“O-daiko Triple Cast Schedule for ‘Kodo Special Performances on Sado Island 2015: Spring'” by Kodai Mazaki
O-daiko Triple Cast Schedule
We are pleased to announce the schedule of one of the highlights of the upcoming “Kodo Special Performances on Sado Island 2015: Spring”: the triple cast for O-daiko (the big drum). Each performer’s style is so unique! We hope you will come along!
Apr. 25 @14:45 Tomohiro Mitome
Apr. 26 @11:00 Eiichi Saito
May 2 @14:45 Yoshikazu Fujimoto
May 3 @11:00 Eiichi Saito, @14:45 Tomohiro Mitome
May 4 @11:00 Yoshikazu Fujimoto, @14:45 Eiichi Saito
May 5 @11:00 Tomohiro Mitome, @14:45 Yoshikazu Fujimoto
*Please note that this cast & schedule are subject to change without notice.
“Kodo Special Performances on Sado Island 2015: Spring”: Message from the Performers
From This Weekend! Apr. 25 (Sat), 26 (Sun), May 2 (Sat)–5 (Tue/Public Hol.), 2015
“Kodo Special Performances on Sado Island 2015: Spring”
We’re getting ready for our “Kodo Special Performances on Sado Island 2015: Spring,” which commence this Saturday!
Here is a message from Yoshikazu Fujimoto and Chieko Kojima about this year’s programme (in Japanese).
We hope you’ll come along!
Kodo Special Performances on Sado Island 2015: Spring
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150425sadospecialperformance_en.html
“Collaboration with Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra” by Tetsumi Hanaoka
Apr. 8, 2015
Collaboration with Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra
I’m in Osaka with the rest of the Kodo cast and crew for our collaboration with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra. We are going to perform Maki Ishii’s Mono-Prism under their conductor, Michiyoshi Inoue. It has been 6 years since Kodo last performed Mono-Prism, which was in Rome, Italy, and 22 years since Kodo last performed it in Osaka. It will be my very first time.
From Kodo’s last Mono-Prism performance in Japan, in Tokyo (2008)
As I’m sure many of you know, composer Maki Ishii’s piece Mono-Prism has a subtitle “for Japanese drums and orchestra,” and he based the taiko piece (now a “Kodo classic”) Monochrome on this taiko & orchestra piece.
Maki Ishii also composed Dyu-Ha and ballet suite Kaguyahime, which Kodo has performed countless times. Mono-Prism is a crucial part of Kodo’s history: it was debuted by Kodo’s antecedent group Ondezoka, then performed at Kodo’s own debut at the Berlin Festival in 1981 with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra.
On the first day of rehearsals for this year’s performance, the conductor Michiyoshi Inoue met with Kodo first, to check through the piece together.
He said things like, “This part is sharp, make it cut like a Japanese sword,” and “That part is really menacing!,” and gave us all kinds of advice.
These images might seem obscure, but Mr. Inoue’s instructions were really easy for us to grasp and when we were rehearsing, we could see that his directions were really accurate for the feel of the piece. It felt like he enjoyed following the score and feeling the unique schrony of our taiko, which clashed and harmonized with the orchestra.
On the second day of rehearsals, we practiced Mono-Prism with the orchestra.
Personally, I felt that the orchestra has its own unique physical synchrony and timing, just like taiko does. By no means are they just playing what is written on the score and simply progressing through the piece. I was able to understand this firsthand by taking part in these rehearsals with them. It was a valuable experience for me to see if their synchrony and timing could harmonize with ours as we played taiko. It is a really difficult challenge. This collaboration has taught me so much already, although I haven’t performed this piece for an audience yet! Please come and see us perform this weekend.
Apr. 10 (Fri) & 11 (Sat), 2015 Collaboration with Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra at Festival Hall, Osaka City
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150410osakaphil_en.html
Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra on Twitter
https://twitter.com/Osaka_phil/status/585045986835202048
Photo Gallery: Collaboration with Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra
Maki Ishii‘s Mono-Prism (for Japanese drums and orchestra)
Thank you very much to everyone who joined us for our collaboration with Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra on April 10 & 11.
Mono-Prism with Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Michiyoshi Inoue
Photos: Takashi Iijima
Apr. 10 (Fri) & 11 (Sat), 2015 Collaboration with Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra at Festival Hall, Osaka City
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150410osakaphil_en.html
Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra on Twitter
https://twitter.com/Osaka_phil/status/585045986835202048
“Countdown to ‘Mono-Prism’ Live on Stage” by Ryoko Iwamoto
Apr. 10, 2015
Countdown to ‘Mono-Prism’ Live on Stage
After four days of intensive rehearsals, today is the day for our first 2015 performance of Mono-Prism. It is such a rare opportunity for both our performers and staff to collaborate with an orchestra, so we are all taking in as much of the experience as we can possibly absorb.
During these rehearsals, the orchestra performers asked the Kodo members a wide range of questions about Kodo and taiko, such as what Kodo does for its daily training and how we tune our taiko drums. The Kodo members also asked the percussionists about their handmade stick stands, and they showed a great deal of interest in the various genres of instruments on stage. The orchestra and Japanese drums really do create a unique realm when they perform this piece.
We are all waiting for you here at the theater!
With the Maestro after the rehearsals on April 8.
The Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra truck and Kodo truck also got on very well
2015年4月10日（金）、11日（土）大阪フィルハーモニー交響楽団との共演（大阪・大阪市）
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150410osakaphil_en.html
Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra on Twitter (Japanese)
https://twitter.com/Osaka_phil/status/585045986835202048
“All Loaded in for ‘Mono-Prism’!” by Tetsumi Hanaoka
Apr. 10, 2015
We’re all loaded in and set up on stage for Mono-Prism, and now we are getting ready for our rehearsal today.
Looking around the orchestra, I noticed something interesting…four wooden fish.
Apparently they normally use these in the orchestra and they call them “Temple Blocks,” not wooden fish!
We use wooden fish (mokugyo in Japanese) on the Kodo stage, but I had no idea that I’d ever see an orchestra playing them!
I also saw they had gongs called “Kin” and bin sasara in the percussion area. It made me feel happy to see Eastern instruments in an orchestra full of Western instruments.
Time to get ready for our performance! I’ll do my best!
Collaboration with Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra
Apr. 10 (Fri) & 11 (Sat), 2015 Festival Hall, Osaka City
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150410osakaphil_en.html
Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra on Twitter (Japanese)
https://twitter.com/Osaka_phil/status/585045986835202048
“Voice Camp in May” by Yoko Fujimoto
Voice Camp in May in Wachi, Kyoto
Recently, I had a very detailed meeting with Mr. Fumitaka Ideno from Wachi Daiko about the upcoming Voice Camp here in Wachi.
When I’m here and I feel the sunlight filter through the leafy green trees, hear the sound of the river flowing by, and look out over the mountains, I get excited thinking about everyone who will come along for the Voice Camp. I look to the sky and imagine their voices creating sparkling rainbows right across its wide canvas.
When you come for Voice Camp, let’s also go and sing at the nearby temple dedicated to Kannon. It’s a sacred place that looks down over the village, and I’m sure the location will add emotion and sparkle to our eyes and voices. It’s such a wonderful place, I can’t wait to take you all there.
Songs have a special way of opening people’s hearts. With our voices, we’ll create soft, stimulating whirlpools and let ourselves get swept away. I look forward to being moved with you all.
I am so grateful to everyone at Wachi Daiko for creating this opportunity for me. Thank you! I’ll do my best to make it a joy for everyone who comes along to take part.
My husband Yoshikazu Fujimoto, “Mr. O-daiko,” was born in Wachi. I’m so happy to have the chance to invite people to Wachi and share this wonderful place with others. I hope it brings joy to Wachi, too.
Yoko Fujimoto “Voice Camp in Wachi”
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150503yokows_en.html
“Mar. 2015 Sado Island Taiko Centre Special Project: Taiko Lessons” by Masami Miyazaki
Apr. 3, 2015
Here are some photos from our Sado Island Taiko Centre Special Project “Taiko Lessons” last month. Thank you very much to everyone who came along. You really made our Centre lively for the entire month!
Each of the three courses, “Play Taiko to Diet!,” “Taiko for Better Health!,” and “Casual Taiko Lesson,” had a class once a week. The Diet Course was a bit tough: the participants had to drum non-stop and drum with large strokes while yelling from their abdomens.
There were little cuties running all over the hall during the Casual Lessons, and for the Better Health Course, we made sure that everyone stretched and twisted their bodies in all sorts of ways to make sure they all got a full-body workout.
We gave a voucher for a free Taiko Experience to anyone who came to every session in one course. There were 4 people in the Diet Course and 1 in the Casual Lesson Course. Well done, all of you! And thanks again to everyone who participated in our taiko lessons! We are already planning some further lessons this fall.
If you are keen to join us this fall, please let us know if there is a certain kind of course you’d like to take part in or a certain time of day that suits you to come along. We welcome your suggestions!
NEWS FLASH!
Sado Island Taiko Centre now has English information on its website! Please have a look. We hope to see you soon!
http://www.sadotaiken.jp/en
“CD ‘Mono-Prism'” by Kodo Online Store
Over the weekend, Kodo performed Maki Ishii’s masterpiece Mono-Prism with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra.
It was wonderful for our ensemble to have the opportunity to perform this piece live with an orchestra again. If you came along and would like to hear it again, or have yet to hear it and are curious, we hope you’ll purchase our Mono-Prism album from the Kodo Online Store.
We also stock an array of Kodo albums that are not often found in stores, so we hope you’ll browse through our discography and see if there is anything else from Kodo that you’d like to add to your collection and playlist. (Shipping internationally is more economical for bulk buys!)
CD Mono-Prism (CD / 1991.10.25 / SRCL 2175)
Live recording of Mono-Prism, a collaborative performance with composer/conductor Maki Ishii and the New Japan Philharmonic.
http://www.kodo.or.jp/store/15_761.html (Japanese store page)
Listen to track samples of Mono-Prism here (Japanese discography page):
http://www.kodo.or.jp/discography/srcl2175_ja.html
For orders in English, please contact the Kodo Online Store by email: store.eng@kodo.or.jp
http://kodo.shop.multilingualcart.com/
Kodo Appearance on (BS) Dlife “JapaCul”
Apr. 11 Kodo Appearance on (BS) Dlife “JapaCul”!
On Apr. 11 (Sat) from 9:30 am, Mitsuru Ishizuka and Kenta Nakagome will appear and perform on (BS）Dlife program “JapaCul.” If you’re in Japan, please tune in!
A snapshot taken during the taiko performance section of the recording.
(BS) Dlife “JapaCul”
Broadcast Station: D-LIFE (Free Nationwide BS TV Station) http://www.dlife.jp/
Broadcast Date & Time: Apr. 11 (Sat) from 9:30 am
About the Program: “JapaCul” comes from the two words Japa(nese) and Cul(ture). This a Saturday morning TV program that introduces the latest worldwide trends related to Japanese culture, fashion, cuisine, games, and more. http://www.dlife.jp/lineup/variety/japacul/
How to Watch Dlife (Japanese) http://www.dlife.jp/howtowatch/