The Muses present Japan relief concert

One Heart: Songs of Love & Life for the people of Japan

The Muses Creative Artistry Project will present a Japan relief concert, One Heart: Songs of Love & Life for the People of Japan, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 28 at the Hot Springs Convention Center’s Horner Hall in downtown Hot Springs. In lieu of admission, donations of all sizes are requested, with all proceeds going to the Japan Relief Fund established by the Hot Springs National Park Sister City Foundation. The concert is co-sponsored by the Hot Springs Sister City Program.

Since 1993, the City of Hot Springs and Hanamaki, Japan have been sister cities. Since that time numerous cultural, educational, and economic exchanges have taken place. No one would have ever predicted this most recent type of exchange, a compassionate exchange. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when evacuees flooded into Arkansas and Hot Springs, the schoolchildren and people of Hanamaki sent donations to assist those in need in Hot Springs. “Now, as we have watched the devastation of the coastal area of northern Japan, less than an hour from our sister city, it is our turn to reciprocate,” said Deleen Davidson, president and principal artist of The Muses Creative Artistry Project.

The concert will feature songs in five different languages, spanning 500 years, as well as instrumental selections in various musical styles, all chosen to demonstrate the universal nature of music to communicate, inspire and heal. Selections include works by Bach, Handel, Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Brahms, Faure, Schubert, Chopin, as well as Gershwin, Bernstein, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Several original arrangements, include Louis Menendez's version of "Shall we gather at the River” and Steve Suter's "Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans,” written in the weeks following Hurricane Katrina's devastation of the Gulf Coast.

Davidson will offer several songs in Japanese, including the traditional and beloved "Sakura,” from a 1,000 year old ceremony celebrating the cherry blossoms’ springtime emergence. She will be joined by local singers (ages 8 to 80) to perform this traditional folk song, showing solidarity with Hot Springs’ friends abroad, and sending good will in their time of need.

Hot Springs National Park Sister City Foundation set up the Japan Relief Fund to assist residents of devastated areas who have fled to Hanamaki. To date, $18,000 has been raised and sent directly to Hanamaki to help them.

One of the evacuees from Hurricane Katrina who arrived in Hot Springs and decided to make Hot Springs her home was Davidson, who knows well what it feels like to lose everything. In 2009, she traveled as a representative of Hot Springs to perform by invitation in a choral festival in Hanamaki.

After arriving in Hot Springs, Davidson founded the Muses Creative Artistry Project. She and fellow Muses performer Louis Menendez, who also performed in Japan in 2009, will be joined by members of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and other local musicians and schoolchildren. “Our purpose is to generate support, and to show solidarity with the gentle people of Japan, during this difficult time of recovery and rebuilding, following the earthquakes and tsunami which devastated the island and its people.” Davidson said. “Music and art can be forces for healing and peace, and represent universal truths that know no national boundaries.

"You may not think you can do much as one person, confronted with such immense need,” Davidson added. “But as one who received compassion and assistance under similar circumstances, I promise you, no act of kindness and love is too small. It has tremendous value and power."

The Muses Creative Artistry Project is a multi-disciplined non-profit arts organization dedicated to excellence, and preserving classical art and music through performance and education. The Muses partners regularly with other arts organizations to enhance the cultural life of the region and grow the creative economy. Based on nature’s four seasons, The Muses offers a regular series of concerts, art exhibits and creativity seminars.

For more information, contact Mary Neilson, Sister City Program Coordinator, at 501-545-6960 or hotspringssistercity@yahoo.com.