Migiwa Miyajima

Composed by Migiwa Miyajima
Performed by Miggy Augmented Orchestra

Featured Soloists;

1.  Intro 1 (2:46 p.m.) - solos: Ryan Keberle (Trombone), Megan Masako Haley (Voice) 

Casual backstage chatter between band members opens the album, conjuring the ordinariness of life before disaster. Ryan Keberle’s trombone then breaks in as a wailing siren, capturing the chaos of 2:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011, and transitions to the first story.

2.  Where Is My Home? - solos: Ryan Keberle (Trombone), Tim Horner (Drums), Sam Dillon (Tenor Saxophone), Ashton Muñiz (Voice)

Pastor Akira Sato’s story. Akira Sato’s church stood barely 5 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. He lost his home, his church, and all his possessions in an instant, then spent more than a year moving between evacuation shelters while holding his congregation together through prayer. A new church, funded by donations from around the world, now stands in a different town. “Now it is our turn to help others,” he says today. Sam Dillon’s driving tenor saxophone and fast-swing rhythm convey the upheaval and longing, before a settling chord announces new hope.

3.  I Live, I Talk - solos: Quinsin Nachoff (Tenor Saxophone),  Arielle Gonzalez (Voice)

Kyohmi Takahashi’s story. Kyohmi Takahashi lost both parents to the tsunami in Ishinomaki. What eventually drew her out of severe depression was the hands extended by those around her. “I took each person’s hand, one by one, and before I knew it I was back in daily life.” Quinsin Nachoff’s tenor saxophone solo develops by following and responding to the voices of the other musicians, mirroring that process.

4.  Let Me Talk About My Dream - solos: Pete McCann (Guitar), Todd Bashore (Alto Saxophone), Ashton Muñiz (Voice) 

Kazemaru Chiba’s story (Kyohmi Takahashi’s son). At 18, Kazemaru Chiba lost his grandparents in the disaster and stood by his mother through years of depression. Now in his early thirties, he continues to search for ways to build a society where people genuinely support one another. An 18-bar melody modulates repeatedly, growing into a rich ensemble texture that reflects the shape of his journey.

5. Intro 2 (Migiwa’s Story) - solos: Megan Masako Haley (Voice), Migiwa Miyajima (Piano)
6. A Step for Tomorrow - solos: Jason Jackson (Trombone), Migiwa Miyajima (Piano)

Migiwa Miyajima’s story. The year after 3.11, a Japanese government scholarship brought Miyajima to New York. Joy at a dream fulfilled collided with guilt over those still suffering. A friend’s words persuaded her to take the step. After a quiet narrative and piano passage, the movement’s sole piano performance by Miyajima unfolds in an intimate duet with Jason Jackson on trombone.

7. Intro 3 (Takayuki’s Story) - solos: Ashton Muñiz (Voice), Jared Beckstead-Craan (Bass)
8. I Will Make a Change - solos: Carl Maraghi (Baritone Saxophone), Gina Benalcazar-Lopez (Bass Trombone), Martha Kato (Piano), Ashton Muñiz (Voice)

Takayuki Yoshinaga’s story. Takayuki Yoshinaga left Tokyo to move to Namie, Fukushima — a town evacuated in its entirety — to join a community rebuilding project. After a narration and bass solo state his quiet resolve, the music ventures into the places that were once off-limits, expressed as a blues that is equal parts prayer and soul cry, featuring Carl Maraghi’s baritone saxophone.

9.  Intro 4 (A.K. — Akemi Kakihara & Together for 311’s Story) - solos: Ben Kono (Flute), Arielle Gonzalez (Voice), Migiwa Miyajima (Voice)

Ben Kono, a fourth-generation Japanese American, plays flute while Miyajima reads aloud the names of all thirteen members of Together for 311, one by one, in a gesture of gratitude.

10.  The Future of the Planted Seeds - solo: Ben Kono (Flute) 

A.K. Akemi Kakihara & Together for 311’s story. Thirteen Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans in New York founded Together for 311 and sustained its memorial events for a decade. What began as a way to help others quietly became, for them, the gift of a second family. Ben Kono’s flute traces that bond with quiet certainty.

11.  Life Is Good - solos: Evan Amoroso (Trombone), Stuart Mack (Trumpet), Martha Kato (Piano), Tim Horner (Drums)

Yuko Miyajima’s story (Migiwa’s mother). After surviving 311, Yuko Miyajima was diagnosed with oral cancer. She overcame it and said simply: “I learned so much from the earthquake and from cancer — now I want to put that learning to use for others.” The entire band breaks into handclaps; the ensemble’s collective joy spills over in one of the album’s most exuberant tracks.

12.  10 Years and Counting - solo: David Smith (Trumpet) 

Migiwa Miyajima’s story. A survivor of 3.11 and an immigrant woman composer living in the United States, Miyajima looks back across a decade. A melody layered from “1” to “10” grows richer in harmony and ensemble texture with each pass, carrying inside it the wish to build something better.

13.  Fourteen Springs - solos: Megan Masako Haley (Vocal), Rachel Therrien (Trumpet)

A quiet, unshakeable declaration: Miyajima will live fully enough for those whose lives were cut short. Megan Masako Haley’s voice and Rachel Therrien’s trumpet carry the depth of fourteen springs’ worth of meaning.

This project was made possible with the generous support of multiple arts organizations. The Jerome Foundation, MAP Fund’s SPA Coaching, Asian American Arts Alliance's residency and Woodward Residency supported the initial planning and development of the project, while the production was funded by The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre, administered by the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in association with the New York Foundation for the Arts. LMCC Creative Engagement and Culture Lab LIC provided opportunities for the work-in-progress concert and the world premiere. Finally, thanks to the incredible team at Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center this project could be recorded and filmed. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of them.