2011 Activities
Oita American Shelf Offers Concerts, Music Lessons and Storytelling
Music Lesson at the Oita Prefectural Midorigaoka High School
Concert at the Oita Prefectural Library
September 22-23, 2011, Oita – The Fukuoka American Center, in cooperation with the Oita Prefectural Library, opened the second American Shelf in Kyushu in the library in May of 2011. To celebrate this partnership and promote the American Shelf’s usage, FAC brought a talented musical duo, American trumpeter David Herzog and Japanese pianist Ryuta Suzuki, to Oita for two days of programs for the general public and for students.
On the 22nd, Messrs. Herzog and Suzuki visited Oita’s High School for the Performing Arts, Prefectural Midorigaoka HS, where they performed together, gave a masterclass on the trumpet, and discussed the challenges and joys of a life as professional musicians. The students, many of whom aspire to professional careers in the arts, were thrilled to learn from experts and to interact with them. The pair also promoted study abroad as a way to enhance one’s skills.
The following day, they played a concert in the Oita Prefectural Library’s auditorium to an audience of over 100 music lovers. The duo spanned classical, jazz and popular music, and finished with two encores of beloved tunes from Studio Ghibli’s classic films Ponyo and Laputa, for both of which they had played on the soundtracks.
YouTube videos from the Concert: Prelude No. II (Blue Lullaby) by George Gershwin (performed by D. Herzog and R. Suzuki)
Gelsomina from La Strada by Nino Rota (performed by D. Herzog, R Suzuki)
After the concert, Fukuoka Public Affairs Officer Mike Chadwick sat down with over 40 children and their parents to read stories in English. First he read Eric Carle’s well-know “The Hungry Little Caterpillar”, and followed that with a spirited session of playacting during Esphyr Slobodkina’s “Caps for Sale”. The last book, an American classic, was “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” by Simms Taback, and the children enjoyed guessing what the Old Lady would eat next.