Join International House as we partner with UChicago Presents to bring you this Shomyo no Kai virtual concert. Described as meditative and sublime, the Buddhist form of ritual chant known as shomyo is one of the oldest living forms of vocal music. Shomyo no Kai, a chorus of two dozen priests from the Shingon and Tendai sects of Japanese Buddhism, sets ancient shomyo against the backdrop of An’yo-in Temple, one of the oldest standing temples in Tokyo’s Itabashi Ward, offering moments of reflection and relaxation in a turbulent year. Before the concert, musicologist Steven G. Nelson, Professor at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, shares the history and practice of Shomyo, and after, the head monks of the Shingon and Tendai Buddhist sects host a live Q&A.

Get your tickets: $15 | Free for UChicago Students

Concert stream available from 7:00PM CST on March 30, 2021 until 7:00PM CST on April 30, 2021.

Presented in partnership with Japan Society, and with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Center for East Asian Studies Title VI National Resource Center Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, International House at the University of Chicago, and Rockefeller Memorial Chapel.