Hiroshima memorial concert
Every year since 1982 a local group, Performers and Artists for Nuclear Disarmament (PAND), has observed the anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan by presenting a concert. We went to this year's performance of Faure's Requiem presented at St. Paul's church in Cleveland Heights.
The music—to my untrained ear—was lovely. Yet as I looked around at the nearly full pews I was struck by the total lack of teens and young adults. Given the nature of the event this didn't surprise me, but it made me think. Surely it's not a bad thing for a group of older people to take time to remember the past by listening to classical music. But what about the future? Should we be doing something different?
I tried to put things in the context of iPods, text messaging and cellphones, the preferred communication methods of younger folks. It was hard to see where this might fit. I suspect that there are young people who are taking action against nuclear weapons but I'm just not aware of it since I don't have a cell phone or iPod.
I do spend a fair amount of time on the Web, and a quick YouTube search for "nuclear disarmament" turned up this video by Ryan Lemieux. He also offers a link to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament website.
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