Photography: Michiyuki Ohba
The world-renowned percussionist Kuniko Kato will perform works by Steve Reich (US, b. 1936) and Arvo Pärt (Estonia, b.1935), two major figures in minimal music.
One of the most gifted percussionists of her generation, Kuniko Kato has played with ensembles and orchestras throughout Japan and Europe and currently focuses her energies on solo performances. She constantly explores new possibilities in percussion through a wide range of endeavors that include collaboration with contemporary dancers and has won widespread recognition. She was cited as one of the 35 top marimbists in the world by the Percussive Art Society in 2000. This concert, which marks the 80th birthdays of Reich and Pärt, includes Kato’s own percussion arrangements of signature works by these two masters featured on Kato’s highly acclaimed 2013 album Cantus.
Using sophisticated sound technology, Kato creates dynamic “solo duets” by multiplexing recorded performances of herself with her live, on-stage performance. The result is a dazzling, kaleidoscopic whirlpool of sound that is sure to enchant.
[Event Information]
Starting time: 19:00 on Friday, June 3; 18:00 on Saturday, June 4.
*Reservations for June 4 has been closed.
* Ticket-holders may view It’s Our Permanent Collection prior to the performance.
Tickets (non-reserved seating): General 5,000 yen; Hara Museum member and up to one accompanied person 4,500 yen each (ticket price includes admission).
Reservations accepted from 11:00 am on Tuesday, April 12, 2016.
* Reservations may be made by e-mail kunikokato-ticket@haramuseum.or.jp or at the reception counter at the Hara Museum (during its operating hours).
* E-mail requests should contain the following: name, date of performance, number of tickets, daytime phone number and Hara Museum membership number (if a member). Payment instructions will be sent by return E-mail. E-tickets will be sent upon confirmation of payment. If you do not receive a reply within four days of your request, please contact us at the contact number indicated below.
* Note: Preschoolers will not be permitted in the venue.
Inquiries: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art Tel: 03-3445-0669
Performed by: Kuniko Kato
Sound design and operation by: Yuji Sagae
Organized by: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, kuniko kato arts project
Venue: The Hall at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
4-7-25 Kitashinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-0001
Tel: 03-3445-0669 03-3445-0651（代）
E-mail: info@haramuseum.or.jp
http://www.haramuseum.or.jp
Directions to the museum: 5 minutes by taxi or 15 minutes on foot from JR Shinagawa Station (Takanawa exit); or from the same station take the No.96 bus, get off at the first stop (Gotenyama), and walk 3 minutes
Profile: Kuniko Kato
After completing graduate studies at Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, Japan, Kato continued her studies at the Rotterdam Conservatorium in the Netherlands where she graduated at the top of her class. Her many awards include the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis from the Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt and the Toyohashi Culture Foundation Award. In 2011, she released the album kuniko plays reich with Linn Records, a Scottish label renowned for its high sound quality. The album, which features the world’s first arrangements for percussion of Reich’s famous Counterpoint series, was voted best album in the same year, and for a live rendition of the album, she received the12th Keizo Saji Award from the Suntory Arts Foundation. In 2013, Cantus, her second album with Linn, was globally released, featuring the premiere percussion arrangements of four of the great Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s signature works. The album won praise in major publications throughout the world, including The Times and Gramophone. In the same year, the album received the Best Recording Award at Japan’s Music Pen Club’s 26th Music Awards. In April 2015, she released her third album on Linn Records entitled IX, featuring the 20th-century composer Xenakis’s major work PLEIADES and solo piece for percussion Rebonds. She teaches part-time at the Toho Gakuen School of Music and is endorsed globally by Adams and Pearl. She currently resides in U.S.A.
［Program］
Six Marimbas Counterpoint (1986/2010)
Steve Reich / Kuniko Kato
New York Counterpoint (version for marimba) (1985/2012)
Steve Reich / Kuniko Kato
Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten (1977/2012)
Arvo Pärt / Kuniko Kato
Fratres (1977/2012)
Arvo Pärt / Kuniko Kato
Purl Ground (2003)
Hywel Davies
Spiegel im Spiegel (1978/2012)
Arvo Pärt / Kuniko Kato
and others
All original music and supervision by Arvo Pärt, Steve Reich and Hywel Davies.
Arrangement for percussion instruments for Cantusin Memory of Benjamin Britten, Für Alina, Fratres, Spiegel im Spiegel by Kuniko Kato.
©Copyright 2013 by Universal Edition A.G., Wien.
New York Counterpoint ©Copyright 1987 by Hendon Music, Inc.
This arrangement made by permission of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd.
——————————————————–
Hara Documents 10: Masaharu Sato – Tokyo Trace
Concurrent Exhibition: Trace: Selections from the Hara Museum Collection
Sophie Calle, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Yasumasa Morimura, Cindy Sherman, Tomoko Yonekura, Jason Teraoka and others.
January 23 (Saturday) – May 8 (Sunday), 2016
Closed: Mondays
Upcoming Exhibitions
It’s Our Permanent Collection
May 28 (Saturday) – August 21 (Sunday), 2016
Kishin Shinoyama—The House of Illicit Pleasures
September 3 (Saturday) – January 9 (Monday, national holiday), 2017
Elizabeth Peyton (tentative title)
January 21 (Saturday) – June 4 (Sunday), 2017
Hara Museum Website:
http://www.haramuseum.or.jp
Hara Museum Mobile site:
http://mobile.haramuseum.or.jp