The Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival is fortunate to have the opportunity to invite performing groups from Japan for decades. On a typical in-person festival, Japanese groups travel overseas to perform on our Festival stages and Friendship Reception, and march down the Grand Parade.
The 54th annual Festival’s theme is Kizuna – Strength through Bonds of Community and Friendship, and we will commemorate the 10 year anniversary of the Tohoku Earthquake with a special presentation of Reflections of Tohoku and performing groups from the Tohoku region. Although we cannot meet in person this year, we are very honored to introduce two groups of talented performers for the 2021 Virtual Festival Day 1 on Saturday, April 10th.
Development of Arts – Band / Ballet / Choir
Japanese ballet
Development of Arts (D.O.A.) is a performance company from Sendai City in Miyagi Prefecture, consisting of D.O.A. Super Band, K-Ballet Company, and D.O.A. Mixed Chorus. They will be sharing a video of their exhibition at the Cherry Blossom Miyako Sakonaka.
おせわになっております。 動画を送ります。 何か修正が必要な場合はご連絡ください。 よろしくお願いいたします。 迫中 都
Lillybell, Tone Chime and Choir トーンチャイム
Choir and hand chime performance
Lillybell is celebrating its fourth year and is led by conductor Keiko Hirakawa. The group is comprised of members who were fascinated by the sound of the tone chime (choir chime). Almost all of the members are from Sendai City, and they meet in Aoba Culture Center in the Miyagi Prefecture. The group has performed for numerous concerts in Tokyo and Sendai as well as at Christmas events, and delivers soothing and healing experience through their music.
They will be performing “Sakura Sakura,” “El Condor Pasa,” and “Grand Father’s Clock” with hand chimes. For the finale, they will be joined by Women’s Choir group, Flugel Aoba to perform Studio Ghibli animation songs.