Subcommittees Creating New Music, Celebrating History in Song, Dance
The Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) Music Committee is celebrating its fourth anniversary since the initial organizational meetings in 2020, when Bishop Rev. Marvin Harada requested forming the committee.
Its many subcommittees have not only been creating new music, but also celebrating the history of the music and dance of the Jodo Shinshu tradition in the mainland United States.
The BCA Bon Odori Taiko subcommittee has promoted the new commissions of “Kangie” by Nobuko Miyamoto and “Lantern Song” by Bonbu Stories. Meanwhile, the BCA Music History subcommittee has coordinated with the American Bon Consortium to celebrate Bon Odori history.
The “American Bon Odori: Dancing in Joy and Remembrance” exhibit at the National Japanese American Historical Society in San Francisco’s Japantown runs through Sept. 30. Then, in addition to “Kangie” and “Lantern Song,” there will also be traditional Bon Odori dances as well as “Ei Ja Nai Ka” by PJ Hirabayashi from the late 1990s, included during the American Bon Dancing event on Sept. 8 in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Gardens. (American Bon Dancing)
The BCA Music Committee organized the premiere of “Amida’s Light” by Shinji Eshima, which was performed live by the Sacramento Betsuin Choir at the BCA Eitaikyo Service in February, and “Storms and Peace” by Francis Wong as a new gatha video at the BCA’s 125th anniversary service on Sept. 1.
It also paid tribute to the late Chizu Iwanaga with a new collaborative recording by BCA musical artists for the opening gatha “Nembutsu,” and a jazz arrangement by Akira Tana and his band Otonowa performed during the musical interlude at the service.
Capturing Otonowa recording in Tohoku in January for a special sponsored project was a precious opportunity. The trip was the band’s first to the communities affected by the Northern Japan earthquake and tsunami in 2011 since the annual trips they had been making before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tana, son of the late Rev. Emeritus Daisho Tana, provides relevance to BCA history in the video, which premiered at the BCA National Council Meeting in February in Sacramento. To view the video on the BCA Music YouTube channel, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXxW-8YnnPo
The Jodo Shinshu anthem “Shinshu Shuka,” written just over a century ago, was presented as a new arrangement by the San Jose Chidori Band with singers from San Jose Betsuin choir after the conclusion of the Sept. 1 service. It is also a sponsored recording project and there is a deep connection to the San Jose community to honor the late Dr. Kenji Torigoe, as well as Torigoe’s earlier involvement in the YBA band in Watsonville in the 1950s under the direction of Chizu Iwanaga.
The Sept. 1 service featured gagaku music by the Northern California Gagaku Group, organized by David Ushijima and others from Berkeley Buddhist Temple.
For this special service, the Service Music Subcommittee leaders selected a variety of gatha compositions by BCA composers over the decades as background music and for special telethon videos.
We honored the late Yumi Hojo, Jane Imamura and Linda Castro with such favorite classics as “I Love the Story” (also known as “With Grateful Hearts”), “Buddha Loves You,” “Farewell,” “A Special Place,” “Master Ganjin’s Journey,” and “The Bodhi Tree.”
Hiro Imamura’s “Higan” pays tribute to the lyrics written by the late Rev. Dr. Seigen Yamaoka. BCA Minister Emeritus Rev. Bob Oshita’s lyrics of “With Grateful Hearts” is also a tribute to Yumi Hojo’s composition.
“Season of Obon,” composed by Misaye Abiko, features the late Rev. Hiroshi Abiko playing taiko on the recording. Music by the BCA’s many musical living legends such as “I’m a Link in the Golden Chain” and “Say Namo Amida Butsu” by Gordon Ah Tye, “In a Quiet Valley” by Eshima, “Metta” by Hiro Imamura, and “Like Blossoms” by dii Lewis were also included.
Newer music was also featured, including the FBWA Music Project gatha, “With Gassho From the Heart” by Donna Sasaki, and several of Albert Fujitsubo’s compositions, including “Maitreya.”
Additional new compositions from the first BCA Music Committee gatha lyric writing contest will be highlighted this fall. We celebrate both the old and the new as we move toward the next phase of the BCA and BCA Music Committee. We welcome you to be a part of our efforts with ideas for future sponsored projects.
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