Report on the Pan-Pacific Gamba Gathering 2007 in Hawaii＊ Tｈｅ ｂｅｇｉｎｎｉｎｇ, a ｓｕｍｍａｒｙ of the Pan-Pacific Gamba Gathering 2007 in Hawaii
The impetus to materialize our design for the Pan-Pacific Gamba Gathering in Hawaii was our performance at
Honolulu in the Spring 2004 during our American Tour. The day after our concert, Ms. Esha Neogy who lives in
Honolulu told us of a proposal by Prof. Brent Wissick, president of VdGSA at that time. Kambe thought it would
not be Pan-Pacific, if Japan did not join. So I said we would cooperate with you as Japanese. Through all ourvicissitudes, we were able to participate in this first Meeting.
The term was from 31July to 5 August 2007. Sponsored by the Viola da Gamba Society of America, the Violada Gam ba Society of Japan and the Australia Viola da Gamba Society. The location was the University of Hawaii
Manoa, Honolulu.
Diamondhead from the window of the dormitory of the University of Hawaii Manoa.

Participants were a big family comprising 90 persons. About one third of them were presenters such as
lecturer and performers. Participating nations were USA (45 persons including 10 from Hawaii), Japan (18),Australia (8), Canada (8), England (7), New Zealand, Malaysia, Switzerland, France, Sweden one each. There weremany various Pan-Pacific Nations. This Gathering was the first international gathering for viols and had many
dimensions for cultural exchange, including series of concerts, consort teaching program, lecture demonstrations,presentations, banquets, exhibition for amateurs and professionals. The theme was not only viol traditional music
and research, but also wide aspects of contemporary composition and ethnic research, which are famous strengthsof the University of Hawaii M anoa, which we could use. The most special and rare thing in this gathering was thatthe 35 presenters paid their airfares themselves and came as the result to try to know each other, to recognize
their differences and to study for their own futures. It seemed to us that there was time for everyone to think
together about the future of viols and our time within the framework of the Pan-Pacific rim.

* Overall events:
First, there was a lecture and a demonstration as academic exchange. We needed basic information ofPan-Pacific nations to know each other. So histories of viols were introduced by the board members of Japan, New
Zeeland and Australia. Then Ethnic approaches: kucho of Ryukyu Islands, rebab of Indonesia, erhu of China andkokyu of Japan were presented, considering them as parallel to the viol as the bowed string instruments of Europe.
The next main event was the consort with people from other countries, which we can not experience in our daily
lives. That was an exchange corner with all attendees. There were many themes on free demonstrations:contemporary, improvisation, and educational sessions by teachers from countries in question and answer style:
Hawaiian music, electronic viol etc.
Highlights were the concert series held every night. On the first evening, a sample concert had ten groups
each playing for ten minutes. Every group had an original color of their country, so we could know the wholeimpression of the Gathering.
Everyday concerts consisted of two groups. The Rose Consort from England searched persistentauthenticity, Hesperus from USA specialized in improvisation, A Merry Conceit=American Seats from USA played
European traditional music and American contemporary music printed in USA, Convivio+one from Australia andNew Zealan d playe d European traditional music, Backgammon Gamba from Australia played only contemporary
music including the melodie of the Aboriginies by young players, Les Voix Humaine from Canada arranged freely themusic of Saint Colombe and Marais for two viols, Catherina Meints from USA played three Bach s sonates on her
wonderful instrument in magnificent style, YKVC was from Japan.
EveryWonderful Thielke viol

With Mr. Kazuya Sato

PPGG executive members: Finished! Reliefed!

Toast!

＊On YKVＣ s activities:
We were the final players on the Sample concert on the first night. We set a tasting program, Etenraku, J ay
pris amour by Heinrich Isaak, Catlz by Tsutom Mizuno and asked the audience to vote for their favorite pieces forour request concert on the last day of series A Popularity Vote - As You Like It , For encore, we played Blue
Hawaii. Sakurai complacently like Presley , Kambe holding her treble horizontally like a ukelele, Noguchi played
pizzicato like a bass in Hawaiian style. We could heap the opening in Japanese and festive merrymaking style as atrigger group after serious performances by professionals from other nations.

Anyway our attention led to cats:

One concept of the Pan-Pacific Gamba Gathering was the session of contemporary music. We premiered
the Nature of things-Water- by Prof. Donald Womack of University of Hawaii. This was composed after ourconcert and workshop in Hawaii during our Tour 2004, and premiered in Japan at Exhibition of Viol Consort Music
XIX at Tokyo in 2004. It express dolphins swimming like birds, whale in the deep ocean, crab, school of small fishes,Jaws . The full audience in the classroom enjoyed how we communicate with each other and with composer andplayer and found contemporary music quite interesting. We could fill one of the intents of the Gathering. Dr.
D.Womack has a sabbatical now and is staying in Japan until 2008. We will premier the instrumental version of hisO Magnam mysterioso at the Exhibition of Viol Consort Music XXII in Winter 2007. Enjoy it!

Laboratory for contemporary music

With Dr. Donald Womack

In the Lecture by Kambe Viols in Japan - Edo era to Today- , she presented the continuation of her
previous research on the Viols in Japan in the Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries . Information included
which came from abroad, such as Portugal, Netherlands, Russia, England, Germany an d USA during the Edo
National Isolation period and after Taisho era going through War II to today filled another intention of thisGathering. Thanks to the good reviews from the floor. You can find the paper at www.vdgsa.org/ppgg

Kambe at the talk early in the morning

Ozawa and Noguchi jumped into the session on Do some unusual thing on the viol . They performed
Etenraku together with Mrs.Mari Kano, Musicologist of Japanese music. Especially, they stressed how to learn thetraditional Japanese music without notation. They demonstrated at first singing Shoga (solfage of gagaku), thenthey transcribed the melody to their instrument, this time it was not the gagaku instrument but viol. Somehow, theaudience liked this Etenraku, it ranked in the second place at A Popularity Vote - As You Like It ！

Coffee break at courtyard

Favorite！ Request Concert A Popularity Vote - As You Like It . The last concert at this Gathering. We
prepared 33 pieces from many nations as possible from early time to today adjusting for this Gathering. Theaudience voted for six pieces from the list which were calculated just before the concert. YKVC did not knowwhat was voted until just before we played.

The result of the vote ・・・
１st place
234567

Ryouhei Hirose: Suite for Noble Cats

Etenraku
Antonio Carlos Jobin: A Girl from Ipanema
Dietrich Buxtehude: Prelude Bux WV148 from Organ music
Henry Purcell: Fantasia no.7
Petr Iiych Tchaikovsky: Arabian Dance (Coffee)
Ludwig Senfl: Ich stuend an einem Morgen

Two fans of the YKVC flew from Japan for this concert and tabulated the vote sheets. Suzanne Ferguson,president of VdGSA is carrying the result in the big treble case to the announcer Ken Perlow, treasurer of VdGSA
on the stage. See the picture below. Like the Emmy Awar ds! We began to play from the 7th place to the first. Asa surprise encore, we presented a Canzon by Giovanni Salvatore after the request of Kathy Spencer, editor ofNews of VdGSA, who just had her birthday.
The review of the floor was the vote concert is good idea . There were some who understood how muchwork and said to us it might be hard to prepare so much repertory for more than one concert. Uhhh… In theother hand we could know the taste of the special audience of the Pan-Pacific Gamba Gathering through thisevent. After all, well-known music and upbeat music were loved regardless of whether one plays viol oneself ornot. Buxtehude was loved because 2007 was the 300th anniversary of his death. Sakurai did a good job in placeof Kaori Hashizume, who could not attend for health reasons. During the Gathering we displayed and sold our CDs:
Buffet delle Quattro Viole da Gamba, Foglia d olivo, Ja, doch BAC H an d YKVC Music series.

Heavy Result

After the Gathering, we moved from Oahu to Kona on Hawaii Islan d, the so-called Big Island, we played theBuffet program as a first viol concert there. This was organized by Early Music Hawaii and was an adjunct concertof the Gathering. The Christ Church Episcopal Community at Kealakekua was full with an audience of 70 and gave
a wonderful standing ovation to the performance to our satisfaction. We hope we could help for the future of theearly music and viol on the island. We were very excited because the island was source of our favorite Kona
Coffee, beautiful birds flying into our rehearsal church, mango, lychee, avocado and of course banana grew here andthere alongside roads. We looked around restlessly.

With president of Early Music Hawaii Mr. and Mrs. Garrete Webb

Mango, Lychee, Banana and coffee

The Next day, Noguchi and Ozawa left the Big Island very early in the morning, 6:30! They could not have
had time to sleep. The Airport was familiar like a bus stop and with only bench and roof. Sakurai and Kambe left
2 hours later and went back to Japan through Honolulu.

Airport in the dawn. Lobby and gates are open air

On this occasion, we were asked to visit USA, Canada, New Zealan d and France in the future. We hope tohonor these invitations. With a thousand thanks to The Asahi Shimbun Foundation and to all who helped us. YKVC(Assistance with the English translation: David Loeb)