The music department at the American School in Japan is pleased to present the Centennial Choral Concert as part of the 100^th anniversary celebrations of the American School in Japan.

To commemorate this event the choirs presented the premiere performance of the three song suite Tsuki-Yume-Ko Kumikyoku, Moon-Dream-Child: A Japanese Choral Suite by the highly sought after American composer, Paul Basler. Mr. Basler had written a piece that was performed by both the Kanto Plain Honor choir and ASIJ last year. We were delighted that he agreed to write a commissioned piece for us. He was so excited by the project that he wanted to create a collection of three songs to express the range of emotions the concept deserved. Mr. Basler has joined us this week in preparing his work and we are honored to have him as our piano accompanist for the concert.

Mr. Basler has used both Japanese and English lyrics as influences in three songs. In the fall, director Brent Huber, with lots of help from ASIJ Japanese speaking faculty and students, read hundreds of poetry and selected the most exciting and appropriate lyrics for Mr. Basler to choose from. We all wanted lyrics that expressed the multi-cultural world of ASIJ students, the joy of playful children, and perhaps the melancholy of memories past. 

Lyrics for the first song, Moonlight, were selected from English translations of traditional tanka poetry. These are poems with strong images and sounds of nature. Basler’s music beautifully captures the clarity of moonlight and peacefulness of the evening.

The lyrics for the evocative middle song, Omoide, are from Shuntaro Tanikawa’s poem Sonnet 47. We fell in love with the straight forward language of his poetry and thought it was a perfect contrast from the traditional poems. Sonnet 47 seemed especially pertinent with images of memories and the hopeful awakening to the daily world. Tanikawa is one of the best loved contemporary poets in Japan. We are especially grateful and honored that Tanikawa and translators William I. Elliot and Kazuo Kawamura have offered these gorgeous words to the song. Basler’s keen melodic sense has captured a uniquely Japanese sense of phrasing that sets the text beautifully.

The culminating piece, Kodomo no Negai, is exciting and joyful. Originally Basler used tanka poems again for text. When we looked at the draft we found the meaning of the traditional language had changed for modern audiences and did express the joy we intended. We asked Mr. Basler if we could have the ASIJ students re-write the text. He thought that would be a great idea. The song now is real a collaboration of our students and Mr. Basler. We love each song individually and are especially thrilled of the musical and textural connections when the three pieces are sung as together. 

Next year, each song in Moon-Dream-Child: A Japanese Choral Suite will be published by Walton Music Publishing and made available to choirs around the world. The dedication on each piece will read, “Commission by and written for the 100^th anniversary of The American School in Japan, 1902 –2002.” Each performance will be a tribute to ASIJ, the students, and the contribution that music has made to the life of the school for over a century.