Japan has been left reeling as the country has been hit by one disaster after the other. Following the powerful earthquakes and devastating tsunami in the middle of March, the pacific nation is still haunted by the spectre of nuclear disaster at the crippled Fukushima power plant. Initial calculations put the economic cost of the catastrophe at between EUR 150 and 250 billion. The human cost is incalculable, with an estimated 11,500 lives lost and a further 16,400 people still missing.

In times like these people of the world must stand together and show their solidarity. The Japan-Austria Society Nihonjinkai, under the patronage of the Austrian Minister for European and International Affairs Michael Spindelegger, and the Japanese Ambassador Shigeo Iwatani, are staging a benefit concert, Pray for Japan. Over 700 guests have been invited to attend the concert which will take place at the Grosser Redoutensaal on 17 April.

The profit from the event – tickets are available from any branch of Erste Bank and selected Sparkassen – will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross. The music will have a distinctly international flavour. Works by Japanese artists such as Kosaku Yamada and Akira Miyagawa will be played alongside pieces by various European composers including Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Soprano Sona Ghazarian is the star performer on the evening’s billing.