SEATTLE SYMPHONY PRESENTS “PICTURES OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066"
MULTI-MEDIA EXHIBIT CREATED BY JJ GERBER AND KISHI BASHI, IN COLLABORATION WITH DENSHO, EXPLORES THE IMPACT OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066 AND JAPANESE AMERICAN INCARCERATION
EXHIBIT TO BE PRESENTED IN OCTAVE 9: RAISBECK MUSIC CENTER IN EARLY 2022 ALONGSIDE SYMPHONY’S EO9066 CONCERT PROGRAM
SEATTLE, WA — The Seattle Symphony is honored to present “Pictures of Executive Order 9066” an immersive multi-media exhibit that explores the rippling impact of Executive Order 9066. The presentation will be in Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center at Benaroya Hall on January 27, January 29 and February 19, 2022, and marks the 80th anniversary of Executive Order 9066.
Issued on February 19, 1942, Executive Order 9066 authorized the relocation and incarceration of over 100,000 innocent Japanese American citizens during World War II. Over the course of several months, Japanese American men, women and children were removed from their homes and held at internment camps without due process. The executive order indelibly changed their lives and the history of the Puget Sound region, with many lingering effects still felt today.
“Pictures of Executive Order 9066” is a collaboration between award-winning filmmaker JJ Gerber and singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter Kishi Bashi that explores the stories of those impacted by Executive Order 9066 in an interactive exhibit. Inspired by the breathtaking photo documentation of the Japanese American incarceration during World War II by seminal photographer Dorothea Lange, this 10-minute self-guided multi-media experience, created especially for the immersive screens in Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center, also features oral histories supplied by Densho.
The “Pictures of Executive Order 9066” exhibit opening hours are as follows:
Thursday, January 27, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday, January 29, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday, February 19, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Tickets: $12 admission; EO9066 concert ticket holders will receive free entry on the day of their show with their concert ticket.
The exhibit is being presented alongside the Seattle Symphony’s EO9066 program. The orchestra showcases two works inspired by the executive order — first, the world premiere of Paul Chihara’s Beyond the Hills, a Seattle Symphony commission; then the musicians are joined onstage by Seattle-born Kishi Bashi for his own Improvisations on EO9066; Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 rounds out the program. Music Director Thomas Dausgaard conducts the EO9066 program on January 27 and 29.
TICKET INFORMATION
For more information on tickets for “The Legacy of EO9066” film exhibit or the EO9066 concert, please visit www.seattlesymphony.org or contact the Seattle Symphony Ticket Office.
The Seattle Symphony Ticket Office is located in Benaroya Hall, at Third Avenue and Union Street.
The Ticket Office can be reached by phone at (206) 215-4747 during the following times:
Tuesday–Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
The Seattle Symphony is requiring all visitors to provide proof of vaccination (or present a negative COVID-19 test) with photo ID and wear masks at all times while in Benaroya Hall. This is in addition to numerous safety measures, including a hospital-grade air filtration system, increased cleaning and more. For additional information about how the Symphony is working to ensure a safe return to live music, please visit the Symphony’s Safety Page. Additionally, the Seattle Symphony is implementing a flexible exchange and return policy through the end of the year.
JJ GERBER | FILMMAKER
JJ Gerber is a Primetime Emmy-nominated creative producer and storyteller, with over 15 years of experience on projects that span feature narrative and documentary films, music videos, commercials and pretty much any other form of moving image.
He has worked with award-winning design and production companies We Are Royale, Imaginary Forces, Fellow, LoyalKaspar and Future You Media. As a producer with these studios, he worked with clients Oculus, Facebook, Amazon, Google, Netflix, Hulu, FX Networks, Showtime, Marvel Studios and Adidas as well as numerous ad agencies, studios, broadcasters, non-profits and other inspired people that just wanted to make some cool shit. He was nominated for an Emmy for his work on the Main Title Sequence of the Amazon Prime series Bosch.
JJ’s feature documentary credits include Harmontown (SXSW 2014) and We Are Blood (released by The Orchard in 2015). He was a consulting producer on the feature film Beauty Is Embarrassing (Emmy Nominee / PBS Independent Lens 2014), helping with the strategy and implementation of nationwide theatrical self-distribution with Future You Media.
KISHI BASHI | COMPOSER & FILMMAKER
Kishi Bashi is the pseudonym of singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter/composer Kaoru Ishibashi. Born in Seattle, raised in Norfolk, Virginia, and currently based in Athens, Georgia, Ishibashi studied film scoring at Berklee College of Music before becoming a renowned violinist who has recorded and toured internationally with a range of diverse indie pop and rock artists in addition to co-founding electro rock group Jupiter One in 2003.
His solo career took off in 2011 and he released his debut full-length album, 151a, in 2012 on Joyful Noise Recordings. Three more albums followed — Lighght, Sonderlust and Omoiyari, released in 2014, 2016 and 2019, respectively, all on Joyful Noise. Omoiyari was borne from a symphony commissioned by Nu Deco Ensemble and premiered in 2018 (Improvisations on EO9066, which will be played with Seattle Symphony during his stop here).
In 2020, he scored the soundtrack for the Apple TV+ kids show Stillwater with composer Toby Chu, released Emigrant EP, a companion piece to Omoiyari that serves as a time capsule of the 2020 condition, and his feature length documentary, also called Omoiyari — about minority identity and the Incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II — is currently in production and due out sometime next year.
SEATTLE SYMPHONY
Led by Music Director Thomas Dausgaard, the Seattle Symphony unleashes the power of music, brings people together and lifts the human spirit. Recognized as one of the “most vital American orchestras” (NPR), the Seattle Symphony is internationally acclaimed for its inventive programming, community-minded initiatives and superb recordings on the Seattle Symphony Media label. With a strong commitment to new music and a legacy of over 150 recordings, the orchestra has garnered five Grammy Awards, 26 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and was named Gramophone’s 2018 Orchestra of the Year. The Symphony performs in Benaroya Hall in the heart of downtown Seattle from September through July, reaching over 750,000 people annually through live performances and radio broadcasts, and through the Seattle Symphony Live streaming service, the orchestra’s concerts reach audiences at home and around the world .
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EO9066 Concert Sponsors:
2021–2022 Masterworks Season Sponsor: Delta Air Lines
Thomas Dausgaard’s position is generously underwritten as the Harriet Overton Stimson Music Director.
Kishi Bashi's performances are generously sponsored by Marco Argenti.