Ascending (Prayer for Japan) by Chris Catalano

March 11, 2011 rocked my world. I was very upset, feeling incredibly diminished, as I well should have. I am no violin player, but I tuned the one I have to an open minor chord, started creating strange loops, and built this tiny, sad, but I think very sweet song for a place I will always hold dear to my heart. I left kicking and screaming in 2009, and I am telling you that I love the country and the people of Japan for all my life. This song is for Noriko Akahane, Noeko Akahane, Kazuya Yukawa, Haruna Onishi, Yu Shimizu, Jun Tatami, Takashi and Miyoko Nakajima, William Scott Smith, Benjamin Anderson, the Gang at Hippies, the children, staff, and teachers of Canadian International School in Tokyo, and many other lovely, unforgettable people in Japan who I know have the will and courage to get through this!

It is only one tiny song. It is nothing compared to the enormity of what many people in Japan are facing right now, but this is what I do. Thanks to all the great people at Nimbus School of Recording for the incredible, and precious feedback you have given me in the last 5 months. I will never forget!