2023.11.30 Celebrations for the 10th anniversary – words of congratulation from the composers
《Celebrations for the 10th anniversary – words of congratulation from the composers who have composed for Ryoko Aoki》
Noh Singer, Ryoko Aoki Concert Series “Contemporary Music X Noh” 10th Anniversary Concert
30 November 2023 (Thursday) 19:00- Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Recital Hal
The voice of Noh chanting in medieval Japan. It was the voice of the performing arts nurtured in a closed, male-centred society. Ryoko Aoki connects that voice to the present day and explores the mystery and richness hidden within it. The search was conducted with an intellectual and internationally open vision that no one in the Japanese traditional music world could have imagined before. In this series of world premieres, she commissioned works with her voice from the world’s most current composers. Not all of the works produced in this series have been successful. But bit by bit, little by little, the excellent fruits of new music are being born. Ryoko Aoki is a miko who revives the buried voices of Japan’s past in the modern age, and at the same time she is a truly international artist who tries to contribute to the world of music creation beyond Japan.
Toshio Hosokawa (Japan)
When I heard the first notes of Ryoko’s voice, I was immediately taken.
What a voice! And in particular: this is no imitation of a traditional Nô-singer: Ryoko’s voice is unique, an identity and beauty of its own.
Thank you for singing Ryoko no Nô, I hope to hear you with it again, soon!
Robert HP Platz (Germany)
Ryoko Aoki is a remarkable artist and the originality of her very stimulating work for a composer. When I composed my score “Attan’Datte” for her, I had to find ideas very different from my habits and this allowed me to compose a part that is one of my favorite in my catalog. I thank her for all this.
Frédéric Durieux (France)
Since 2010, when Ryoko Aoki asked me to compose a new work for Noh singer and flute, I was starting to approach a new, unexplored world: Through this path I found an incredible musical beauty that accompanied my work far over “Trois Chants Noh”.
Today, by seeing Ryoko Aoki’s repertoire I’d like to congratulate for her fantastic work that is bringing an important side of Japanese Culture to the rest of the world, and to today’s artistic production.
Valerio Sannicandro (Italy)
Congratulations on this 10th anniversary. It has been a great honour to be able to work with you and to learn more about Noh through this project. It has been an exceptional experience to be in Japan and to have the opportunity to have a work specially written for a unique voice like yours. I wish you my very best.
Diana Soh (Singapore)
Ryoko with the most unique and imaginative artistic vision started the one and the only new music commissioning project focusing on Noh and western instruments. I’m honored to have joined her on this artistic adventure. The project inspired me beyond this one collaboration and especially showed when different cultures mingle through music unexpected new ideas flourish.
Wang Lu (China)
Congratulations! Our collaboration started more than 10 years ago. During those years I learned a lot about Noh and about the aesthetics of the Japanese tradition. You have been a wonderful guide and interpreter. I look forward to the continuation of new projects!
Juha T. Koskinen (Finland)
Congratulations Ryoko, on this special anniversary, for the present, the past, and the future of the unique world of “Contemporary Music x Noh”!
Silvia Borzelli (Italy)
The project initiated by Ryoko Aoki is a very unique one. The blend of Noh chanting with the individual concepts by different composers has created a wonderful set of works – varied and diverse, but all linked by having Ryoko Aoki’s artistic personality as a major source of inspiration.
Jānis Petraškevičs (Latvia)
Ryoko Aoki is a unique artist in the musical panorama as she represents the meeting point between an ancient form of Theater and the Music of our time. Our first meeting dates back to 2009: the dialogue, the exchange of opinions, the work together transformed my way of thinking about music, allowed me to discover my roots through the sound of his ancient singing.
Federico Gardella (Italy)
Congratulations on your 10th anniversary concert! Ryoko continues to pave the way with dedication and diligence, showing us the various charms that Noh chant has to offer. I support her.
Noriko Koide (Japan)
誰もWe pay tribute to Ms Aoki’s work, which has pioneered a genre that no one has tackled before and continues to show composers new inspirations in the form of Noh vocal music and Western music. Congratulations on the 10th edition of the “Contemporary Music x Noh” concert series.
Yasutami Inamori (Japan)
What a marvelous combination Ryoko-san invented, combining the beautiful Japanese Noh traditions with contemporary music! For composers this is a wonderful opportunity and adventurous challenge to compose something. The result is an impressive and diverse set of new pieces for her very unique voice. On to the next decade!
Annelies Van Parys (Belgium)
Dear Ryoko, my warmest congratulations ! I wrote for you a musical tale about a Prince and a Swallow who shared everything with others. May you keep sharing your art with us, the hungry for fantasy and emotion, flying from east to west, reminding us that music knows no frontiers.
Mikel Urquiza (Spain)
Working with the great Ryoko Aoki, for which I wrote “Hannya”, has been a privilege – and a unique experience. To be able to drill even if only in the surface of the fascinating world of Noh, and especially, to be provoked to find connecting tissue between its tradition and your own culture (Romania and Balkans, in my case), as well as connections with with the newest contemporary musical languages, has been an adventure I will be forever grateful. Ryoko’s project, “Noh X Contemporary Music” deserves to be as visible as possible, because it incapsulates, in my opinion, the best creative impulse of today: don’t abandon your tradition – cherish it, revel in it, transform it, update it, make it your own.
Diana Rotaru (Romania)
The discovery of Ryoko Aoki’s voice and the repertoire that she has championed for many years has been a positive shock for many music lovers and creators, myself included. Since then, she has proudly carried the magical sparkle of her Japanese culture. At the same time, she never ceases to bring on an international level the imagination of her astonishing voice to us composers, a voice whose immense potential seems endless. I had the immense pleasure and the great fortune (like so many other composers) of writing for this incredible voice. My “Fuji Daiko Echo” for Noh voice and string quartet has traversed the jolts of our souls, crossing through different cultures. Her voice as a musician and actress, subtle, profound and fluctuating with my music, never ceases to haunt me, like the ghost from the story of my piece. After all, you don’t come away from a Ryoko Aoki performance unscathed! Many thanks to this immense musician.
Claude Ledoux (Belgium)
The projects that Ryoko Aoki has been developing for just about 10 years are a wonderful incitement to the coexistence between tradition and new creation, between the cultural memory of a unique scenic-musical and literary form such as Noh theater and contemporary music with its fantasy and high degree of innovation. The voice becomes the center of this look, and in the numerous projects realized Ryoko has managed to link her voice not only with many different composers and various instrumental combinations, but also the use of texts from different perspectives, many of them also linked to the great tradition of Japanese culture. A unique project!
José M. Sánchez-Verdú (Spain)
Dear Ryoko, what magnificent, sensitive and unique work accomplished over all these years! I often think back with emotion to our musical collaborations that began in 2012! I wish a very Long life to the “Contemporary Music x Noh” concert series! »
Aurélien Dumont (France)
For more than 10 years now, Ryoko Aoki has been an unconventional ambassador of NOH and has brought this rich tradition in contact with the world of contemporary composition. Her approach has widened and enriched the horizon of many creative minds, and one can only hope that it will continue to do so over the coming 10 years.
Oliver Schneller (Germany)
I think the project “Contemporary Music x Noh” created by Ryoko is simply brilliant!
The union between innovation and experimentation of contemporary music and the tradition and links to the past of Noh theatre, created a one-of-a-kind bond.This gives way to works full of intensity and drama thanks also to the pathos-rich interpretation and Noh singing of the amazing Ryoko.
Annachiara Gedda (Italy)
Congratulations to Noh Singer, Ryoko Aoki Concert Series “Contemporary Music X Noh” 10th Anniversary Concert. It is a great honour for me to be able to share this joyous occasion with you in the form of a commissioned new work. I hope that Ms Aoki’s “Contemporary Music x Noh” series will continue for many years to come.
Naoki Sakata (Japan)
Composing Yoru was a splendid adventure, an approach to ancient music from a personal perspective guided by the wonderful voice and personality of Ryoko Aoki, with her complicity he managed to capture the power and subtlety of the piece. My sincere thanks and congratulations for her stimulating and driving force.
Zuriñe F Gerenabarrena (Spain)
I was in residence at Kyoto’s Villa Kujoyama in 2008 to try and elucidate some poetic coincidences between traditional Japanese music and my own. Ryoko Aoki provided me with a wonderful opportunity to bring these two worlds together in vivo. In “Sur les pas de Tsunemasa” (Following the steps of Tsunemasa), my music (the clarinet part) unfolds around Zéami’s (the Noh voice), in the form of a singing thought.
Claire-Mélanie Sinnhuber (France)
Ryoko’s unique voice captivates everyone in the world. Her track record of innovative projects will inspire artists to take on the challenges that lie ahead. May the collaboration like a chemical reaction continue in the future!
Nana Kamiyama (Japan)
I can’t help but respect the fact that he has been able to make art music an entertainment with unique multiplication and has continued to spin it consistently over the mountains and through the valleys. We look forward to your further success, and toast to the 10th anniversary!
Noriko Baba (Japan)
10th anniversary of “Contemporary Music x Noh”: That’s a reason to celebrate. Congratulations! It was an immensely interesting journey for me to delve into the world of Noh and to write a piece for Ryoko Aoki!
Thomas Wally (Austria)
I remain grateful for the opportunity to write Chōmu in 2019, scored for Noh voice, bass flute, and cello. The project, and Ryoko’s artistry, allowed me to write well beyond my usual range and changed how I thought about drama, pacing, and text-setting. What an astonishing achievement for Ryoko, and many congratulations on the 10th anniversary!
Anthony Cheung (U.S.)
“Contemporary Music x Noh is a life force re-defining the international music scene. It creates a repertoire that repeatedly unearths the forgotten parts of the human condition where there is only profound connection to be found. It has been my greatest privilege to have contributed to its existence. My warmest congratulations.
Jamie Man (UK)
Composing and working with Ryoko Aoki, the interdisciplinary artist with the unique talent of combining the worlds of the Noh tradition and Contemporary Music, has been a great inspiration for me. Congratulations dear Ryoko for the 10th anniversary of “Contemporary Music x Noh” and many wishes for many exciting projects for many years to come!
Vassos Nicolaou (Cyprus)
＿＿＿＿＿ アぢはひ ぶかき
＿ 「みづのヲ」 の うため
＿＿＿ きらキらしく きよらなる その
たちすがた リんとして
＿＿ いと ヤむごとなし
うたかたの ウた なれど
＿＿ かの コゑ の とはに ひびかむを
＿ ひのはら ひでひこ ＿
Hidehiko Hinohara (Japan)