A musical concert that will tell part of the Japanese American World War II experience will take place as part of the Moab Music Festival in September 2021.
Moab is a small red rock town in Utah. It is a place of scenic majesty that many tourists from all over the world and residents of Utah flock to each year.
Moab is home to the Moab Music Festival, founded in 1992. New York musicians, violist and artistic director Leslie Tomkins, and pianist/conductor and music director Michael Barrett kicked off the festival. Captivated by the red rocks of Moab, they were inspired to make beautiful music amidst what they considered a magical landscape.
The Moab Music Festival has won awards for its outstanding work. They stand out for their distinctive programming, excellent performances, and unique concert experiences. They feature many different types of music.
Well-known artists perform at various venues in the area. Some concerts are held at ranches and private homes. Some are outdoors and some are indoor venues. They take advantage of the beauty of nature in the area.
The concert called “Lost Freedom: Japanese American Confinement in the United States” is part of this year’s Festival. It will be narrated by George Takei of Star Trek fame. The program is a world premiere of a Moab Music Festival commission from Composer-in-Residence and violist Kenji Bunch.
Actor and author George Takei and his family were forced from their West Coast home during World War II simply because they were of Japanese ancestry. Takei will review his experiences growing up in the Japanese-American containment camps during World War II. Takei will take audiences through a dark period in American history when ethnic Japanese Americans were wrongfully deprived of their property and freedom.
The concert will also honor three living Japanese-American composers.
Little known is the fact that there was a temporary camp called the Moab Citizens Isolation Center that held Japanese Americans during World War II. This new work from Kenji Bunch is to honor those people who were wrongfully imprisoned in Moab.
Some people who were incarcerated in another of the US concentration camps in California were accused of causing trouble, so they were sent to Moab. It was a temporary facility that housed about fifty men at a time. It was open for about six months.
The concert tells an important and little-known part of American history as it allows participants to enjoy the scenic beauty of the red rock country of Moab, Utah.
