Key Facts
• Pure Heart Junior and Senior High School Music Club in Nagasaki prepares for a major May performance.
• The club won the bronze prize at last year’s Kyushu Choir Competition.
• The predecessor school lost 214 students to the atomic bomb.
• Every August 9, the club performs the song “Thousand Paper Cranes” at the Peace Memorial Ceremony.
• In May, they will perform with the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra from Harvard University.
• The orchestra’s Japan tour marks its first in 41 years, inspired by the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations.
• In December, conductor Federico Cortese visited the music club for exchange.
• Students focus on interpreting lyrics, especially the meaning of origami colors like purple.
• The collaboration aims to transcend language barriers through emotion and expression.
• The Nagasaki concert is scheduled for May 23 at Benex Nagasaki Brick Hall.
• Tickets are available via various play guides; details on the orchestra’s official Japan tour website.
Summary
The Pure Heart Junior and Senior High School Music Club in Nagasaki is intensively preparing for a significant joint performance in May with the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra. This collaboration stems from the club’s annual performance of “Thousand Paper Cranes,” a song honoring atomic bomb victims, and the orchestra’s inspiration from Japan’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning atomic bomb survivor organization. The music club, a strong contender with a recent bronze prize at the Kyushu Choir Competition, is deepening its understanding of the song’s lyrics to convey peace and emotion beyond language. The upcoming concert on May 23 at Benex Nagasaki Brick Hall symbolizes a powerful US-Japan harmony, aiming to share a message of peace from Nagasaki to the world. Tickets are currently on sale, with further information available on the orchestra’s official Japan tour website.
