Tag ‘Leonard Eto’
“Visit to Bali” by Atsushi Sugano, EC General Producer
Visit to Bali
Leonard Eto, Kinu Watanabe of the Japan Foundation, Makoto Shimazaki (Chairman of Kodo Cultural Foundation) and I visited Bali, Indonesia, in order to explore the possibilities for our upcoming collaborative performances at EC (for the first time in 18 years) and also for future Kodo performances in Bali. For Leonard and myself, it was our first trip to Bali in 20 years, but the moment we felt the warm, humid air of the tropics, we were overcome by nostalgia and everything felt familiar again right away.
Our reunion with Suwentra, the leader of Suar Agung, also felt so natural… it was as if no time had passed at all. We spoke fondly of our memories together, and continued our recent conversations about this year’s performance at EC without reservation.
The next day, we went to Nugara, the western region of Bali where their headquarters are located. There, Leonard led rehearsals with Suar Agung, keeping in mind the vision of Mitsuru Ishizuka who is directing the performance “Shukusai” on the final night of EC. It was indeed a fruitful visit.
“EC 2015 Shiroyama Concert Rehearsals” by Kenta Nakagome
Earth Celebration 2015 Shiroyama Concert Rehearsals
In February, we had rehearsals at Kodo Village with Leonard Eto for Earth Celebration 2015. He was a member of Kodo from 1984–1992, but this was his first visit to Kodo Village since he left our group. Leo and our senior members Yoshikazu, Eiichi, Chieko and Motofumi, who had shared the stage for countless performances in the past, made a really feel-good mood in the rehearsal space and we all enjoyed creating sound together. I am excited to join them with my fellow new generation Kodo members to see what kind of sound and music will emerge from our rehearsal sessions between now and August.
We rehearsed with Leo for three days and nights, which reminded me how truly fun it is to create sound. We are going to work hard to make this festival an exciting highlight of the summer of ’15 on Sado Island.
Kodo Website | EC 2015 Details http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150821ec_en.html
EC 2015 Official Website (English) http://www.kodo.or.jp/ec/index_en.html
EC 2015 Official Facebook Page (English) https://www.facebook.com/EarthCelebration
