Quire of Voyces tours Japan!

SBCC’s Quire of Voyces’ 2024 Japan tour was, unexpectedly, a profoundly emotional, musical, and intercultural experience that left a deep impression on the choir, our audiences, and our friends and family who joined the tour.

Coming as the tour did, 4 years after the COVID cancellation of our Baltic tour, the QV Japan tour felt like a fulfillment of that lost opportunity.  However, the Japan tour wasn’t just another concert tour. Our tours to Italy in 2010 and England in 2016, included the rich experience of singing in beautiful, sacred, and historical spaces, be they St. Peter’s in Rome, medieval cathedrals in England, or on a festival stage in Wales. 

That is not what happened in Japan.  

Our first concert after arrival was at the Franciscan Chapel Center, a senior center.  We arrived on our bus, with no place to change into concert attire, nowhere to rehearse–although we didn’t necessarily need to, and no conventional performance space.  The senior center staff guided us into a conference room to prepare. Activity equipment, white boards, and random boxes crowded the table around which we got ready.

The larger community room, where we would perform, was currently occupied by a movement instructor who was literally “warming up our audience” with stretches and exercises. After the instructor stopped, we lined up and entered the room.  The room was classroom sized, and we had to stand closely together, staggered, and only a couple of feet from our audience–a beautiful group of elders.

Tae, our tour guide, shared with us before we arrived that traditionally the Japanese household was multi-generational.  But with housing costs and smaller homes, more senior Japanese lived alone. Some, like our audience, came to elder day centers like this one for community, education, and activity.

Nathan Kreitzer introduced us to the audience, and Tae translated.  He shared that our first three songs were in Japanese, and invited our audience to critique our pronunciation afterwards. Those three Japanese songs were our musical passport to our audience. Kimigayo, the Japanese national anthem, Hitowa, a Japanese proverb set to music, and Furusato, or Homeland, a beloved folksong, created an instant connection with our audience.  We became one people with a shared love of music. We followed with a selection of our composer in residence, Steve Dombek’s new Mass, and concluded with a set of American hymns, folk songs, and spirituals. 

Maybe it was the closeness of the audience, or our closeness to each other, but in that small activity room our 22 a cappella voices filled the space like an atmosphere. The music vibrated in our bodies and bones.

When we finished our program, the audience burst into applause, and began to shout: En-cor-u!, en-cor-u!, encore!, encore!.

We hadn’t planned on an encore, so Nathan chose the first song, Kimigayo, and we sang it again.  This time our audience joined in. One lovely woman made beautiful hand gestures that accompanied the music.  She was so graceful, despite her arthritic hands, that it brought tears to our eyes.

Then, to our surprise, the staff brought out a big white sheet on which was written, in characters, a song to Mt. Fuji, and another, Sakura, to cherry blossoms, whereupon, the elders sang to us. It is hard to describe how moved I was looking out at the elders as they shared their love of music.

It was an emotional and uplifting experience. We had not expected that in that simple senior center, so basic and institutional, we would find such beauty and connection. Our tour guide, Tae, our bus driver, the senior center staff, our fellow travelers on the tour, and we as a choir, were surprised and moved by our performance and our audience.

The senior center concert set the stage for our next concert at the Ichikawa City Cultural Hall located in our tour guide, Tae’s, hometown.  Ichikawa is a small city, within the wide area of greater Tokyo, that has its own city government and striking performance space.  Coming off our concert at the Senior Center, Tae invited the mayor of Ichikawa, and other dignitaries, to come to our performance, along with her daughter, husband, and mother in law.  

On our arrival at the Cultural Hall, we were greeted by kimono clad community members, and the enthusiastic music director who wore a red suit jacket and matching red shorts. The venue had two performance spaces, one a large concert hall, where we didn’t perform, and a smaller space with a proscenium in the basement, where we did.

We had been told that there were other groups performing with us but we didn’t know what to expect.  There were two other groups sharing the concert with us: a community choir made up of children and adults, and a group called “Jambo” that was composed of intellectually disabled adults and support staff.  

Our basement concert hall began to fill up with an audience.  In the beginning there were presentations by the Mayor and other staff, thank you’s to donors, all the normal pre-concert appreciations.  It was pretty cool to be a part of what was a very local, and highly regarded, community event, that celebrated people of all ages and abilities.

The combined choir was first up, and really started things with a bang.  They wore brightly colored costumes, and sang two rousing upbeat songs dedicated to Ichikawa City, with hand gestures and synchronized movement. 

Then, Jambo took the stage, and they, too, had bright costumes, in red, yellow, and green, and sang with energy and joy.  We, in the audience, were encouraged to sing along and clap with the group. Everyone joined in and just let loose.  

The energy in the room by the end of Jambo’s performance was electric. So much so that it seemed our acapella performance with its harmonies, softer dynamics, black clothes, and no movement, would be discordant with the whole vibe.

Nathan did a fine introduction, with Tae, as his interpreter, acknowledging the previous groups’ performance, and the value of the cultural exchange, with simplicity and grace.  It was a perfect segue for the mood pivot.

We began, as before, with Kimigayo, the national anthem, and the audience leaned in and opened themselves to our music.  Some of our fellow tour members in the audience said that you could feel the energy of the audience, not diminish, but focus and move to another place.

At the end, we received enthusiastic applause–gifts were brought on stage to be shared with the choir, and we shared our gifts with the other choirs.  After completing our bows, we walked off stage, and the whole audience gathered around us.  The chairs were cleared from the floor, drinks came out, and we partied together for nearly an hour. 

We communicated as best we could with our different languages–exchanging smiles, origami in many forms, and facebook names, so that we could be friends after.  All around the hall, small groups talked and laughed, enjoying one another’s company.

As we left the hall, the crowd formed a gauntlet of clapping, cheering people, that we walked between, slapping high fives, and shaking hands.  There was so much warmth that it spilled over to boarding the bus, with the director in the red suit and shorts, climbing onto the bus and asking us to come again next year. As we drove away, people were still waving goodbye.

The next two concerts were more like regular concerts.  One, was at the Lake Kawaguchiko Music Forest Museum, which was a classical music theme park with European style buildings and fountains, by a beautiful lake below Mt. Fuji.  There, we sang in front of a large mechanical organ facade in cream and gold with moving figures that rang bells or tapped drums, when the organ was played.  The audience was warm and appreciative.

The last concert, at the Nakanoshima Art Museum in Osaka, we performed our full program.  Nakanoshima Art Museum opened in 2022, is an architecturally significant space for art and exhibitions, near the Osaka Art Museum, and other cultural centers.  

We performed in a beautiful hall, before a sizable audience, and, as we were given the time, sang Steve Dombek’s Mass in its entirety, which we hadn’t done since our concerts in Santa Barbara. 

Our concert at Nakanoshima was one of the first musical performances at the museum.  The staff so enjoyed our singing that they felt encouraged to have more groups come and perform there. It was a good place to end the concert part of our tour, although it is always a bit sad to do so.  

Our concerts, especially the first two, were such rich, joyous cultural exchanges that demonstrated the power of music to bring people together.  We were fortunate that this particular Quire of Voyces was composed of singers of all ages, from 19 to 78, who sang as one, with grace, beauty, and precision under Nathan Kreitzer’s direction. 

Remarkably, our Japan tour was paid for by funds returned from our 2020 tour cancellation, our generous donors, and the contributions of the choir and tour attendees.

We were proud to represent Santa Barbara City College, and share some of the bounty of the Music Program, and the caliber of SBCC’s education.  We deeply appreciate SBCC’s support of the Quire of Voyces that made this amazing Japan tour experience possible. 

Yours,

David Hodges

QV Advisory Board member and singer

Dear Mr. Nathan Kreitzer

It was very fortunate that I was able to see the beautiful performance of the Quire of Voyces on the night of June 27. Since I grew up in a Christian school, I was very much moved by the performance, and it clearly felt like God was coming down.

I hope that you will manage the schedule in Japan safely and successfully, and I sincerely wish you all the best for the upcoming performances.

Yours faithfully,

Tanaka Koh
Mayor of Ichikawa City

The Quire of Voyces acapella choral singing performances were exquisite and transcended any language differences. Their concerts moved each audience of Japanese, world tourists and the QV entourage with many emotions and joy. The reception of each audience bought many happy tears to most of us showing how music is a universal communicator.

The tour was educational on many levels with all of us wanting to visit our new Japanese friends again. All SBCC students would enrich thier lives and expand their horizons by touring by exchanging music, and ideas that would bring more harmony into the world.

We consider this as an epic trip and will always treasure and remember it.
Arleen and Woody Hollosy

Thank you so much for meeting and inviting us to the choir!!
The choir was amazing, especially when they sang kimigayo and furusato, I was moved a lot.
It was very impressive to see foreigners sing Kimigayo in a choir!!

Love,
Yoshimi (local Japanese citizen)

Thank you all for being so lovely and friendly and sharing knowledge and stories.
The first two concerts particularly were the highlight of the trip and will remain with me. Patty many thanks for making me feel looked after and safe and the awards ceremony was amazing. Love to all
Kathy

On a human level, the exchange/interactions with the audiences – particularly at the senior day care and cultural center – demonstrated that music truly is an international language that connects people and induces greater empathy for one another. (Turns out Tae’s city is the same where my sister, Karen, lived and taught English for a year of her two-year stay in Japan decades ago. We discovered this when she was up for the 4th of July).
The Quire of Voyces’ professionalism and musicality positions us to be global ambassadors in this way. I feel so fortunate to have been able to go with QV to Japan celebrating 30 wonderful QV seasons, enjoy the vibrant company of our fellow singers, spouses, and fans, and connect with the rhythms, beauty, and tastes of Japan.
With gratitude and all of the best,
Melanie Jacobson

I wanted to personally thank you all for an adventure of a lifetime. Arleen and I are so grateful that you welcomed us to join you on this epic trek through the beautiful Japan countryside and imposing cities.
Until the next adventure,
Your fellow traveler,
Woody Hollosy

Once again, thank you for bringing the SBQV to Japan! Since you all returned to the U.S., it has been very hot in Japan. The 11 days I spent with you were a lifetime memory. I, and the citizens of Ichikawa, are sincerely looking forward to your return.
Tae Murata (your tour guide)

As a former academic, associate dean of a college conservatory of music and
professional performer from an early age, I hope SBCC administrators will support my
premise that all education is a lifetime undertaking. As to the arts, whether in a
classroom, online, onstage, on tour or simply to feed the soul, without the arts there is
no culture and no life.
The QV component of SBCC offers a broad spectrum of education to its participants
and the community here and abroad. Such classes and tours include history,
geography, music theory, and interpersonal group relationships that build foundation
blocks for a lifetime of learning.
In a time of tenuous international politics QV has demonstrated an expression of
humanity that is universally understood regardless of political frailties. On a recent tour
to Japan education occurred on so many levels with choristers, guild and family
members and audiences. The enthusiastic warm response from the audiences
validates the tremendous impact of the tour both for the audiences and the choristers.
The age range of the choir from 17 to 81 covering several nationalities, political
affiliations and abilities was living proof of the ability of generations working together to
make beautiful music for participants and audiences to appreciate. Further, current
younger city college students have an extraordinary opportunity to sing in an a cappella
adjudicated choir held to a rigorously high standard by director Nathan Kreitzer.

To conclude, a personal appreciated element regarding this most recent tour to Japan
was the careful selection and preparation of the repertoire by the director. Opening each
performance with a selection of Japanese music by the choir including the Japanese
National anthem sung I Japanese was particularly profound in its impact. In addition,
children in one audience were agog that someone in the choir actually composed one of
the pieces which we performed.
Once again, locally and in Japan, music has proven to transcend by
bringing together through a common thread, a universal language for friendship and
cultural exchange.

David McKee MBA, PhD