Note from the composer: “I got the title Behold The Sea from the Mendocino (CA) and Miasa (Japan) sister city wooden peace plaque. The carving was done by Toshi Yoshida, a Japanese woodblock artist who had done a residency in Mendocino back in the '70s. Inspired by his time at the Mendocino Arts Center, Yoshida founded an arts center in his home town of Miasa, and Mendocino and Miasa became sister cities. I really liked the message on the plaque: 'BEHOLD THE SEA - The citizens of the sister cities of Mendocino and Miasa, Japan dedicate this plaque to the peaceful pursuits of peoples of the Pacific Basin and to the protection of its environment that all living things there-in may exist in perpetual harmony.' I thought there were some nice parallels to the things we had been discussing as we workshopped this piece - the importance of building friendships and networks of community so that we may build a better world, and protect the water and environment. I also wanted to pay some sort of tribute to the Mendocino area in which we got to workshop the piece.”

Berkeley-based Erika Oba is a composer, pianist/flutist, and educator. As a composer she has written works for big band, small jazz ensembles, chamber groups, dance and theater. She is active as a performer on both piano and flute, and is a member of the Montclair Women’s Big Band, Ends Meat’ Catastrophe Jazz Ensemble, electro-jazz duo Rice Kings, and The Sl(e)ight Ensemble. She has worked as a dance accompanist for Mills College and Berkeley Ballet Theater, and is currently a resident music director with Berkeley Playhouse’s Youth Conservatory Program. In addition to her own private teaching studio, she is a private jazz piano instructor for UC Berkeley’s Music Department. erikaoba.com