Violin Made from Tsunami Debris Played in March 11 Anniversary Concert
Last week, the violin maker Muneyuki Nakazawa was putting the finishing touches on one of his violins. Considering his long and successful career as a luthier, he has created numerous violins, many that sounded better than this one. This violin, however, has more significance than just the sound it makes. The wood for this violin, as seen in a previous Daily Bow, is taken partly from the debris of the March 11 tsunami last year in Japan. Mr. Nakazawa’s goal was not to create a tragic masterpiece, but something more personal:
This isn’t a violin meant to play big concertos in a large concert hall. That should be left to other violins,” said Mr. Nakazawa in an interview with JRT. “I wanted to make a tender sounding violin that consoles people. This is a violin for the people in the disaster zones, for people who have grieved over lost loved ones and for the souls of those who died from this tragedy.
The violin received its first performance on Sunday, March 11, a year after the disaster took place. Prefectual and municipal governments in one the hard-hit costal town of Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture organized the ceremony and featured violinist Ivry Gitlis playing Nakazawa’s violin. The violin is now on tour in the “Bonds Made of a Thousand Tones” project, a musical relay in which 1000 different violinists will perform on the violin in memory of the disaster victims. In addition to the star studded line up including Gerard Poulet and Yuuriko Kuronuma, Nakazawa added that he hopes the concert mistress of the Sendai Philharmonic, who was left without a performance space due the tsunami, will also have a chance to play the violin.
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