Sunwatcher at Ancram Opera House

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2. Sunwatcher

An experimental chamber musical inspired by classical Noh theatre, SUNWATCHER intertwines the story of two women -- the astronomer and hidden figure Hisako Koyama (1916-1997), and the Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu.Hisako was a self-taught solar observer who drew the sun in painstaking detail every day for 40 years, a landmark achievement that ranks among the likes of Galileo. SUNWATCHER celebrates this underrecognized Asian woman in science and her extraordinary dedication to ordinary observation.In World War II Tokyo, despite the threat of firebombing from the US, Hisako looks through her telescope every day and sketches the spots on the suns surface. Her observations lead her to the sun goddess Amaterasu, a powerful deity besieged by her violent brother. Hisakos experience of war collides with creation mythology, as both goddess and mortal are tested by tragedy and despair.