Young musician of Kids Orchestra Japan
in Oakland, California U.S.A.
in Oakland, California U.S.A.
My friend, Junko Suzuki Parsons, founder of the band Cyclub, created Kids Orchestra Japan, a project that involves kids in Fukushima, Japan and Oakland, California USA.
The children will work collaboratively to play music together, creating a cross-cultural exchange of friendship, art, music and education.
Junko and her band Cyclub are currently working with kids in a public school in Oakland, California to learn music that they will eventually play together with young musicians from Fukushima, Japan.
Below, a few of the young musicians in Kids Orchestra in Oakland, California.
Junko and her band Cyclub are currently working with kids in a public school in Oakland, California to learn music that they will eventually play together with young musicians from Fukushima, Japan.
Below, a few of the young musicians in Kids Orchestra in Oakland, California.
Junko is from Japan and has been an anti-nuclear activist for many years.
When the March 11, 2011 tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster struck Japan, she was heartbroken for her country.
Me (left) and Junko Suzuki Parsons (right)
Junko's activism took on a deeper sense of urgency, as she watched events unfold, first from a distance in San Francisco, then she traveled to the disaster area in Japan and toured with her band Cyclub.
Junko has organized many benefit events to help the Fukushima victims. She now feels that it is incredibly important to reach the children of the disaster area, as they will be the ones most affected.
The band, Cyclub, her communities in Japan and the San Francisco Bay Area, and many concerned people in Japan and the U.S.A. support her mission.
"Shining in Da Sun" album by Cyclub
CD cover illustration by Rosa Phoenix
The next generation inherits what we leave behind.
Let's show them that a better way is possible, by educating kids about health and the effects of contaminants in the environment, and by empowering them to build bridges with art, music and cross-cultural collaboration and dialogue.
Children need hope to survive and thrive.
Children need hope to survive and thrive.
