Koto piece

The bass koto piece is finished. It is called Chinkon which is a Japanese word meaning to calm the spirits of the dead. I am one of four composers contributing pieces to an overall project called In Repose, which commemorates the Japanese-Australian community of the North Queensland city of Townsville. It is a collaborative multi art form project which utilises dance, music, visual projection, story telling and installation, which will explore the stories of both the temporary Japanese sugar-cane workers who died at the turn of last century and were buried in Townsville and their Australian counterparts who buried their bodies. This work will initially be developed and performed on-site in one of the two Townsville cemeteries. As it happens Townsville is in the tropical region of Australia where my wife Jewel was born and where her family still live. I dedicated the piece - already intended as a requiem - to my beloved grandfather who died on December 2 at the age of 92.