Harmony unites East and West

The International Vocal Ensemble specializes in bringing music of diverse cultures to IU's campus. This weekend, however, cultures will cross further as the IVE hosts the Fukushima Kodály Choir. \nThe Fukushima Kodály Choir is an ensemble made up mostly of primary school teachers from the northern provinces of Japan. The group is named after the famous music educator Zoltán Kodály, whose intent was to develop better methods for teaching music in order to promote a happier life for those who learn it. \nBoth the Fukushima choir and IVE recreate music from many cultures. According to its Web site, the Fukushima ensembles repertoire "covers a wide range, from Gregorian chant to modern a cappella European choral music ... as well as Japanese traditional folk music, folk dances and folk customs." \nFor its concert here at IU, the group will be collaborating with IVE on a number of pieces, including music intended for festivals, folk songs, and also music of Ainu people, an aboriginal group originally populated the island of Hokkaido.\nThe connection between the two groups stems from a meeting of their directors. Professor Mary Goetze, director and conductor of the IVE, met Miyako Furiya, the director of the Fukushima Kodály Choir when both were in Amsterdam in 1996. \nGoetze recognized similarities between her group and Furiya's. \n"We both recognize the importance of respecting and sustaining the diverse musical traditions from around the globe," Goetze said. "I was looking for vocal music that IVE could perform. What I knew of Japanese music was that it wasn't very choral, but she brought to my attention different forms that we could work with."\nA few years after the initial meeting, Furiya invited Goetze to come visit her in Japan, and together they started gathering materials to produce a CD-ROM on Japanese music. \n"I had already done a CD-ROM prototype of music from South Africa," Goetze said. "Then Miyako and I made plans for a similar project on Japanese music." \nThe CD will be in both English and Japanese, so it can be used by educators both here and in Japan.\nThe IVE used this CD to learn some of the pieces it will perform this Sunday. \n"The CD-ROM was great because the music is broken down so we can hear the parts and learn them more easily," said Amy Appel, a member of the choir and second-year graduate student studying music education. "We have been listening to the music and had some time to familiarize ourselves with the music and the culture."\nWhile this way of learning music may seem odd for a choir, using audio visual materials is par for the course for IVE.\n"When you are doing music that isn't always written, the learning process must be different," Brett Floyd, a senior guitar major said. "We use lots of AV, and very little score. It's kind of nice, but frustrating sometimes, because there is lots of repetition."\nThe two choirs will not get a chance to meet until Friday, just two days before the concert. IVE has been learning phrases in Japanese in order to greet its guests, but members are unsure of how the melding of their sounds will be.\n"I'm most looking forward to hearing what they think of our reproduction of their music," Floyd said, "and also getting to hear them live, rather than through a video projector."\nThe collaborative concert Sunday is only one of several activities the Fukushima choir will be participating in. At 2:30 p.m. Saturday, the group will participate in a gospel workshop with the African-American Choral Ensemble, led by James Mumford, which will be in the Grand Hall of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.\nThe final concert is at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 28 in Auer Hall. The event is free and open to the public.