IU Jacobs School of Music Hosts Benefit Concert For Japan 4/18

Faculty, friends and students of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music are coming together to present "Benefit Concert for Japan," a fundraiser for those affected by the tragic 9.0-magnitude earthquake that struck the northeastern part of Japan March 11.

The concert will take place at IU's Musical Art Center (MAC) on April 18 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 for students and $20 for the general public, and are available at the MAC box office.

Playing 18 pieces that range from classical to jazz styles are 33 musicians. Performers include Jacobs faculty members Federico Agostini, Edward Auer, Ik-Hwan Bae, Emilio Colon, Edmund Cord, Luke Gillespie, Jean-Louis Haguenauer, Petar Jankovic, Eric Kim, Henryk Kowalski, Jaime Laredo, Kathryn Lukas, Otis Murphy, Emile Naoumoff, Jeff Nelsen, Reiko Neriki, Shigeo Neriki, Sharon Robinson, Marietta Simpson, Shuichi Umeyama, Carol Vaness, Tom Walsh and André Watts, as well as guests Sung-Mi Im, Haruko Murphy and Nina Yoshida Nelsen, along with students in the Jacobs School of Music.

The concert was organized by Jacobs faculty members Federico Agostini, Emile Naoumoff and Shigeo Neriki, and Jacobs student Mikela Asano.

Neriki said he happened to be watching a Japanese cable channel at 1 a.m. in Bloomington when coverage of the tragic March 11 disaster began. As the days went on, he watched mounting reports of the tsunamis that followed the quake, with waves as high as 30 feet sweeping away cars and carrying burning buildings toward factories, fields and highways, completely washing away many homes and villages. He saw the crippled Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant emitting dangerous levels of radiation as the death toll exceeded 12,300, with more than 15,000 people still missing.

"People were asking, 'What can we do? Can we play concerts for charity?'," he said.

"Mikela already had a link with the Japanese Student Association," said Neriki, a Jacobs faculty member since 1980. "When I had the idea for the concert, I sent out a note to practically every performing faculty member at the Jacobs School." Despite the time of year -- late in spring semester and right in the middle of many concert tours -- 23 faculty members offered their time for the concert, with 10 talented students and special guests also participating.

The concert will conclude with J.S. Bach Aria in D Major, also known as an Aria on G String, played by a string orchestra composed of Jacobs students and faculty.

"I'm very grateful for everyone to be able to participate within such a busy time of year," Neriki said. "If I think about the goodness in their hearts, it makes me emotional."

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