Kumiko and I before Soju Projekt's Noh lecture this summer at the Cerulean Tower Noh Theater in Tokyo. This year was our 25th anniversary!

Soju Projekt Gamelan at a Retirement Community

In November of 2015, Soju Projekt once again teamed up with Golden Heron Gamelan for an evening performance of music from Java, Indonesia. Our performance, at the Aljoya Thornton Place Retirement Community in the Maple Leaf neighborhood of North Seattle, provided the ambiance for a beautiful exhibition of textiles from around the world. It's always a joyful experience performing with Golden Heron Gamelan!

The Noh Play 'Kiyotsune' in Parabola Magazine (Winter 2015-16 issue)

My retelling of the Noh play 'Kiyotsune' has recently been published in the winter 2015-16 issue of Parabola Magazine (http://parabola.org/ ), with sumi-paintings by Kumiko Lawrence.

Most of us have experienced death in some form, the loss of a friend or loved one. If you could have just one more hour with that person, what would you do? What would you say? In this play, the spirit of a samurai warrior, drawn by his widow’s intense suffering, returns to offer her solace. They talk of loss, of anger, of fate and free will and the importance of forgetting. 

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A sleeping ocean bird sinks in tears of rain that fill the salty sea. A cloud floating. Water flowing, returning to its earthly home; the heart gropes blindly but in vain.

Her sight grows dim, her heart faint. Through the night she weeps, yearning only for his return, even in dreams. Then she hears his voice: “Dear one, I have come for you.” The ghost of her husband appears by her pillow. 

Only a dream, but still she is grateful...