Echos of Hope

Church Window Mask

Friday 6 March 7pm

Echoes of Hope is a memorial marking 15 years Japan disaster, featuring orchestral music, songs, and a play reading, praying for global peace.

Marking the 15th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, Echoes of Hope is a memorial event in the UK that honours disaster victims worldwide and offers a shared prayer for peace beyond borders and generations.

Programme

●Part I: A Play Reading with Piano
This staged reading is based on a true story by Juri Sato, who lost her beloved elder sister in the Great East Japan Earthquake.
The narrative unfolds through a dream in which her sister appears, gently encouraging her and guiding her toward a hopeful future.

Accompanied by live piano music, the performance sensitively conveys themes of hope, healing, the preciousness of life, and human connection.
The screenplay is co-written by Juri Sato and Toru Yamamoto, one of Japan’s leading film directors and screenwriters, known for works such as Tokyo Love Story, The Eternal Zero, and the recent Netflix series Ikusagami.
Yamamoto’s work is widely recognised for its compassionate portrayal of human resilience and the importance of human connection in times of hardship.

●Part II: Orchestra & Voices of Hope
Accompanied by a full orchestra, this programme presents songs of recovery, remembrance, and hope.
Japanese children living in the UK perform alongside UK-based singers, under the leadership of the event’s producer, Naomi Suzuki.
Through shared music-making across generations and cultures, the performance offers a message of hope for the future and a prayer for peace in the world.

The programme includes:
Inochi no Uta, Ito, Hana wa Saku, Imagine, and other works.

●Donations

Any surplus funds generated by the event, after production costs, will be donated as a gesture of gratitude to the UK and in continued solidarity with Japan, to the following causes:

Barnardo’s, a UK children’s charity

Disaster relief efforts in Noto, Japan

Support for children in Fukushima affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake