It's been over 41 years since the members and families of Sing-Out South hosted the Sing-Out Asia cast for a show at West End High School on September 4, 1968.
Yet despite the years, that visit continues to touch us.
The latest examples are a couple of responses here on the blog that were sent in just a few days ago (they are under the posting concerning the passing of one of our beloved Sing-Out parents, Mr. Curry Barry).
The messages are from Rey Sayno, who says he was one of the guitarists for Sing-Out Asia. Chances are pretty good he is prominently featured in the photo below, which was taken by a photographer either by the Metro City Photographer or THE NASHVILLE BANNER newspaper, while the group was practicing before their show.
In the messages he posted, Rey Sayno offers his condolences to the Barry family and he thanks the Johnston family (Mama J and Bobby)for their hospitality in hosting him while he was in Nashville so many years ago. He also wants to let us know that Sing-Out Asia has reformed and has been performing concerts for the last two years all over Asia.
Wow!
The memories of the Sing-Out Asia visit in the fall of 1968 remain quite strong for some former Sing-Out South cast members and others who kept SOA members while they were in Nashville.
I related Mrs. Barry's memories in an earlier posting. Here are some others I gathered when I put together an article for THE TENNESSEAN a couple of years ago (2007). Perhaps most compelling were the rememberances of a young Tommy Sloan.
" In World War II my father was a 22-year old US soldier captured in the fall of the Phillipines. He endured the Bataan Death March and was a prisoner of war in Japan (1942-45). He welcomed the Sing- Out Asia cast member into our home, including conversing in Japanese. It was an extraordinary event for my family."
Then there are the memories of Shelia Stephenson Lindsey, a member of Cast C of UP WITH PEOPLE who just happened to be home for a visit when her family hosted some Sing-Out Asia cast members.
"My mom was a host. She recalls make them a rice dish and how hungry those boys were! They gobbled up that rice faster than anything we'd seen in a long time. There were three boys staying in our home as I recall, but I don't remember their names. I got to see their show and it was so special that I was in town during their visit. Good memories."
After writing my article for THE TENNESSEAN, I had my own personal contact from a former Sing-Out Asia member. Atek Jacinto was the Assistant Music Director for the cast in 1968, part of a 12-member Phillippine contigent of singers and instrumentalists.
Somehow he found my article on line and contacted me through THE TENNESSEAN. He asked me to send him all the photos and information I had on the SOA visit, including the remembrances of the former SOS cast members and their families, which I did.
Here is one, final, amazing twist to the ongoing story of Sing-Out Asia's visit here. Not long after I wrote THE TENNESSEAN article about Sing-Out Asia and I was contacted by Mr. Jacinto, the new Up With People cast visited Nashville. I attended their show which was held at the Acuff Theatre at Opryland on St. Patrick's Day (March 17), 2007.
After the show, I met one of the UWP cast members who was from Japan. Her name was Madoka Tatsuno. I told her about the visit of Sing-Out Asia here in 1968. She became very excited because, as we both quickly realized, her mother had been a member of that cast and now here was her daughter in the same city many years later, again spreading that Up With People spirit.
It was an awesome moment!
I took down her e-mail address and sent her the photos and the other materials I have from that 1968 Sing-Out Asia show to share with her mother. A few months later on May 16, I got a wonderful e-mail back from her, telling me how excited and grateful both she and her mom were to receive my information.
Here's what she said: "Thank you for your support and information about Sing-Out Asia. I went back home and talked with my mom about you. She was very excited to see the pictures and to know of the amzing coincidence from Nashville.She told me she joined (a Sing-Out Asia reunion)in the Phillipines and met many friends in her cast last year.
She is keeping the UWP spirit even now. And you have inspired my mom more!! I appreciate the coincidence and opportunity to know you in Nashville."
How amazing that something that happened one night so many years ago when Sing-Out Asia performed in Nashville, can still invoke such wonderful memories!
If you have memories of the Sing-Out Asia visit please feel free to leave them below.
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