Manzanar: An American Story at UCLA Live on Jun. 2

Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Kristi Yamaguchi, Pat Suzuki, Martin Sheen, Sab Shimono and John Cho are in "Manzanar: An American Story" at Royce Hall on Jun. 2. This multi-media orchestral work is led by maestro Kent Nagano, with original text and directed by Philip Kan Gotanda, music composed by Jean-Pascal Beintus, David Benoit and Naomi Sekiya.

UCLA Live presents "Manzanar: An American Story", led by Los Angeles Opera musical director Kent Nagano, which features direction and original text by Philip Kan Gotanda, music composed by Jean-Pascal Beintus, David Benoit and Naomi Sekiya and narration by Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Olympic skating gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi, Broadway sensation Pat Suzuki, and actors Sab Shimono, John Cho and Martin Sheen on Jun. 2 at Royce Hall.

Commemorating the World War II Japanese American internment camp experience and exploring the evolution of civil liberty in America, playwright Philip Kan Gotanda has structured this epic multi-media orchestral work in three parts. The first part explores the immigration and settlement of Japanese Americans up to Pearl Harbor. The second part covers the Japanese American experience in WWII, from the camps to the post-war years and the third part is an epilogue that draws connections to our contemporary period.

Award-winning composer Sekiyas works explores the period of early Japanese immigration to the United States until the start of WWII, the post-war period and the present. Beintus, who has worked with Nagano on several recent commissions, including the Grammy Award-winning "Wolf Tracks," contributes music encompassing the time of the Japanese-American internment during WWII. American jazz artist Benoit contributes jazz and big band elements that form an integral part of the Japanese-American cultural experience. The program also features the American Youth Symphony with the Santa Monica College Chamber Choir and the Manzanar Youth Choir, both under the direction of Nik St. Clair.

The son of Japanese American Nisei immigrants, Kent Nagano serves as music director of Los Angeles Opera, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Berkeley Symphony, and has built an enviable reputation by leading ambitious and unique works. "Manzanar: An American Story" is the result of a request made by then-Governor Gray Davis and California State Librarian Emeritus Dr. Kevin Starr to Nagano to create an artistic commemoration of this dark period in US/California history. Nagano, whose parents and grandparents were interned, agreed to take on this project.

Nagano writes, "After immigrating to the United States, working hard, and earning benefits of the New World, many Issei/Nisei families lost everything they ownedtheir farms, their businesses, homes and belongingsand were financially ruined by this experience. When contacted by the Governors office, I accepted this project not only out of civic duty, but for personal, family reasons as well."

"Manzanar: An American Story" premiered at UC Santa Cruz on May 7 and at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall on May 10 with the Berkeley Symphony.

Tickets for "Manzanar: An American Story" are available for $58, $48 and $35 at the UCLA Central Ticket Office at the southwest corner of the James West Alumni Center, online at www.UCLALive.org and at all Ticketmaster outlets. For more information or to charge by phone, please call 310-825-2101. UCLA students may purchase tickets in advance for $20. Student rush tickets at the same price are available to all students with a valid ID one hour prior to show time.