia Initiative event tonight at 8 pm in Seney-Stovall Chapel, “A Conversation on the Japanese Incarceration Through Song and Film,” a unique multimedia event exploring the history and legacy of Japanese incarceration in the U.S. during World War II:

[Kaoru] Ishibashi will be joined by collaborators Julian Saporiti and Erin Aoyama, musicians and graduate student researchers in American studies at Brown University, as well as by a string quartet. Following the music, film and spoken word performance, John Morrow, professor of history at UGA, will moderate a panel discussion with Ishibashi, Saporiti and Aoyama.

Born in Seattle, Ishibashi studied film scoring at Berklee College of Music before becoming a highly in-demand violinist, performing with artists including of Montreal, Regina Spektor and Tall Tall Trees. He released his solo debut LP, 151A, in 2012 and has subsequently issued two live albums and two studio albums, including 2016’s Sonderlust. He is based in Athens.

For Omoiyari, Ishibashi has visited the sites of camps throughout the western half of the U.S. where more than 100,000 Japanese Americans, most of them American citizens, were incarcerated by the federal government from 1942 until after World War II’s end. Accompanied by Saporiti and Aoyama and with the incarceration sites as a backdrop, Ishibashi has written and performed highly personal music that engages with this difficult history as well as social and racial divisions in today’s America.

A fantastically creative and educational multidisciplinary collaboration. Kishi Bashi is one of our local treasures of international renown. Tonight's performance is not to be missed. 70 seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis when doors open at 6:30 pm, so be there early.