October 2000: A Faculty of Music collaboration with East Asian Studies and Japanese Calligraphy Artist and Dogen Scholar Kazuaki Tanahashi.
Tanahashi Sensei (Berkeley and Kyoto) worked with my graduate conducting students in the practice of Japanese calligraphy, both ancient and modern. We explored the development of mindfulness, concentration and deep listening through a series of related calligraphy and conducting exercises designed to relax the mind and bear witness to self and others in rehearsal and performance. With an emphasis on listening skills, the students faced their personal fears of imperfection in relation to their performance expectations.
October 2001: Listen, Create and Celebrate: Music and Painting for Peace.
Hosted by the Royal Ontario Museum in collaboration with the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, and led by Japanese artist and peacemaker Kazuaki Tanahashi with Kiyoshi Nagata and his Taiko drumming ensemble, Doreen Rao’s MacMillan Singers and Scott St. John’s Faculty Chamber Orchestra, the peace performance engaged an afternoon audience of smiling parents and excited children who “participated in peace” through listening, singing and painting Ensos throughout the afternoon. To the music of J.S. Bach, Mozart and Takemitsu, Kaz Tanahashi created a large multi-coloured Ensos (Zen circle) – “a rainbow of peace circle” for the city of Toronto.
October 2005: Kazuaki Tanahashi Guest Residency.
Tanahashi-sensei again visited the University of Toronto Faculty of Music to continue his collaborative research projects in peace education and musical performance with Dr. Rao. During his residency, Tanahashi-sensei worked closely with Dr. Rao and her graduate conducting students, demonstrating the basic tenets of Japanese calligraphy and its implications for deep listening and concentration.
For more information on Kazuaki Tanahashi, please visit his website.