2016 Cello Recital to Support Children's Orchestra in FukushimaNEW

Cello Recital to Support Children's Orchestra in Fukushima.� Message from Polish-born Cellist who Experienced Nuclear Threat in Chernobyl in his Childhood through Music.� Studio f presents a special recital in Azusa, featuring award-winning Polish cellist to support the Soma Children's Orchestra in Fukushima, Japan.

Date
Saturday, October 15, 2016�� 7:30 p.m.

Location
Munson Recital Hall, Azusa Pacific University, 901 E. Alosta Avenue, Azusa, CA
Parking: Free parking at Parking Lot C (next to Alosta Ave.)
For the parking location, please visit�http://www.apu.edu/map/

Program
Chopin: Introduction and Polonaise brillante, Op.3
Schumann:�Fantasiest�cke
Barber: Sonata for Cello and Piano in C minor, Op.6
Rachmaninoff: Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor, Op.19
Gershwin (arranged by Szpakiewicz): Three Preludes�

Artist
Marek Szpakiewicz, cello
Jiayi Shi, piano

Admission
Free admission, no ticket required.
Collected donation (not required) will be used to purchase a 3/4-sized cello for the Soma Children's Orchestra in Fukushima

Reception to follow.

A little bit more about the recital and donated cello...
� �� Szpakiewicz donated a portion of the proceeds from his March 2015 debut recital in Tokyo to the Soma Children's Orchestra in the form of a half-sized cello. During his visit to the orchestra in Fukushima in 2014, Szpakiewicz learned that the scarcity of the half-sized cellos had led younger children to start on the violins when they had joined the orchestra despite of their interest in the cellos. His gift was to encourage younger children to join the cello section of the orchestra.

���� When Risa Yoshida, a 10-year-old girl, joined the Children's Orchestra, she had to give up on her dream of learning to play the cello, as the sole half-sized cello was given to another child with an interest in playing the instrument. She cried so hard that teachers were at a loss. When the Szpakiewicz's gift of the half-sized cello arrived, she broke into a big smile. Her dream had been restored. Her diligent work playing this instrument resulted in being selected to perform at a special recital in Berlin to commemorate the 5^th anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami, organized by the Berlin Philharmonic, in March 2016.

���� Szpakiewicz's deep interest in helping children in Fukushima stems from his childhood in the Communist-governed Poland near Ukraine where the Chernobyl disaster occurred. While his family feared the threat of radiation fallout, they could not relocate themselves. Only the top-level athletes and musicians were allowed to leave the country. Szpakiewicz worked hard during his teenage years to become one of the musicians granted the privilege to leave. He established himself as one of the most talented music students in Poland in his teens, and thus, finally gained an opportunity to study in the U.S. when he was 21.

���� Music provided him a refuge from the turbulence rocking the country under the Soviet's Communist regime. Playing the cello grounded and inspired him even in difficult conditions. He sees part of himself in the children of Fukushima who are forced to stay within 20 miles of the nuclear plants that experienced melted down. He hopes that expressing themselves through music, and creating a community through playing together, they can navigate and rise above the turbulence they experienced in the massive earthquake and consequent tsunami that devastated the area in 2011.

���� On October 29, 2016, Szpakiewicz's return appearance in Tokyo will include an encore with the 17 members of the Soma Children's Orchestra, which includes the young Risa Yoshida. The preceding recital in Azusa on October 15 will feature the same program, without the Soma Children's Orchestra, to raise awareness of the current situation of Fukushima and the heartfelt work of the children in the Children's Orchestra who are doing their share to rebuild their community.

� � � The October 15 recital features works by Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Schumann, Barber and Gershwin. Chinese-born pianist Jiayi Shi, who frequently collaborates with renowned violinist Midori, will accompany Szpakiewicz for this performance.

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