Sado City 10th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony & Concert
On March 1st, Kodo performed at the Sado City 10th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony.
It’s been 10 years since all the villages, towns and cities on Sado Island merged into one… There was an exhibition in the venue lobby that took a look at the past 10 years, and it made me think of myself 10 years ago and how I am today.
Sado City 10th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony Kodo Concert
Cast: Yuiichiro Funabashi, Mitsuru Ishizuka, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Eri Uchida., Rai Tateishi, Maya Minowa
Programme: Ugachi, Kiyari, Miyake, O-daiko, Zoku
“The School Workshop Tour is Heading Off!” by Mitsuru Ishizuka [Mar. 1, 2014]
It’s a month since the “Kodo One Earth Tour: Legend” team left Sado. We, the School Workshop Performance team have been practicing hard and now it’s time for us to set off on our first tour for the year, too! Our first performance is at the “Sado City 10th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony”
A lot of sweat and tears have gone into our rehearsals this winter, which will make this tour all the more powerful and fun!
Off we go!
“From Wachi, Kyoto” by Yoko Fujimoto
The Yura River that runs below our house in Wachi is a beautiful green, clean stream. But Yoshikazu Fujimoto says that it was remarkably more beautiful before they built dams on it.
Here’s some stories from our life in Wachi from late January onwards.
Yoshikazu always walks for an hour everyday along the road around the mountain by the river. Recently, I’ve been walking there everyday for 50 minutes. Yoshikazu sees monkeys almost everyday. I haven’t encountered any yet. Apparently they make fun of females and do bad things to them, so I don’t want to meet any!
The runner in this photo isn’t a monkey.
Sometimes when he sees one on the road, he greets them by saying hello or hey there.
Full-Length Preview for “Mystery”!
We have just released the preview on YouTube for “Kodo One Earth Tour: Mystery,” the second work directed by artistic director Tamasaburo Bando. This production will tour throughout Japan from May 2014.
Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Mystery
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20140510oet_en.html
See here for the May-July Japan tour schedule:
http://www.kodo.or.jp/oet/index_en.html#schedule05a
“Rehearsals for ‘FLAMENCO Sonezaki Shinju'” by Narumi Matsuda
On February 20, Tsuyoshi Maeda took part in a rehearsal attended by the press for “FLAMENCO Sonezaki Shinju.” The production will take to the stage from April 2-6 at the Playhouse at the New National Theatre in Tokyo.
The musical director Ryudo Uzaki and artistic director/choreographer/lead performer, Arte y Solera’s Hiroki Sato, led the focused rehearsal from after lunch until 8pm.
“From the UK” by Jun Akimoto
The “Kodo One Earth Tour: Legend” team are in the United Kingdom.
Here are some photos from Liverpool on Feb. 19 and
Manchester on Feb. 20.
Behind our hotel in Liverpool, there was an art school bearing the name of a famous man from this city: John Lennon!
Apparently this school was attended by members of “The Beatles.”
Philharmonic Hall, our venue in Liverpool. This picture was taken before the performance.
“From Dublin, Ireland” by Jun Akimoto
National Concert Hall, Dublin.
We were welcomed by a sold-out audience. Our performance was passionate and we received a standing ovation from the full house.
The Ambassador of Japan, His Excellency Mr. Chihiro Atsumi, and his wife came to our performance. The day before, we were invited to their residence. Performers Masaru, Yosuke, Kenzo, Masayuki and Mariko went along with the tour managers.
Kodo Online Store: Introducing Album “morisa komorisa”
Cradled by the rich sounds of musician and producer Derek Nakamoto, this collection of lullabies is an endless flow of gentle, clear, echoing melodies. Though sung in Japanese, these songs transcend borders through a universal language of heartfelt emotion.
To purchase this album, please click one of the links below:
- For orders in Japan only Kodo Online Store (In Japanese) http://www.kodo.or.
jp/store/70_1030.html - For international orders CD Baby http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/
yokofujimoto - On iTunes https://itunes.apple.
com/us/album/morisa-komorisa/ id281429524
Yoko’s second solo album is about to go on sale (March 3), but if you haven’t got your copy of her solo debut album, why not order it now?
Have a listen to all the tracks here: http://www.otodaiku.co.jp/
Watch interviews with Yoko about each song here: (in Japanese) http://www.otodaiku.co.jp/
Enjoy!
Kodo Online Store
“Performances at Theatre du Chatelet” by Yosuke Inoue
“Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Legend” Performances
We had five performances in a week at Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France. On the day before the first concert there, we had a full dress rehearsal. At this performance, the press, staff, their families saw us perform, and it was mainly an audience of people who are familiar with Japanese drums.
They really liked our performance!
Thanks to their reaction, the papers and word of mouth that resulted led to our five performances being almost full-houses. We received a lot of applause and the performances were really fulfilling.
The staff at the Chatelet were very good humoured, took an interest in Kodo, and we are grateful that they enjoyed having us there to perform.
“Hana no Utena no Sado Jowa” Yoko Fujimoto
Yoko Fujimoto Concert
Terakoya Tasuku Bunko 10th Anniversary “Hana no Utena no Sado Jowa”
Mr. and Mrs. Yamamoto, who have been supporters of Kodo for a long time, invited me to give a performance to celebrate the anniversary for their private library, “Terakoya Tasuku.” I will share a nostalgic, enjoyable, fun, bittersweet and mysterious world of songs with everyone who attends. Please join us!
Now, it’s almost spring. I am trying to arrange my schedule to perform in many places, starting from this venue.
I look forward to seeing you on Sado or somewhere else soon, so I’m planning various opportunities to sing, with excited vigor at times and soothing tones at others.
April 26 (Sat), 2014 Start: 15:00
Terakoya Tasuku Bunko, Sado Island, Niigata
Performance Details: http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20140426yoko_ja.html
