The devastating Japanese earthquake and tsunami of March 12, 2011 left people all over the world looking for a way to help the nation recover. Local 33 member Laura Tagawa and her husband, Toru, felt compelled to act, so they enlisted the help of other Tucson musicians with ties to Japan to organize a benefit concert on March 26, 2011. Participants included Local 33 members Aaron Boyd, Yvonne Creanga, Paula Fan, Michael Fan, Melanie Olsen Fan, Anna Gendler, Jim Karrer, Wynne Wong-Rife, Emma Votapek and Diane Zelickman, as well as University of Arizona professors and students, and other musicians from the Tucson community. The program featured performances ranging from solo instrumental to string quartet to Japanese dance to string orchestra, and the standing-room only crowd responded enthusiastically with donations totaling $15,400, which were sent directly to the Japanese Red Cross. “It is always rewarding when music brings people together for a cause like this,” says Local 33 Executive Board member Emma Votapek. “The generosity of not only the audience members, but the musicians who donated their time and talents to make the concert a success, was overwhelming.
November 23, 2011