This recital is a fundraiser for the upcoming tour of the new musical "Peace On Your Wings” to the Bay Area and Seattle, which will launch in October 2017 at the Hammer Theatre in San Jose, in partnership with the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California. "Peace On Your Wings" is an original musical based on the true story of 12-year-old atomic bomb victim, Sadako Sasaki and her one-thousand origami paper cranes. It was written by Jenny Taira and Laurie Rubin, with music by Jenny Taira, lyrics by Laurie Rubin, and book by Jenny Taira and Laurie Rubin. It premiered to sold-out audiences on Oahu in November 2014, as part of the Ohana Arts Festival. The show subsequently toured the neighbor islands in the Spring of 2015, toured to Los Angeles for performances at the Aratani Theatre in partnership with the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in September 2015, and most recently had its New York premiere at the Gerald W. Lynch theater in September 2016. "Peace On Your Wings" has been the subject of two minidocumentaries by NHK, and has been featured on Broadway World, Huffington Post, and Playbill.com, amongst others.
The duo will weave in anecdotes and personal life stories, and will share their continuing journey through a multifaceted musical career while also following a path to inspire youth in the performing arts through Ohana Arts, producer of "Peace On Your Wings" and the organization which they co-founded together along with Carolyn Taira in 2010. Laurie and Jenny are both graduates of the Yale School of Music and have performed together nationally and internationally. Ms. Rubin has performed with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and New York City Opera, and has given recitals at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall in London, England, and the White House. Jenny Taira is an avid chamber musician, having co-founded the chamber music group, Musique à la Mode in NYC and having won top awards for her solo work. She has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Zipper Hall in Los Angeles, and the French Embassy in Washington D.C. In addition to writing "Peace On Your Wings", the duo has collaborated as pop songwriters and is currently working on their new album, "Summer Night in Winter," after having released their first single and music video, "The Girl I Am."