Susan Osborn loves singing for people, and she loves collaborating with musicians. So when her long-time Japanese friend Kentaro Kihara informed her he was on a tour in the U.S. and could be on island around Valentine’s Day, Osborn jumped at the chance for the duo to perform a concert celebrating love.

“I love singing for people and the alchemy that happens when people are really listening,” said Osborn.

The concert is Friday, Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m. at the Rosario Resort Music Room. Tickets are $15 at the door.

They will sing everything from well-known tunes to classical pieces to original numbers and solos.

When asked if this concert would have a theme of love, Osborn said joyfully, “I always sing love songs.”

Kihara is traveling across the country performing Noh, a form of classical Japanese musical drama, on a Japanese State Department sponsorship program that aims to promote his homeland’s culture. This will be the third concert the duo has performed on Orcas in the last ten years.

They initially met in Tokyo more than a decade ago because Osborn was looking to work with bilingual musicians with a broad range of styles. Kihara was a perfect fit because he was classically trained at Berkley University and later began playing jazz.

“I was playing a broad range of music at the time, too, and he was a fun guy with a great sense of humor,” said Osborn.

She said they immediately felt comfortable and spent four hours making music that afternoon.

Osborn describes the experience of making music with another person as unique compared to any other relationship.

“Whom you play music with is very intimate,” she said.

Despite belonging to different generations, cultures and genders, Kihara and Osborn make a pair of dynamic and heart-warming performers.

Osborn sums up the concert by saying, “It’s a rare opportunity to hear Kentari and me make music.”