Virtual Concert: Gaman

Mar 30, 2022 - 12:00 pm

Available March 30, noon to 11pm.

Free concert remembering the internment of Japanese Americans.

On March 30, 1942, Japanese American residents of Bainbridge Island were removed from their homes and became the first to be incarcerated under Executive Order 9066. Fewer than half would return to the island, just a short ferry ride from Seattle.

Exactly 80 years later, we honor this sad anniversary with a free screening of Gaman. This is the work we commissioned from composer Christophe Chagnard and premiered in 2018 to explore the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans through the accounts of those who were there. The work combines Western and traditional Japanese instruments. It tells stories of individuals, families and artists based on their personal accounts, journals, letters and art works. The title - Gaman - refers to the struggle to endure the unbearable with patience and dignity.

Below is an interview with art historian Barbara Johns and composer Christophe Chagnard about Gaman.