REBROADCAST: Revisiting ‘The Burned Piano Project: Creating Music Amidst the Noise of Hate’

‘Seeds of Peace’ tells story of Hiroshima survivor and trees planted from seeds of those that survived after the blast

On August 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima [https://visit.archives.gov/whats-on/explore-exhibits/atomic-bombing-hiroshima-and-nagasaki], killing an estimated 140,000 thousand people. Hideko Tamura Snider was 10 years old at the time of the devastating blast and suffered unspeakable loss. She tells her story and her work for peace and reconciliation in the new documentary “Seeds of Peace [https://www.outdoorhistoryconsulting.com/seedsofpeace].” She recently revised and updated her 1998 memoir  “One Sunny Day [https://osupress.oregonstate.edu/book/one-sunny-day]” to include this work.   The film documents her involvement in the years-long effort taking the seeds of trees that survived the atomic bomb to grow dozens of trees in Oregon. The communities chosen have ties to “World War II memory, Japanese American incarceration, veterans’ experience, and reconciliation.” We talk with the historian David-Paul B. Hedberg, producer and director of “Seeds of Peace." The film is screening around the state, including on the August 6 anniversary [https://tomorrowtheater.org/movies/seeds-of-peace/] at Portland’s Tomorrow Theater.

REBROADCAST: Revisiting ‘The Burned Piano Project: Creating Music Amidst the Noise of Hate’

Four years ago, a Portland Jewish family’s home was destroyed in an arson. As they got rid of all their burned belongings, the one thing they couldn’t bear to do was toss out with the rest of the burned remains a 100 year-old Steinway grand piano that had belonged to “Grandma Bess.” Much of it was intact, though not restorable. They reached out to musicians and artists and ultimately found their way to Jennifer Wright. She’s a classical pianist by training, a composer and a sound artist who works with found instruments and other objects.    The family, who wants to keep their identity private, worked with Wright over the following two  years on turning the grand piano into a mixed media exhibit, including a newly formed glass piano and textile art made with the burned strings. In a statement that is included in the exhibit, the family wrote: “Seeing the piano transformed from a burned and destroyed object into the foundations of new instruments, furniture, art, beauty, and community awareness is a balm for the wounds of waste and loss. … Finding connectedness is an antidote to hate.”   We listen back to our visit to the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education to see the mixed media exhibit and talk with artist Jennifer Wright and OJMCHE director Rebekha Sobel. This segment originally aired on May 31, 2024.

How Oregon magicians are keeping the craft alive

Stage magic reached its peak [https://americanmuseumofmagic.com/history-of-magic/] in the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th century, when illusionists such as Harry Houdini and Howard Thurston fascinated audiences with feats of escapism, levitation and more. It had a resurgence in the late 20th century when David Copperfield, Penn and Teller and others brought their acts to television audiences.    In the age of reality TV stars and social media influencers, illusionists may seem like entertainment relics. So who’s still learning magic? What keeps the craft alive?   To answer those questions and more, we’re joined by George Alvarez, president of the Portland Society of Magicians [https://www.portlandsocietyofmagicians.com/], and Eric Pearson, founder of the magic performance group The Secret Society [https://www.facebook.com/SenseiStrange/]

Oregon needs transit-oriented upzoning, says one Portlander

Last year, California and Washington passed laws to make it easier to allow midrise buildings to be built near transit stations throughout the state. Oregon did not. According to Fischer Jemisen, who runs urbanpdx.blog [https://urbanpdx.blog/why-oregon-needs-transit-oriented-upzoning/], transit-oriented upzoning in Portland could help answer the ridership recovery issues that TriMet is having. He joins us to share more on the benefits and challenges of transit upzoning.

Portland-based nonprofit hosts culinary education program for those with barriers to employment

The Portland-based organization Stone Soup hosts a twelve-week culinary education training for individuals that have had significant employment barriers, whether that be experiences with substance abuse, gaps in work experience, lack of access to resources or housing, or other systemic obstacles. The program works to equip those participants with skills to enter the food service industry.   The organization was founded in 2018, and its community kitchen program also provides meals to senior care communities, schools, mental health facilities and shelters, some of which are cooked by those participating in the culinary training program, and some of which are cooked by Stone Soup staff.    We’ll hear from the organization’s director, Ellen Damaschino, and one of the participants of the program, Mikey Barth, about the culinary training program, as well as the organization’s work to provide meals to community organizations.