2014 / Conductor and composer Hideaki Hirai to talk about “Japanese Folktales Meet the Opera House” on July 17 at Japan Foundation
Opera “Kaguya-hime” at Wako city, Saitama prefecture in 2006
Forwarded for the Japan Foundation
Japan Foundation Los Angeles Lecture Series 21
Japanese Folktales Meet the Opera House
by Hideaki Hirai, conductor and composer
Thursday, July 17, 2014, 7:00 pm
The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles, 5700 Wilshire Blvd, #100, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Admission Free
Conductor and composer Mr. Hideaki Hirai transforms classic Japanese folktales into grand operas and his own acclaimed opera, “Princess from the Moon” (Kaguya-hime).
Opera Kaguya-hime has been performed more than 20 times worldwide.
In this lecture, Mr. Hirai will talk about his unique fusion of Western music and Japanese language as well as the process of creating his opera Kaguya-hime through public participation.
Mr. Hideaki Hirai graduated from the University of Rochester (New York) with a Bachelor ‘s degree in political science, where he studied conducting under David Effron at the Eastman School of Music.
He completed his Master’s degree in conducting at the Peabody Conservatory of the John’s Hopkins University under Frederik Prausnitz, followed by further studies under Otakar Trhlik at the Janacek Academy of Music (Czech Republic) and his mentor Sir Colin Davis in London.
