Japanese “Good Luck” flags are decorated with messages from family members, friends, and community members that wish victory, safety, and good luck for the soldier. (Supplied)
The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) and OBON Society are in the process of returning another Yosegaki Hinomaru or Japanese “Good Luck” flag (circa 1939-1945) from the Museum’s Collections to its rightful family. OBON Society provides reconciliation between American and Japanese families through the return of personal items acquired during World War II.
Japanese “Good Luck” flags are decorated with messages from family members, friends and community members that wish victory, safety and good luck for the soldier. Through extensive research, the GRPM was able to connect with OBON Society to share high-resolution images of the flag for translation. Volunteer Japanese scholars interpret the messages, which can reveal the soldier’s origins, name and location of death. The information obtained from this particular flag in the Museum’s Collections allowed OBON Society to locate the deceased soldier’s niece, who is still living in Japan.
“We are creating a space for people who fought, suffered and grieved because of the war to enter in conversation and have the opportunity for healing and reconciliation,” said a spokesperson from OBON Society. “When news of our work travels around the world, we have witnessed the profound effect it can have on humanity.”
A Grand Rapids Public Museum staff member prepares the Japanese Good Luck flag for return to its family. (Supplied)
The flag is currently in the process of being returned to the soldier’s niece in Japan through OBON Society. The GRPM currently has possession of two more Japanese “Good Luck Flags,” which are logged in the Museum’s Collections database, accessible at grpmcollections.org. The GRPM has provided details about the remaining flags to OBON society, who will continue to search for the family members.
“The GRPM is honored to take care of these important heirlooms,” said Alex Forist, Chief Curator at the GRPM. “It is our hope they will be returned to families in Japan who may not have any other tangible connection to their loved ones who were killed in combat.”
LANSING — Sunny skies, concerts, food and fun will be happening in Traverse City, Grand Rapids and other Michigan communities as festivals return this year after cancellations and limitations in the previous two years due to COVID-19.
Among the summer festivals returning this year is the Asian-Pacific Festival on June 10-11. (Supplied)
The National Cherry Festival is returning to downtown Traverse City July 2-9 and will mark its 96-year anniversary.
It celebrates cherries in Northern Michigan, which produces 70% of the nation’s cherries, according to executive director Kat Paye.
In 2020, the festival was canceled due to COVID-19, and in 2021 some events were changed, such as having smaller concerts and a drive-through parade, while its usual air show was canceled.
This year, visitors can look forward to the Community Royale Parade and Cherry Royale Parade, eight concerts, two air shows and 150 events.
Paye said the main focus of the festival is always the agriculture of cherries.
“We have a pie-eating contest and you can get cherry pie flurries at our ice cream tent in order to taste the harvest,” Paye said.
Mike Szukhent, the president of Michigan Festivals and Events Association, said festivals and other events ran at a 30% rate in 2021, while this year the association expects close to a 100% rate.
Szukhent said he spoke with Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, who said there won’t be any restrictions this year so festivals and events can go back to normal scheduling.
“We’re looking at 2022 being a major uptick because there aren’t any regulations or restrictions prohibiting festivals,” Szukhent said.
Among them is the Asian-Pacific Festival on June 10-11 and Roll’N Out Food Truck Festival May 22, both in Grand Rapids.
The Asian-Pacific Festival was canceled in 2020 and took place on a restricted basis as a smaller event in 2021.
Food trucks return Rock ‘N Out Food Truck Festival May 22. (WKTV)
Festival director Mai Thao said organizers this year are anticipating the biggest turnout ever and people are ready to continue the free celebration in a safe and COVID-friendly environment.
Friday night will be dedicated to Pacific Islander Night and Saturday is Hmong night, according to Thao.
Meanwhile, the Grand Rapids Food Truck Association expects more than 35 participants in its Roll’N Out Food Truck Festival after cancellations in 2020 and 2021, according to Lauren D’Angelo, the association’s vice president.
“We are excited to get all of the food trucks together in Grand Rapids and celebrate the food truck culture and growth,” D’Angelo said.
“We want everyone to come out, try new things and check out all the new food trucks in the area. We hope everyone leaves with a full tummy and great experience,” she said.
Grand Valley’s award-winning New Music Ensemble has released a new CD that was composed by three alumni of the program.
The release of the ensemble’s fourth commercial CD, “Return,” will be celebrated on Friday, Oct. 27, with a concert from 7:30-9 p.m. in Louis Armstrong Theatre, located in the Thomas J. and Marcia J. Haas Center for Performing Arts on the Allendale Campus.
The album’s three composers, Adam Cuthbért, ’10, Matthew Finch, ’15, and Daniel Rhodé, ’12, will be in attendance, and Cuthbért will open the show with a special performance. An opportunity to meet the composers and the members of the New Music Ensemble will take place following the concert. The event is free and open to the public.
Bill Ryan, New Music Ensemble director, said this project fulfills his longtime goal of producing a “100 percent homegrown project.”
“This recording represents everything I envisioned when I started the New Music Ensemble — an entire album composed by three outstanding creative thinkers who came through our program, enthusiastically performed and recorded by current students,” said Ryan. “The result is a strikingly beautiful 78-minute journey that has been the most gratifying experience of my career.”
The composers worked with the ensemble’s acoustic recordings, and manipulated some to create the 15 acoustic-electronic hybrid compositions featured on the album.
“There are moments when the instruments are clearly heard, and others where you may think you know what’s happenings or where you are just perplexed,” Ryan explained. “Clarity of the sonic division between the two worlds of acoustic and electronic is a great tool to play with in terms of engaging the listener.”
Students were encouraged to explore their instruments in new ways for the album, which Hannah Donnelly said is one of the unique experiences of being a member of the New Music Ensemble.
“Being a part of the New Music Ensemble provides students with a musical experience you won’t find anywhere else on campus,” said Donnelly, a senior majoring in music performance and psychology who plays the flute in the ensemble. “You come to rehearsal and are allowed to experiment with your sound, even if it’s ‘ugly.’ You definitely begin to learn the endless possibilities of the sound of your instrument.”
Ryan Schmidt, a senior majoring in music, said the process of creating “Return” helped him see the possibilities of music differently through feedback from the three composers.
“Something that I thought sounded bad or unacceptable was exactly what the composers wanted, and in fact, they wanted more,” said Schmidt. “For instance, the microphones picked up subtle noises that your mouth can make while wetting a reed or just setting the mouthpiece to play. The composers used these sounds that otherwise would be useless or strange, and made music with it.”
Schmidt added that this experience helped him better appreciate the creative process of developing new music.
“Most often, we are playing from a deceased composer’s score and it can feel like we are trying to replicate something that has already been done,” he said. “This process was so valuable because we were making something brand new.”
Cuthbért said the inspiration for the pieces he composed for the album stemmed from his internal questioning of how people can keep their humanity in the midst of advancements in technology and science.
“‘Location Sharing’ and ‘Background Refresh’ are two tracks named for minor features on our phones that streamline communication through pretty complex technology,” he said.
“Return” is available for purchase on Amazon and iTunes. The CD will be released on the Innova label, and the album was mastered by Grammy Award winner Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound, whose other clients include Lady Gaga, Adele and Katy Perry.
The New Music Ensemble promotes contemporary classical chamber music, with a special focus on music of the past 20 years, through commissions, tours, recordings, educational events, workshops and videos.
Since the ensemble formed in 2006, the group has released three other critically acclaimed recordings, which have appeared on “best release lists” by The New York Times, Washington Post, LA Weekly and Time Out Chicago. Some of the ensemble’s recordings have appeared in film and television shows on MTV, Showtime, as well as at more than 75 film festivals around the world, and most recently in U.S. movie theaters as a part of the soundtrack for the film “As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM.”
The ensemble has completed four tours, including their most recent tour across four U.S. national parks in 2016. The group has also performed at the Bang On a Can Marathon in New York City, the College Music Society National Conference in Atlanta and at Carnegie Hall.
