Ryoko Aoki Photo : Hiroaki Seo
Stefano Gervasoni Photo : Michel Nicolas
Diotima Quartet Photo : Verera Chen
ensemble-no will hold concert “Italian composers meet Noh” in 2016 when will be 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relation between Japan and Italy.
A Noh performer, Ryoko Aoki has commissioned internationally renowned composers to write works for Noh voice. From her repertoire, she will perform pieces by two Italian composers, Federico Gardella and Valerio Sannicandro with the Italian virtuoso flutist, Mario Caroli.
In the latter half, one of the important Italian composers at present, Stefano Gervasoni will be featured. Gervasoni’s good collaborators, Mario Caroli and a highly reputed French quartet, Diotima Quartet will play his pieces, which will be Japanese premiere. At this special occasion, ensemble-no will commission him a new piece for Noh voice and string quartet and premiere it to celebrate 150th anniversary between Japan and Italy.
【Ryoko Aoki】
Noh performer. Academic background：Tokyo University of Arts, School of Music, Department of Japanese Traditional Music (Japanese Noh theatre “ Kanze school”) / Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Music / SOAS, University of London, Doctor’s Program (completed Ph. D.)
She has played several traditional Noh plays, and has also challenged collaborations with contemporary composers as a Noh singer. She has worked with Peter Eötvös, Toshio Hosokawa amongst others. She has also been invited a number of times to perform overseas in Europe and US.
She has been holding a series of outsourcing projects with famous composers world-wide, and released a debut album “Noh×Contemporary Music” (ALCD-98).
In 2013, she made her debut at Teatro Real de Madrid as the role of Malinche in Wolfgang Rihm’s opera “The Conquest of Mexico”, which was organized by Gerard Mortier and highly praised by critics.
She has been appointed “Japan Cultural Envoy” by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japanese government in 2015. She has been chosen as the artist in Aichi Triennale 2016.
Umberto Agnelli Hall, Italian Cultural Institute Tokyo (Chiyoda City, Tokyo)
