Remembrance, reconciliation, hope. These are the central themes of “Ah Nagasaki“, a new musical meditation to recall the bombing of Nagasaki in 1945 that’s a collaboration between composer/author Robert Kyr and the multi-talented Kazuaki Tanahashi. The three-movement cantata for soloists, multiple choirs and orchestras was commissioned by the Nagasaki Peace Museum and will be premiered by the Minnesota Chorale on October 11 in St. Paul, MN.

“Kaz” Tanahashi is a calligrapher, writer, translator, scholar, peace activist, and aikido master whose calligraphies have been featured many times in the Shambhala Sun. He and Kyr wrote the text for “Ah Nagasaki”, which is sung in English and Japanese and describes the journey from the horror of nuclear devastation to reconciliation and ‘waging peace’ as a means of freeing the world from weapons of mass destruction.

Although old, here’s a nice interview with Kaz on David Chadwick’s Cuke.com, a website that chronicles the early years of Zen in America. Thanks to Cuke.com for this image of Kaz.