Japanese Tsunami Benefit Concert Raises More Than $5,000

More than $5,000 was raised at a charity concert this past Sunday at the  for the victims of Japan’s March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

An estimated 400 people, including some Havertown residents, attended the fundraiser sponsored by the Lower Merion School District and Maestro’s Friends, a group created by the high school’s music director Tom Elliott.

When Elliott first heard about the March 11 9.0 earthquake and the resulting tsunami, he said he wanted to do something to help.

“As I watched in horror the eminence destruction and devastation occurring in Japan my thoughts and prayers focused me in finding a way to help,” Elliott wrote in an e-mail interview with Patch on Saturday.

After contacting members of the area’s Japanese community through his past and present Japanese students of his high school orchestra and along with his Maestro’s Friends, a benefit concert was formed. All donations will be given to a yet-to-be-decided school that has been ravaged by the quake in Japan, he wrote.

At the moment, members of the area’s Japanese community are trying to determine which school will receive donations, but communicating with schools in the Land of the Rising Sun have proven to be difficult because communications to areas hit hard by the quake and tsunami are still down, Asaki Nakagawa, one of the event’s coordinators, said on Sunday afternoon.

Susannah Chang, founder and president of the nonprofit organization Maestro's Friends, e-mailed Patch on Sunday night to state that the benefit concert raised more than $5,000.

“I don’t have an exact figure because some people told me they are sending in checks and I didn't feel that I could ask exactly how much they were going to write the check for. What we have in hand is $5,115,” she wrote.

Before the concert started at 3 p.m., Elliott was rehearsing with the Lower Merion High School student orchestra. Before dismissing them a few minutes before the concert started, he reminded them why they were all there.

“We are not playing this concert for ourselves,” he told them. “We are playing for something far greater than ourselves. … We are playing to save lives.”

Junior Jack Lashner, who plays the alto saxophone, and Kelly Dai, a 9th grader who plays the viola, said they felt great playing for the cause. Their fellow musicians echoed that sentiment.

“Playing for saving people’s lives is great,” said Sarah Blum, a freshmen clarinet player.

Her friend Robin Weiner agreed.

“It’s great that people are coming out to support this,” the 10th grade violinist said.

And some of the people who came out to support the fundraiser were from Japan.

Eiko Ogiso, a Havertown resident, said it was nice that people started the fundraiser, which also sold such things as baked goods and origami.

“This is America. The American people help so many in the world. I really appreciate it,” Ogiso said, who was sitting with her husband, Albert Reingewirtz.

Ogiso, a Tokyo native who has lived in the U.S. for 12 years, said that her family was not affected by the tsunami or earthquake.

But many places, such as Japanese schools, were affected by the destructive forces that have so far left more than 10,000 dead.

“Just as a parent of a student, it’s upsetting that many school buildings were lost,” said Nakagawa, who has lived in the U.S. for 15 years and her son attends the high school. She is from Kyoto, Japan originally but now lives in Wynnewood.

Before the concert started, the young members of the orchestra met with many children in the audience and showed them their instruments. Some children even had the chance to play them, such as the violin.

The emcee of the concert, Maestro the Lion himself and the mascot of Maestro’s Friends, explained to the audience some of the arrangements that the orchestra was performing, such as Igor Stravinsky’s “The Firebird Suite.” There were even dancers and actors who performed during the suite.

After the concert, Nakagawa and Takako Vernier spoke to the audience of the hardships that many Japanese have been facing these past few weeks. Nakagawa had to stop when describing the challenges and compose herself as she started to cry.

A YouTube video was shown, which featured images of the destruction in Japan.

Chang said that donations for the relief effort can still be made by check to:

LMSD Relief Fund 
Lower Merion School District
Attn: Japan Relief Fund
301 E Montgomery Ave.,
Ardmore, PA, 19003