Скачать с ютуб HYBRID | Playing Biwa: Talk and Performance by Kubota Akiko в хорошем качестве

HYBRID | Playing Biwa: Talk and Performance by Kubota Akiko

Biwa is a plucked stringed instrument used in Japan to play gagaku (lit. ‘elegant music’) at the Imperial Court and in selected important Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. It was also played by travelling monks, biwa hōshi, who performed tales and narrative songs that chronicled the achievements of warriors in battle. It is generally played using bachi, a fan-shaped pick, rather than the fingers, and several types of biwa have been developed to suit different genres and performance styles, from classical to modern: gaku-biwa, gogen-biwa, mōsō-biwa, heike-biwa, satsuma-biwa, chikuzen biwa and nishiki-biwa. In March 2024, internationally-acclaimed satsuma biwa performer Kubota Akiko is touring the UK with On an Endless Road: Itō Noe and the Women Composers of her Time, a programme of music by Japanese women composers, contemporary to feminist writer and anarchist Itō Noe (1895-1923). Japan House London welcomes Kubota Akiko and British composer Francesca Le Lohé for a special talk and demonstration exploring the history of biwa, the different types of the instrument and demonstrate how the characteristic sounds of the biwa are made. During the event, Kubota performs a work from the satsuma biwa’s classical repertoire as well as an extract from a new work specifically written for her by Le Lohé, Itō Noe: On an Endless Road. This piece highlights the life and work of Itō Noe: a contributor and later editor of feminist magazine Seito and publisher of social worker periodicals with her anarchist partner Osugi Sakae. Itō wrote prolifically throughout her short life before her tragic murder at the age of 28. Kubota and Le Lohé illustrate why this is the perfect subject for a new piece for biwa and discuss their artistic collaboration. About the Speakers Kubota Akiko is a satsuma biwa performer from Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Her wide range of activities include performing narrative songs from the biwa‘s classic repertoire, collaborating with theatre groups, playing contemporary music with instrumental ensembles and featuring on anime and TV soundtracks. Through her work, Akiko aims to challenge perceptions and discover new modes of expression for the biwa. She has performed extensively across Asia, South America and Europe and performed Takemitsu Tōru’s concerto November Steps for biwa and shakuhachi with the Brussels Philharmonic and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. She is a performing member of Ensemble Muromachi and Pro Musica Nipponia. Francesca Le Lohé is a composer active in Japan and the UK. Her operas include: How Was It For You? (2022) and THE KEY: an immersive, site-specific opera inspired by Tanizaki’s novella which was awarded the prestigious 2019 Keizo Saji Prize. Her work has featured in festivals including Sonorities, Tama Music & Arts and the London Festival of Architecture. She has held artist residencies at Co.iki (Japan), Elektronmusikstudion (Sweden), Hospitalfield (UK) and was a 2015 Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation Scholar. #culture #event #hybridevent #japan #talk #japanhouselondon #performance #music