■venue 

Zuisho-ji 3-2-19 Shirokane-dai, Minato, Tokyo, Japan 

 

■ticket 

admission free 

Noh × Contemporary Music - talk & concert series 

presented by ensemble-no 

managed by NPO alfalfa 

supported by Minato prefecture grant for culture

  composers



Hidehiko Hinohara

Hidehiko Hinohara [composer-pianist] was born at Kumamoto (Japan) and took a degree in Music with a major in Composition from the Tokyo University of the Arts. In 1987 he moved to Italy where he studied with Sylvano Bussotti, Giacomo Manzoni and Camillo Togni.
He made his debut at the 1991 Venice Biennale with «La vecchia del sonno» for soprano and eight instruments and in 1993 he won the first prize in the PREMIO VALENTINO BUCCHI (Rome). In the meantime Hinohara had begun his career as a pianist - he has dedicated himself particularly to chamber music and to contemporary repertory. In 2000 he was the Principal Piano in the world premier of the opera «TIESTE» by Sylvano Bussotti and he composed original music for the theater piece «OPUS FLORENTINUM» by the famous Italian poet Mario Luzi, which was represented at the DUOMO of Florence for the Jubilee.
He coordinate the "elastiko" group which promote every artistic activities over the genre.
Hinohara's more recent compositions include: «Commos» for voice, violin and piano, «D'acque il romor ch'avvolge...» for fourteen instruments, «Stasimi» for three voices and three clarinets, «Nei pressi d'una dolce fontana...» for three pianos, «Sinuosa la luna increspava 'l mare» for shô, koto and recorder, «Nue: ridda spirale» for bass flute, bass clarinet and metal percussion.
(www.hidehikohinohara.org)



Chikage Imai


Chikage Imai was born in Nagoya (Japan) and studied with Akihiko Matsui at Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music. She met Joji Yuasa at Akiyoshidai summer seminar in 2002. Since then he has been her private mentor. After moving to Amsterdam in 2003 she continued to study composition with Wim Henderickx and Fabio Nieder at Conservatorium van Amsterdam supported by Rohm Music Foundation. Her musical activity has been broadened internationally through her chamber ensemble piece Vectorial Projection I - bouncing ball (2006). The piece was performed in Gaudeamus muzikweek and awarded an honorable mention of the 28th Irino Prize for Chamber music. In 2008 Vectorial Projection IV - fireworks (2008) was commissioned by Festival d'Automne á Paris and premiered by Irvine Arditti and Nieuw Ensemble. Simulgenesis for 17 musicians (2009) was written for the 4th International Composition Seminar of the International Ensemble Modern Academy and through the piece she received a commission from Westdeutschen Rundfunks to write a piece for Ensemble Modern. Her music is produced from Muzikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm and Ensemble Modern Media. Imai is also engaged into working on cross-media art with visual art, stage design and so on. She is currently an Honorary Research Associate at Royal Holloway University of London.



Kumiko Omura

After studying at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music with Kenjiro Urata, Isao Matsushita and Jo Kondo, she studied composition with Prof. Nicolaus A. Huber and electronic music with Ludger Brümmer at the Folkwang-Hochschule Essen in Germany, and participated in the annual composition course at IRCAM, Paris. She studied also Intermedia Art with Kiyoshi Furukawa and holds a Masters from Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music. Currently, she is working as composer at ZKM (Center of Art and Media) in Karlsruhe, Germany.
She has gone on to win numerous international awards, including the Irino Prize, the grand prix at the Gaudeamus Music Week in Holland, prize at the Biennale Neue Musik Hannover in Germany, the young artist prize at the Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany, and Takefu composition prize. Her works have been performed in Europe, USA and Japan at such festivals as Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik (Germany), AGORA festival (France), Music from Japan (USA) and International Computer Music Conference. In March 2009, her portrait concert took place at ZKM.



Valerio Sannicandro

The works by Valerio Sannicandro, composer and conductor, are the product of different cultural influences as well as of his own reflections about the parameter space that he researches consequently, as "compositeur associé" at IRCAM (Paris),
as well as at the Technische Universität (Berlin).
Compositions like „STRALI (2002)", „FIBRAE (2005)" and "IUS LUCIS (2006/2007)" are the most outstanding examples of his interest in large orchestral instrumentations, as well as his concern with the role and the aesthetic of (live) electronics.
He is currently working in the Experimentalstudio of SWR (Freiburg) for a new work for orchestra and live-electronics; he is new music advisor for the Philharmonisches Orchetser Cottbus (Germany).
He has been awarded among others the MUSICA VIVA Composition Price, München in 2002 and 2010 as well as the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis (2000). He has been selected for the Rostrum of Composers 2006.
His works are published by Edizioni Suvini-Zerboni (Milan).
(www.valeriosannicandro.eu)



Claire-Melanie Sinnhuber

Claire-Mélanie Sinnhuber was born in 1973, franco-swiss.
First trained as a flutist, Claire-Mélanie Sinnhuber has studied composition with Sergio Ortega, Allain Gaussin, Ivan Fedele, Philippe Leroux and Frédéric Durieux.

She graduated in composition from the CNSMDP (National Superior Conservatory of Paris) and attended the one year composition and new technology cursus at the IRCAM.
Her music is played in France and abroad, by ensembles like Aleph, Accroche Note, Contrechamps, Hic et Nunc, Instant Donné, Multilatérale, Nouvel ensemble Moderne, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony orchestra, Vortex, Court-Circuit,
at IRCAM, Musica, Manca, Abbaye de Royaumont, Forum Neues Musiktheater, MaerzMusik, Ars Musica, Why Note, Suntory Summer Festival...
She was awarded the Francis and Mica Salabert Prize in 2006,
and the Georges Enesco composition Prize from SACEM in 2007.
She was composer-in-residence at Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto in 2008, and at present is resident at the Villa Medici in Roma (2010-2011).
Her music is edited by Jobert, Paris.




performers



ensemble-no

Ensemble no was found in 2007. It consists of three musicians working on contemporary music in the centre of a Noh performer, Ryoko Aoki. Ensemble no perform contemporary music inspired by Japanese Noh theatre, especially using Noh chant.



Ryoko Aoki /Noh

Ryoko Aoki graduated from the Faculty of Music at the Tokyo National University of Fine Art and Music with coursework in Traditional Japanese Music and focus on Noh plays. She obtained a Master of Music from the Tokyo National University of Fine Art and Music Graduate School. Currently, she is studying for her Doctorate at the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies. She also led Noh workshops in the Takefu International Music Festival and at various universities in the UK, Republic of Korea, and Japan.
She has performed "TSUCHIGUMO," a Noh Play, as part of the Japan Festival at Carnegie Hall in New York. In her repertoire, she has also performed the N-Opera MACBETH in New York and London.
She has played several traditional Noh plays, and she has also challenged collaborations with contemporary composers. She has premiered works by Joji Yuasa, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Ken Ito, Kumiko Omura, Mai Kawamura, Akiko Yamane and Claire-Mélanie Sinnhuber. She performed Toshio Hosokawa's Japanese folk songs at Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin in 2009. She performed Noh dance in "Xenakis and Japan" produced by Electronic Music Foundation in NYC on February 2010.
(http://ryokoaoki.net/)


Ayako Okubo / Flutes

Ayako Okubo studied flute at Conservatory of Amsterdam with Abbie de Quant, obtained Bachelor Diploma at 2005 with admission to the Master cycle. From 2005, she studied flute with Mario Caroli at Conservatoir National de Region de Strasbourg and chamber music with Armand Angster, obtained Diplome de specialization with the highest honor on 2008. She works currently with ensembles Accroche Note, H A N A T S U miroir and Ensembles Akiyoshidai. and works with composers such as Joji Yuasa, Toshio Hosokawa, Ivan Fedele, Frank Denyer, Chikage Imai, Arileza Farhang, Maurilio Cacciatore and many others, also conductors such as Lucas Vis, Chosei Komatu(Osaka philharmonic Orchestra). She has been invited to the festivals such as Le festival MUSICA (France Strasbourg), Die Klugste Nacht Des Jahres (Germany, Berlin-Potsdam), Akiyoshidai Summer Festival (Japan), Taksefu international music festival (Japan), and many other concerts, projects, and recordings.
(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/ayakofl/) 


Olivier Maurel / percussion

Olivier Maurel studied percussion at Conservatoire National Region de Strasbourg with Emanuel Sejourné, Stephan Fougeroux and Denis Riedinger and obtained Diplôme de concert (Bachelor diploma) 2006 and Diplôme de concert de percussions(Master diploma) in 2007. He is a percussionist of ensemble Linea,  ensemble L'imaginer, HANATSU, and several other ensembles and groups of contemporary and improvisation. He works/worked with composers such as, Yoshihisa Taira, Kahia Saariaho, Peter Eötvös、Fritz Hauser, and many others including young composers. He plays on the concert, projects and recordings in various countries. He was also invited to festivals such as MUSICA (Sutrasbourg, France), Different Beat (Basel, Suisse), Fondation Royaumont (France), Festival Strasbourg Méditerranée (France) etc..