Chorale event to highlight modern echoes of Japanese-American incarceration
Lorraine Bannai has dedicated most of her life to sharing the story of Japanese-Americans who were incarcerated within the United States during World War II.
Bannai’s parents and other relatives were incarcerated at Manzanar in California, and she’s since made it her mission to educate others about what occurred. She also had a role in overturning the conviction of a man at the center of a landmark Supreme Court case related to the wartime civil liberties.
Now the director emerita of the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality at the Seattle University School of Law, Bannai said she’s seeing history repeat itself in the current targeting of immigrant communities.
It’s why, when the Whatcom Chorale reached out to her about giving a talk following the performance of a piece based on the experience of a Japanese-American woman incarcerated at Heart Mountain, she immediately agreed.
“Heart Mountain Suite,” a choral arrangement of the larger “Heart Mountain” chamber opera, is based on the diaries of Kara Kondo, a Washington native who was incarcerated during the war. Composer Sarah Mattox said Kondo’s words “paint the story of our common humanity in a beautifully universal way.”
“She invites us to see ourselves in those demonized as ‘the other,’” Mattox said. “She wanted her words shared in just such a moment, that we never forget, and that we never let it happen again.”
The Whatcom Chorale first performed the arrangement of her piece in 2019. It will be reprised this weekend, with each performance followed by a presentation by Bannai. Performances will take place at 5 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at Christ the Servant Lutheran Church, 2600 Lakeway Drive. Tickets are available online through the Whatcom Chorale website.
Bannai said she plans to discuss the general history of Japanese American incarceration, the Fred Korematsu case and the relevance to today.
“We need to recognize these patterns, and speak up to make sure we don’t harm other communities in the same way Japanese-Americans were harmed,” Bannai said.
Deborah Brown, Whatcom Chorale artistic director and conductor, said the decision to bring back “Heart Mountain Suite” came from the parallels between the themes of the piece and current events. She said she thinks this may be one of the most important events in the Whatcom Chorale’s history.
“Choral music has a way of really touching people deeply,” Brown said. “I think even people who don’t know much about this history will be deeply moved.”
Deming resident and third-generation Japanese American Gail Kuromiya also shared the importance of the performance. She was asked to speak at it briefly about her father, Yosh Kuromiya, who was incarcerated at Heart Mountain, and wrote a memoir about his experience as a draft resister.
Gail Kuromiya said she will be bringing copies of “Beyond the Betrayal” to the concert and will speak briefly. She will also have a display table with information from Nikkei Northwest, a Whatcom County-based group dedicated to educating others about Japanese-American heritage.
Kuromiya said Bellingham residents should know both about the history of Japanese-American incarceration as well as those who were taken to camps from the city. She added that she feels an obligation to share her father’s story, “especially because of what’s happening now with undocumented immigrants.”
“It’s just a really frightening reminder of what happened to the Japanese-Americans in the 1940s,” Gail Kuromiya said. “Let’s not repeat history.”
This story was originally published November 20, 2025 at 12:07 PM.