A Joyous Evening
“Choral Fantasy” featured musical prodigy Ray Ushikubo on piano.
“Bridge to Joy” took place on July 28 at the Music Center’s Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown Los Angeles. Some 300 voices from around Southern California and Japan participated in an evening of unity and friendship through music that featured Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, “Ode to Joy” and “Choral Fantasy,” with opening remarks by Consul General Akira Chiba and event chair Yuji Iwanaga. Several months in the making, the concert was presented by the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in cooperation with the Japan America Society of Southern California, Japan Business Association of Southern California, Jeffrey Bernstein, L.A. Daiku, Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles, and All-Japan Association of Daiku Choral Societies.
Photos by ALAN MIYATAKE/Toyo MIyatake Studio
Soloists perform “Ode to Joy.”
From left: Soloists Hirokazu Myochin (baritone), Mari Kumasaka (soprano), Robert MacNeil (tenor); music director and conductor Jeffrey Bernstein; pianist Ray Ushikubo; soloists Aiko Sakazaki Anglim (soprano) and Tracy Van Fleet (mezzo soprano). Not pictured: Soloist Glenn Seven Allen (tenor).
Steering Committee members (from left): Rani de Leon, Helen H. Ota, Leslie A. Ito, Alison De La Cruz, Reo Yoshitani, Yuji Iwanaga (chair), Sayoko Takasue, Yasumasa Tanano, Douglas G. Erber, Jeffrey Bernstein, Satoshi Fujimori. Not pictured: Consul General Akira Chiba (honorary chair), Andrea Desmond, Yuji Takahashi.