A-bomb piano played in New York, 1st time outside Japan
Sep. 13, 2010
A concert featuring a piano that survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima was held in New York on Friday evening, marking the first occasion for such an instrument to be played outside Japan.
At the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew, Japanese and American musicians played the Yamaha upright piano to promote the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The instrument will be played again Saturday at a memorial event for the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The piano was in Naka Ward in Hiroshima City, about 1.8 kilometers from the epicenter, at the time of the bombing. Mitsunori Yagawa, 58, a piano tuner, became its owner about five years ago and restored it. He has since held concerts with it across Japan.
On Sept. 17, another piano that also survived the atomic bombing, owned by Yoko Matsuba of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, will be played at a concert at the U.N. headquarters in New York.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on Sept. 10, 2010)
At the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew, Japanese and American musicians played the Yamaha upright piano to promote the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The instrument will be played again Saturday at a memorial event for the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The piano was in Naka Ward in Hiroshima City, about 1.8 kilometers from the epicenter, at the time of the bombing. Mitsunori Yagawa, 58, a piano tuner, became its owner about five years ago and restored it. He has since held concerts with it across Japan.
On Sept. 17, another piano that also survived the atomic bombing, owned by Yoko Matsuba of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, will be played at a concert at the U.N. headquarters in New York.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on Sept. 10, 2010)
