Sachiyo Uenoyama held a global awareness session at Ebuno Izuminomori Hall. Drawing upon her experiences teaching?Japanese in Paraguay, she gave a lecture and played?the arpa, a Paraguayan harp. ?Alongside her gentle yet powerful harp playing, were her own paintings. The colorful paintings visually captured the expressive mood of the music.?Many of the attendees were touched by the performance.

Uenoyama played the harp wearing the national costume of Paraguay. The costume, a very colorful display of delicately stitched lace and patterns was meant to resemble?earth with its rich diversity of people.

Listening to the Arpa?Performance and Talk

by Makoto Otsuya

Uenoyama is sometimes a school counselor,?sometimes?she’s an actress, and at other times she’s an oil painter. However, I truly feel that Uenoyama is a warrior of love.

I listen to my ipod every day and after listening to?Uenoyama’s live music, I felt comfort surrounded by the real sound of the harp.?She produced smooth gentle tones, intense sounds, and occasionally struck my heart?by the sounds she produced. A couple times she tapped the base turning the arpa?into a drum.

The talk was as unique as Osaka and easy to understand even though it was a difficult topic. I was surprised and laughed suddenly when she performed a little skit.

At the beginning she was wearing a?costume of Paraguay. She represented the earth in all it’s color and diversity. Then suddenly she put on her beret and became a?painter.

While explaining her artwork, such as the Constellation, I came to realize Uenoyama’s wide breadth of abilities, from painter to arpa player. ?”I’m the same age”, I thought. ?”I need to start trying harder.”

Words from the Audience

 

I felt very fortunate to hear the story of about the colorful costumes.They had been knitted, not by one person, but by various people.

Again, I’m reminded of the meaning of life.

I’m glad I brought the family.