Project IX – PLEIADES

*Information at the time of adoption.

Name of the organization or individual

kuniko kato arts project

subsidy category

Tokyo Arts and Culture Promotion Subsidy

Grant Type

single year

FY 2013 Phase II Tokyo Arts and Culture Promotion Grant (Single Year Grant Program)

kuniko kato　©michiyuki ohba

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Business Overview

This project IX (iX) centers on the composer Yanis Xenakis. By performing the percussion sextet "Pleiades" in the format of "music" + "stage" in the first performance, the theme is the pursuit of choriographic possibilities in Xenakis' art. "Pleiades" was originally commissioned as a "dance performance" by the Strasbourg Percussion Ensemble and the Rhin State Opera in Strasbourg, but there are few records of its performance as a stage production since its first performance. This project aims to create a complete version of this percussion ensemble that continues to be performed around the world. It will be performed with dance, just as it was originally conceived. The dance part will be choreographed by Luca Vejetti incorporating the Japanese noh style that Xenakis loved, and the stage composition will be produced. The music will be all parts newly recorded by Kunko Kato in the surround sound at the venue, and at the same time the ensemble of six players will be projected realistically on the screen. It ends with a live performance of Xenakis' solo percussion piece "Le Bon." The aim is to develop international collaborations with world-class artistry and perfection that were created and premiered in Japan. Direction and choreography: Luca Vejetti Music supervision and performance: Kato Kunko Dance: Nakamura Megumi

implementation period

Friday, May 2, 2014, 3 (Sat) New York/USA

Place of implementation

Japan Society (New York)

Profile

In 2002, the Japan premiere of 'Jodo' (Pure Land) music theater was planned by Kunko KATO, So MIYAGI, and James WOOD. In April 2003, it was established as the Japan Performance Executive Committee of Music Theater Work 'Jodo.'. In 2005, it premiered in Japan in Nagoya, Tokyo and Yokohama. With the completion of the Japan premiere, which was the original purpose of the foundation, the name was changed to the kuniko kato arts project in order to continuously carry out ambitious artistic creative activities with various genres of artists, mainly with the representative Kuniko Kato. Since 2003, he has held a series of solo concerts in various parts of Japan every year, and contributed to the promotion of local arts and culture by participating as an artist dispatched by the Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Foundation for Arts and Culture. Continue to co-produce and implement works with dancers and theatre groups, and to produce and implement creative works in line with artists' own themes.