Mini concert

The sun was shining and a cool breeze was blowing. A perfect day was made even better by being serenaded by the nikko (Chinese harp) group while we drank a cup of tea outside in front of Zenrinkan. Yes, it was the first ever outdoor concert for Chin-sensei's students. We heard about ten songs over the course of half an hour, each more beautiful than the last.

Mini Music Night

Some people might remember when Karen worked here, she often organized Music Night at the Zenrinkan. Unfortunately, when she finished working here, so did Music Night! Many people missed having Music Night, so, last night, we had a mini Music Night!

One of the important things about Music Night is that it is NOT a concert! It is a time for people to get together and enjoy music of all kinds. Some people bring musical instruments, some people sing, some people try instruments for the first time, some people just listen, and everyone enjoys being surrounded by all kinds of sounds. No one is a professional, and any level, beginner to expert, is welcome to perform.

Last night, we had 13 people come to the mini Music Night, performers and listeners.

We heard a few songs from students in Zenrinkan's Niko (二胡) classes.

We heard a man play the Quena, which is a wind instrument from South America. He played the standard quena, and also many other sizes (which all have different names, but I don't remember them)

Also, students in the Saturday Let's Sing class sang a couple of songs for us, Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are", and "I Say a Little Prayer" by Burt Bacharach.

Ryan played the didgeridoo, which is an instrument from Australia. It was originally made and used by aborigines.

We also had a kind of drum circle (actually, a percussion circle). People played many kinds of percussion instruments while we took turns playing the didgeridoo. Then, we had a guitar performance including original songs.

All in all, it was a fun evening for everyone. We also had delicious snacks that Hiroko made for us. Thank you everyone for coming!

Christmas party

Today was the Christmas party at Zenrinkan.

Once all the guests had arrived we had a Christmas service. Afterwards, the guests ate Christmas food from England and America and tried mulled wine. It was the first time for many people to try traditional English Christmas cake, which is made from a fruit cake base, very different to the Japanese Christmas cake. While they ate and drank, they heard performances from the children's classes and the niko-harp class.

The tables each competed in a Christmas multiple-choice quiz. Questions included "In which country was Christmas made illegal?", "Which was the first US state to make Christmas a public holiday?" and "What is the Christmas club?".
After the quiz, we had more singing and some dancing from the Hawaiian dance group.The staff all performed in a Christmas skit and we finished with the Christmas carol singing class.

Belle Vientos concert

On Friday, November 17th, we welcomed Belle Vientos to the Zenrinkan for a concert. They are a "folklore" group, which means they they play traditional (folk) music. They play mostly traditional music from Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina. Their name, Belle Vientos, means "beautiful wind" in Spanish (belle = beautiful, vientos = wind).

For this concert, 2 members of Belle Vientos, Armando and Miki, came from Akita to Morioka. Armando played many kinds of guitars, and Miki played the zampoña and other kinds of panpipes, as well as the drum.

The music was great! It was a lot of fun to listen to them play, sing, and even dance a bit. They brought lots of interesting instruments with them, such as a guitar-like instrument made from the shell of an armadillo and some panpipes that are about 150cm long!

We hope everyone enjoyed the concert! For anyone who missed the concert, there are some samples of their music available on their web site.