Day of Peace to feature Symphony Orchestra, composition’s premiere

The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra will present the Oak Ridge premiere of Adaption Variations by living Japanese American composer Takuma Itoh as the featured musical selection during the United Nations International Day of Peace observance Tuesday, Sept. 21, at the International Friendship Bell and Peace Pavilion in A.K. Bissell Park.

Takuma Itoh

The outdoor Music for Peace performance will follow Haiku for Peace presentations and children’s activities by Oak Ridge Girl Scouts during a program focused on the Friendship Bell, Peace Pavilion and the adjacent karesansui garden. Ziad Demian, the architect who designed the Peace Pavilion dedicated in 2018, will speak on the tradition and technology in the pavilion design.

The community is invited to bring picnic dinners and chairs or blankets to Bissell Park near the Peace Pavilion beginning at 5:15 p.m., with the program at 6 p.m. and music at 7 p.m. In case of rain, an alternate location will be announced.

Katy Wolfe

The music program will open with Girl Scouts and guest soprano Katy Wolfe leading attendees in singing “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” accompanied by the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra. Music Director and Conductor Dan Allcott will lead the orchestra in the Music for Peace performance, continuing the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association’s history of participating in community events promoting peace.

The first selection, Adaption Variations, is a 12-minute composition by Itoh, who lives in Hawaii. Allcott, after he was introduced to Professor Itoh’s music, said it quickly became apparent that this composition was quite appropriate for a performance on the Day of Peace.  Itoh writes of his music:

https://www.oakridger.com/story/news/2021/09/20/day-peace-feature-symphony-orchestra-compositions-premiere/8352968002/