Cultural News, 2011 February Issue
As part of JapanOC series, from October 2010 – April 2011, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County presents a Japanese court music (gagaku) concert on Saturday, March 19, at 8 pm, at Samueli Theater, part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, (714) 556-2787.
Curated by Barbara Ruch, Director, Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies, Professor Emerita, Columbia University, the JapanOC’s gagaku program is entitled “Glories of the Japanese Traditional Music Heritage: Japanese Sacred Court Music and Ancient Soundscapes Reborn,” which includes the definitive gagaku piece Etenraku.
Performers are:
Mayumi Miyata (sho)
Hitomi Nakamura (hichiriki)
Takeshi Sasamoto (ryuteki)
Program are:
Part I, Classical
Hyojo netori & Etenraku
Taishikicho netori & Chogeishi
Sojo choshi & Shundeiraku
Part II, Contemporary
Toshio Hosokawa, “Sakura” (sho solo)
Takeshi Sasamoto, “Ikisudama” (ryuteki solo)
Sunao Isaji, “Dancing Piper” (hichiriki solo)
Hiroya Miura, “Gossamer Lattice” (for sho, hichiriki and ryuteki)
Gagaku is the oldest continuous orchestral music in the world today, with a history in Japan of more than 1,300 years. The term gagaku itself, which means elegant or ethereal music, refers to a body of music that includes both dance (bugaku) and orchestral music (kangengaku) handed down over the centuries by professional court musicians and preserved today by musicians belonging to the Imperial Household Agency in Tokyo.
JapanOC series presents Japanese and Japanese American arts and culture performances primarily in Orange County in partnership with Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Tickets are $25 and $15. For information and tickets, call (949) 553-2422 or visit www.PhilharmonicSociety.org/JapanOC